55362 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 206 / Friday, October 24, 1997 / Rules and Regulations

that has been issued a vessel permit

under § 630.4(e).

(d) A swordfish harvested from the

north Atlantic swordfish stock may be

initially purchased, traded, or bartered

or attempted to be purchased, traded, or

bartered only by a dealer with a valid

dealer permit issued under § 630.4(e).

(e) A swordfish harvested from the

north Atlantic swordfish stock by

persons aboard a vessel in the

recreational fishery may not be sold,

purchased, traded, or bartered or

attempted to be sold, purchased, traded,

or bartered.

7. In § 630.23, the first sentence of

paragraph (a) and the first sentence of

paragraph (b) are revised to read as

follows:

§ 630.23 Harvest limitations.

(a) Minimum size. The minimum

allowable size for possession on board

a fishing vessel for a swordfish taken

from the north or south Atlantic

swordfish stocks is 29 inches (73 cm)

carcass length, measured along the body

contour (i.e., a curved measurement)

from the cleithrum to the anterior

portion of the caudal keel (CK

measurement) or, if swordfish are

weighed, 33 lb (15 kg) dressed weight.

* * *

(b) Carcass condition. A swordfish

possessed on board a fishing vessel of

the United States in the Atlantic Ocean,

including the Gulf of Mexico and the

Caribbean Sea, must be in whole or

dressed form, and a swordfish landed

from a fishing vessel of the United

States in an Atlantic coastal port,

including the Gulf of Mexico or

Caribbean Sea, must be maintained in

whole or dressed form through

offloading, except such swordfish as are

damaged by shark bites. * * *

* * * * *

8. In § 630.24, paragraph (a) is

amended by designating the text after

the paragraph heading as paragraph

(a)(1), paragraphs (a)(2) and (b)(5) are

added, and paragraphs (b)(1) through

(b)(3), (c), (d)(4), and (e) are revised to

read as follows:

§ 630.24 Quotas.

(a) Applicability. (1) * * *

(2) A swordfish harvested from the

south Atlantic swordfish stock by a

vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the

United States is counted against the

directed-fishery quota for the south

Atlantic.

(b) Directed-fishery quotas. (1) The

annual directed fishery quota for the

North Atlantic swordfish stock for the

period June 1, 1997, through May 31,

1998, is 2,164 mt dw, of which 2,121.2

mt dw is allocated for the longline/

harpoon fishery and of which 42.8 mt

dw is allocated for the drift gillnet

fishery. The allocation for the longline/

harpoon fishery is divided into two

equal semiannual quotas of 1,060.6 mt

dw, one for the period June 1 through

November 30, 1997, and the other for

the period December 1, 1997, through

May 31, 1998.

(2) The annual directed fishery quota

for the North Atlantic swordfish stock

for the period June 1, 1998, through May

31, 1999, is 2,098.6 mt dw, of which

2,057 mt dw is allocated for the

longline/harpoon fishery and of which

41.6 mt dw is allocated for the drift

gillnet fishery. The allocation for the

longline/harpoon fishery is divided into

two equal semiannual quotas of 1,028.5

mt dw, one for the period June 1

through November 30, 1998, and the

other for the period December 1, 1998,

through May 31, 1999.

(3) The annual directed fishery quota

for the North Atlantic swordfish stock

for the period June 1, 1999, through May

31, 2000, is 2,033.2 mt dw, of which

1,993 mt dw is allocated for the

longline/harpoon fishery and of which

40.2 mt dw is allocated for the drift

gillnet fishery. The allocation for the

longline/harpoon fishery is divided into

two equal semiannual quotas of 996.5

mt dw, one for the period June 1

through November 30, 1999, and the

other for the period December 1, 1999,

through May 31, 2000.

* * * * *

(5) The annual directed fishery quota

for the south Atlantic swordfish stock

for the period June 1, 1997, through May

31, 1998, is 188 mt dw and is divided

into two equal semiannual quotas of 94

mt dw, one for period June 1 through

November 30, 1997, and the other for

the period December 1, 1997, through

May 31, 1998.

(c) Incidental catch quota. The annual

bycatch quota for the north Atlantic

swordfish stock is 300 mt dw; no

incidental harvest is authorized for the

south Atlantic swordfish stock.

(d) * * *

(4) Total landings above or below the

specific north Atlantic swordfish annual

quota will be subtracted from, or added

to, the following year’s quota. Any

adjustments to the 12-month directedfishery quota will then be apportioned

equally between the period June 1

through November 30 and the period

December 1 through May 31.

* * * * *

(e) NMFS may adjust the December 1

through May 31 semiannual directedfishery quota and gear quotas to reflect

actual catches during the June 1 through

November 30 semiannual period,

provided that the 12-month directedfishery and gear quotas are not

exceeded.

* * * * *

9. In § 630.25, the section heading,

paragraphs (a)(1) and the first sentence

of paragraph (b) are revised to read as

follows:

§ 630.25 Closures and incidental limits.

(a) Notification of a closure. (1) When

a directed-fishery annual, semiannual,

or gear quota specified in § 630.24 is

reached, or is projected to be reached,

NMFS will publish notification in the

Federal Register closing the entire

directed fishery for fish from the North

Atlantic swordfish stock, the South

Atlantic swordfish stock, the drift

gillnet fishery, or the harpoon and

longline fisheries, as appropriate. The

effective date of such notification will

be at least 14 days after the date such

notification is filed at the Office of the

Federal Register. The closure will

remain in effect until an additional

directed-fishery or gear quota becomes

available.

* * * * *

(b) Special set-aside for harpoon gear.

The procedures of paragraph (a)(1) of

this section notwithstanding, during the

period June 1 through November 30,

swordfish not exceeding 9,752 kg dw,

may be set aside for the harpoon

segment of the North Atlantic swordfish

fishery. * * *

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 97–28277 Filed 10–21–97; 3:50 pm]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 961210346–7035–02; I.D.

102097C]

Fisheries of the Northeastern United

States; Summer Flounder Fishery;

Commercial Quota Harvested for New

York

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Commercial quota harvest.

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the

summer flounder commercial quota

available to the State of New York has

been harvested. Vessels issued a

commercial Federal fisheries permit for

the summer flounder fishery may not

land summer flounder in New York for
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 206 / Friday, October 24, 1997 / Rules and Regulations 55363

the remainder of calendar year 1997,

unless additional quota becomes

available through a transfer. Regulations

governing the summer flounder fishery

require publication of this notice to

advise the State of New York that the

quota has been harvested and to advise

vessel and dealer permit holders that no

commercial quota is available for

landing summer flounder in New York.

DATES: Effective 0001 hours, October 24,

1997, through December 31, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Regina Spallone, Fishery Management

Specialist, (978) 281–9347.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Regulations governing the summer

flounder fishery are found at 50 CFR

part 648. The regulations require annual

specification of a commercial quota that

is apportioned among the states from

North Carolina through Maine. The

process to set the annual commercial

quota and the percent allocated to each

state is described in § 648.100.

The initial total commercial quota for

summer flounder for the 1997 calendar

year was set equal to 11,111,298 lb

(5,040,000 kg) (March 7, 1997, 62 FR

10473). The percent allocated to vessels

landing summer flounder in New York

is 7.64699 percent, or 849,680 lb

(385,408 kg).

Section 648.100(d)(2) stipulates that

any overages of commercial quota

landed in any state be deducted from

that state’s annual quota for the

following year. In the calendar year

1996, a total of 940,313 lb (426,519 kg)

were landed in New York. The amount

allocated for New York landings in 1996

was 844,976 lb (383,275 kg), creating a

95,337 lb (43,244 kg) overage that was

deducted from the amount allocated for

landings in that state during 1997

(March 7, 1997, 62 FR 10473 and July

15, 1997, 62 FR 37741). The resulting

quota for New York is 754,343 lb

(342,164 kg).

Section 648.101(b) requires the

Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS

(Regional Administrator), to monitor

state commercial quotas and to

determine when a state’s commercial

quota is harvested. The Regional

Administrator is further required to

publish a notice in the Federal Register

advising a state and notifying Federal

vessel and dealer permit holders that,

effective upon a specific date, the state’s

commercial quota has been harvested

and no commercial quota is available for

landing summer flounder in that state.

Because the available information

indicates that the State of New York has

attained its quota for 1997, the Regional

Administrator has determined based on

dealer reports and other available

information, that the state’s commercial

quota has been harvested.

The regulations at § 648.4(b) provide

that Federal permit holders agree as a

condition of the permit not to land

summer flounder in any state that the

Regional Administrator has determined

no longer has commercial quota

available. Therefore, effective 000l

hours, October 24, 1997, further

landings of summer flounder in New

York by vessels holding commercial

Federal fisheries permits are prohibited

for the remainder of the 1997 calendar

year, unless additional quota becomes

available through a transfer and is

announced in the Federal Register.

Effective the date above, federally

permitted dealers are also advised that

they may not purchase summer flounder

from federally permitted vessels that

land in New York for the remainder of

the calendar year, or until additional

quota becomes available through a

transfer.

Classification

This action is required by 50 CFR part

648 and is exempt from review under

E.O. 12286.

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

Dated: October 21, 1997.

Bruce C. Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 97–28259 Filed 10–21–97; 3:18 pm]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F