88834 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 246 / Tuesday, December 26, 2023 / Rules and Regulations 

September 11, 2023; and 5:30 a.m. 

through 9 p.m., Tuesday, September 12, 

2023. Sockeye must be released. 

Areas 7 and 7A: Open for drift gillnet 

fishing from 8 a.m. through 9 p.m., 

Saturday, September 9, 2023; 8 a.m. 

through 9 p.m., Sunday, September 10, 

2023; 8 a.m. through 9 p.m., Monday, 

September 11, 2023; and 8 a.m. through 

9 p.m., Tuesday, September 12, 2023. 

Sockeye must be released. 

Area 7: Open for reef net fishing 5:30 

a.m. through 9 p.m., Saturday, 

September 9, 2023; 5:30 a.m. through 9 

p.m., Sunday, September 10, 2023; 5:30 

a.m. through 9 p.m., Monday, 

September 11, 2023; and 5:30 a.m. 

through 9 p.m., Tuesday, September 12, 

2023. Sockeye must be released. 

Fraser River Panel Order Number 2023– 

08: Issued 12:00 p.m., September 12, 

2023 

Treaty Tribal Fishery 

Areas 6, 7, and 7A: Extend for net 

fishing from 9 a.m. through 11:59 p.m., 

Wednesday, September 13, 2023. 

Sockeye must be released. 

Treaty Tribal and All Citizen Fisheries 

Areas 6, 7, and 7A, excluding the 

Apex: Relinquish regulatory control 

effective 11:59 p.m., Wednesday, 

September 13, 2023. The Apex is those 

waters north and west of the Area 7A 

‘‘East Point Line,’’ defined as a line 

projected from the low water range 

marker in Boundary Bay on the 

International Boundary through the east 

tip of Point Roberts in the state of 

Washington to the East Point light on 

Saturna Island in the Province of British 

Columbia. 

Classification 

The Assistant Administrator for 

Fisheries NOAA (AA), finds that good 

cause exists for the inseason orders to be 

issued without affording the public 

prior notice and opportunity for 

comment under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) as 

such prior notice and opportunity for 

comments is impracticable and contrary 

to the public interest. Prior notice and 

opportunity for public comment is 

impracticable because of insufficient 

time between the time the stock 

abundance information is available to 

determine how much fishing can be 

allowed and the time the fishery must 

open or close in order to harvest the 

appropriate amount of fish while they 

are available. 

The AA also finds good cause to 

waive the 30-day delay in the effective 

date, required under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), 

of the inseason orders. A delay in the 

effective date of the inseason orders 

would not allow fishers appropriately 

controlled access to the available fish at 

that time they are available. 

This action is authorized by 50 CFR 

300.97, and is exempt from review 

under Executive Order 12866. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 3636(b). 

Dated: December 19, 2023. 

Everett Wayne Baxter, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2023–28267 Filed 12–22–23; 8:45 am] 

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 221223–0282; RTID 0648– 

XD608] 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Summer Flounder Fishery; 

Quota Transfer From NC to NJ 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notification of quota transfer. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the 

State of North Carolina is transferring a 

portion of its 2023 commercial summer 

flounder quota to the State of New 

Jersey. This adjustment to the 2023 

fishing year quota is necessary to 

comply with the Summer Flounder, 

Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery 

Management Plan quota transfer 

provisions. This announcement informs 

the public of the revised 2023 

commercial quotas for North Carolina 

and New Jersey. 

DATES: Effective December 21, 2023, 

through December 31, 2023. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Laura Deighan, Fishery Management 

Specialist, (978) 281–9184. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Regulations governing the summer 

flounder fishery are found in 50 CFR 

648.100 through 648.111. These 

regulations require annual specification 

of a commercial quota that is 

apportioned among the coastal states 

from Maine through North Carolina. The 

process to set the annual commercial 

quota and the percent allocated to each 

state is described in § 648.102 and final 

2023 allocations were published on 

January 3, 2023 (88 FR 11). 

The final rule implementing 

Amendment 5 to the Summer Flounder 

Fishery Management Plan (FMP), as 

published in the Federal Register on 

December 17, 1993 (58 FR 65936), 

provided a mechanism for transferring 

summer flounder commercial quota 

from one state to another. Two or more 

states, under mutual agreement and 

with the concurrence of the NMFS 

Greater Atlantic Regional Administrator, 

can transfer or combine summer 

flounder commercial quota under 

§ 648.102(c)(2). The Regional 

Administrator is required to consider 

three criteria in the evaluation of 

requests for quota transfers or 

combinations: the transfer or 

combinations would not preclude the 

overall annual quota from being fully 

harvested; the transfer addresses an 

unforeseen variation or contingency in 

the fishery; and the transfer is consistent 

with the objectives of the FMP and the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act). The Regional 

Administrator has determined these 

three criteria have been met for the 

transfer approved in this notification. 

North Carolina is transferring 16,690 

pounds (lb; 7,570 kilograms (kg)) to New 

Jersey through a mutual agreement 

between the states. This transfer was 

requested to repay landings made by an 

out-of-state permitted vessel under a 

safe harbor agreement. The revised 

summer flounder quotas for 2023 are 

North Carolina, 3,131,074 lb (1,420,231 

kg), and New Jersey, 2,487,110 lb 

(1,128,134 kg). 

Classification 

NMFS issues this action pursuant to 

section 305(d) of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act. This action is required by 50 CFR 

648.102(c)(2)(i) through (iv), which was 

issued pursuant to section 304(b), and is 

exempted from review under Executive 

Order 12866. 

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

Dated: December 20, 2023. 

Everett Wayne Baxter, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2023–28423 Filed 12–21–23; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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