[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 2 (Wednesday, January 3, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 284-285]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-28936]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 221223-0282; RTID 0648-XD611]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder 
Fishery; Quota Transfer From MA to RI

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Temporary rule; quota transfer.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is 
transferring a portion of its 2023 commercial summer flounder quota to 
the State of Rhode Island. This adjustment to the 2023 fishing year 
quota is necessary to comply with the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black 
Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan (FMP) quota transfer provisions. This 
announcement informs the public of the revised 2023 commercial quotas 
for Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

DATES: Effective December 28, 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 Sec.  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 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 Sec.  648.102(c)(2). The Regional Administrator 
is required to consider three criteria in the evaluation of requests 
for quota transfers or combinations: (1) the transfer or combinations 
would not preclude the overall annual quota from being fully harvested; 
(2) the transfer addresses an unforeseen variation or contingency in 
the fishery; and (3) 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.
    Massachusetts is transferring 25,000 pounds (lb; 11,340 kilograms 
(kg)) to Rhode Island through a mutual agreement between the states. 
This transfer was requested to ensure Rhode Island would not exceed its 
2023 quota. The revised summer flounder quotas for 2023 are 
Massachusetts, 1,334,363 lb (605,257 kg), and Rhode Island, 2,255,478 
lb (1,023,068 kg).

[[Page 285]]

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 27, 2023.
Jon William Bell,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-28936 Filed 12-28-23; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P