[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 195 (Friday, October 6, 2000)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 59758]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-25776]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 000119014-0137-02; I.D. 100200C]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder 
Fishery; Commercial Quota Harvested for New Jersey

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

ACTION: Commercial quota harvest.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the summer flounder commercial quota 
available to the State of New Jersey has been harvested. Vessels issued 
a commercial Federal fisheries permit for the summer flounder fishery 
may not land summer flounder in New Jersey for the remainder of 
calendar year 2000, unless additional quota becomes available through a 
transfer. Regulations governing the summer flounder fishery require 
publication of this notification to advise the State of New Jersey that 
the quota has been harvested and to advise vessel permit holders and 
dealer permit holders that no commercial quota is available for landing 
summer flounder in New Jersey.

DATES: Effective 0001 hours, October 10, 2000, through 2400 hours, 
December 31, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul H. Jones, Fishery Policy Analyst, 
(978) 281-9273.

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 on a percentage 
basis among the coastal states from North Carolina through Maine. The 
process to set the annual commercial quota and the percent allocated to 
each state is described in Sec. 648.100.
    The initial total commercial quota for summer flounder for the 2000 
calendar year was set equal to 11,109,214 lb (5,039,055 kg)(65 FR 
33486, May 24, 2000). The percent allocated to vessels landing summer 
flounder in New Jersey is 16.72499 percent, or 1,858,346 lb (842,931 
kg).
    Section 648.100(e)(4) 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 1999, a total of 1,897,952 
lb (860,897 kg) were landed in New Jersey, creating a 44,026 lb (19,970 
kg) overage that was deducted from the amount allocated for landings in 
the State during 2000 (65 FR 33486, May 24, 2000). The resulting 2000 
quota for New Jersey is 1,814,320 lb (822,962 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 notification 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. The Regional 
Administrator has determined, based upon dealer reports and other 
available information, that the State of New Jersey has attained its 
quota for 2000.
    The regulations at Sec. 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 0001 hours, 
October 10, 2000, further landings of summer flounder in New Jersey by 
vessels holding summer flounder commercial Federal fisheries permits 
are prohibited for the remainder of the 2000 calendar year, unless 
additional quota becomes available through a transfer and is announced 
in the Federal Register. Effective 0001 hours, October 10, 2000, 
federally permitted dealers are also advised that they may not purchase 
summer flounder from federally permitted vessels that land in New 
Jersey 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 Executive Order 12866.

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

    Dated: October 2, 2000.
Richard W. Surdi,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 00-25776 Filed 10-5-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3210-22-F