[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 11 (Tuesday, January 18, 2022)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 2557-2558]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-00738]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[RTID 0648-XB717]


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

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

ACTION: Notification of quota transfer.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is 
transferring a portion of its 2021 commercial summer flounder quota to 
the State of Connecticut. This retroactive adjustment to the 2021 
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 retroactively 
revised

[[Page 2558]]

2021 commercial quotas for Massachusetts and Connecticut.

DATES: Effective January 12, 2022.

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 648.110. 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 2021 allocations were 
published on December 21, 2020 (85 FR 82946).
    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 Sec.  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. The Regional Administrator has determined these three 
criteria have been met for the transfer approved in this notification.
    Massachusetts is transferring 40,000 lb (18,144 kg) to Connecticut 
through mutual agreement of the states. This transfer was requested to 
ensure Connecticut would not exceed its 2021 quota. The revised summer 
flounder quotas for 2021 are: Massachusetts, 985,159 lb (446,861 kg) 
and Connecticut, 709,376 lb (321,768 kg).
    Given the timing of the states' request, we were unable to process 
the transfer before the December 31 end of the 2021 fishing year. The 
retroactively adjusted quotas will be used to calculate overages for 
the 2021 fishing year and adjust, as needed, 2022 summer flounder 
quotas.

Classification

    NMFS issues this action pursuant to section 305(d) of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act. This action is required by 50 CFR 648.162(e)(1)(i) through 
(iii), 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: January 11, 2022.
Ngagne Jafnar Gueye,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-00738 Filed 1-12-22; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P