Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 232 / Tuesday, December 3, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 95723 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 231221–0314; RTID 0648– 

XE503] 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Atlantic Bluefish Fishery; 

Quota Transfer From Rhode Island to 

North Carolina 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; quota transfer. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the 

State of Rhode Island is transferring a 

portion of their 2024 commercial 

bluefish quota to the State of North 

Carolina. This quota adjustment is 

necessary to comply with the Atlantic 

Bluefish Fishery Management Plan 

(FMP) quota transfer provisions. This 

announcement informs the public of the 

revised 2024 commercial bluefish 

quotas for Rhode Island and North 

Carolina. 

DATES: Effective December 2, 2024 

through December 31, 2024. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Matthew Rigdon, Fishery Management 

Specialist, (978) 281–9336. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Regulations governing the Atlantic 

bluefish fishery are found in 50 CFR 

648.160 through 648.167. These 

regulations require annual specification 

of a commercial quota that is 

apportioned among the coastal states 

from Maine through Florida. The 

process to set the annual commercial 

quota and the percent allocated to each 

state is described in § 648.162, and the 

final 2024 allocations were published 

on January 2, 2024 (89 FR 34). 

The final rule implementing 

amendment 1 to the FMP, as published 

in the Federal Register on July 26, 2000 

(65 FR 45844), provided a mechanism 

for transferring bluefish 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 request approval to transfer or 

combine bluefish commercial quota 

under § 648.162(e). The Regional 

Administrator is required to consider 

three criteria in the evaluation of 

requests for quota transfers or 

combinations: (1) the transfers would 

not preclude the overall annual quota 

from being fully harvested; (2) the 

transfers address an unforeseen 

variation or contingency in the fishery; 

and (3) the transfers are 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 

criteria have been met for the transfers 

approved in this notification. 

Rhode Island is transferring 50,000 

pounds (lb) (22,680 kilograms (kg)) to 

North Carolina through mutual 

agreement of the states. This transfer 

was requested to ensure North Carolina 

would not exceed its 2024 state quota. 

The revised bluefish quotas for 2024 are: 

Rhode Island, 166,401 lb (75,478 kg) 

and North Carolina, 1,080,996 lb 

(490,332 kg). 

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: November 27, 2024. 

Kelly Denit, 

Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2024–28328 Filed 12–2–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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