[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 225 (Wednesday, November 23, 2005)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 70744-70745]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-23187]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 041110317-4364-02; I.D. 092805B]


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

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

ACTION: Temporary rule; closure.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the 2005 summer flounder commercial quota 
available to Massachusetts has been projected to have been harvested. 
To maintain consistency between state and Federal waters, NMFS is 
announcing the closure of summer flounder in Federal waters to coincide 
with the closure announced by the Massachusetts Division of Marine 
Fisheries (MA DMF). Vessels issued a commercial Federal fisheries 
permit for the summer flounder fishery may not land summer flounder in 
Massachusetts for the remainder of calendar year 2005, unless 
additional quota becomes available through a transfer. Regulations 
governing the summer flounder fishery require publication of this 
notification to advise Massachusetts of the closure and to advise 
vessel permit holders and dealer permit holders that no commercial 
quota is available for landing summer flounder in Massachusetts.

DATES: Effective 0001 hours, November 18, 2005, through 2400 hours, 
December 31, 2005.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mike Ruccio, Fishery Management 
Specialist, (978) 281-9104.

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 2005 
calendar year was set equal to 18,180,002 lb (8,246,395 kg) (70 FR 303, 
January 4, 2005). The percent allocated to vessels landing summer 
flounder in Massachusetts is 6.82046 percent, resulting in a commercial 
quota of 1,239,960 lb (562,442 kg). However, the 2005 allocation to 
Massachusetts was reduced to 1,177,554 lb (534,130 kg) due to research 
set-aside and 2004 quota overages. The states of North Carolina, New 
Jersey, and Rhode Island and the Commonwealth of Virginia have 
transferred a total of 53,176 lb (24,121 kg) to Massachusetts in 
accordance with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) 
Addendum XV to the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery 
Management Plan (FMP), bringing the total quota to 1,230,730 lb 
(558,259 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 has been harvested. NMFS then 
publishes a notification in the Federal Register to advise the state 
and to notify 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. In consultation with the MA DMF, the Regional Administrator 
has determined, based upon dealer reports and other available 
information, that Massachusetts has harvested its quota for 2005. 
Furthermore, this closure action in Federal waters is necessary to 
coordinate with the closure announced for state waters by the MA DMF to 
maintain consistency in the fishery.
    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, 
November 18, 2005, further landings of summer flounder in Massachusetts 
by vessels holding summer flounder commercial Federal fisheries permits 
are prohibited for the remainder of the 2005 calendar year, unless 
additional quota becomes available through a transfer and is announced 
in the Federal Register. Effective 0001 hours, November 18,

[[Page 70745]]

2005, federally permitted dealers may not purchase summer flounder from 
federally permitted vessels that land in Massachusetts 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: November 17, 2005.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 05-23187 Filed 11-18-05; 2:22 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S