65660 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 245 / Thursday, December 20, 2001 / Rules and Regulations

FR 57348, December 4, 1992) requiring

TED use in shrimp trawls and creating

the regulatory framework for the

issuance of notifications such as this.

Copies of the EA are available (see

ADDRESSES).

Dated: December 14, 2001.

William T. Hogarth,

Assistant Administrator for Fisheries,

National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 01–31275 Filed 12–14–01; 4:34 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 001121328–1066–03; I.D.

121401B]

Fisheries of the Northeastern United

States; Summer Flounder Fishery;

Commercial Quota Harvested for

Rhode Island

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Closure; commercial quota

harvested for Rhode Island.

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the

summer flounder commercial quota

available to the State of Rhode Island

has been harvested. Vessels issued a

commercial Federal fisheries permit for

the summer flounder fishery may not

land summer flounder in Rhode Island

for the remainder of calendar year 2001,

unless additional quota becomes

available through a transfer. Regulations

governing the summer flounder fishery

require publication of this notification

to advise the State of Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island.

DATES: Effective from 0001 hours,

December 20, 2001 through 2400 hours,

December 31, 2001.

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 § 648.100.

The initial total commercial quota for

summer flounder for the 2001 calendar

year was set equal to 10,747,535 lb

(4,875,000 kg)(66 FR 16151, March 23,

2001). The percent allocated to vessels

landing summer flounder in Rhode

Island is 15.68298 percent, or 1,685,534

lb (764,545 kg). This allocation was

adjusted due to an underage in 2000, as

provided in § 648.100 (e)(4), for a final

allocation of 1,733,817 lb (786,446 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. NMFS then

publishes 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 Rhode

Island has attained its quota for 2001.

The regulations at § 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, December 20, 2001, further

landings of summer flounder in Rhode

Island by vessels holding summer

flounder commercial Federal fisheries

permits are prohibited for the remainder

of the 2001 calendar year, unless

additional quota becomes available

through a transfer and is announced in

the Federal Register. Effective 0001

hours, December 20, 2001, federally

permitted dealers are also notified that

they may not purchase summer flounder

from federally permitted vessels that

land in Rhode Island 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: December 14, 2001.

Richard W. Surdi,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 01–31383 Filed 12–17–01; 2:44 pm]

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