Fishery conservation and management: Northeastern United States fisheries Summer flounder,
[Federal Register: September 27, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 186)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 51930-51931]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr27se99-15]
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 990422103-9209-02; I.D. 090799A]
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder Fishery
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notification of waiver of annual Federal summer flounder recreational measures.
SUMMARY: NMFS announces a determination by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) of conservation equivalent state management measures for the recreational summer flounder fishery. Regulations governing the summer flounder fishery require publication of this notification to waive the annual Federal summer flounder recreational measures and to advise vessel permit holders of the equivalent recreational measures approved by the Commission for each state involved. The intent of this action is to conserve summer flounder, while providing the states the ability to tailor their regulations to the fisheries within their respective states.
DATES: Effective 0001 hours, September 27, 1999, through December 31, 1999.
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. Interim regulations are in effect for the period September 9, 1999, through March 9, 2000. (See the correction to 50 CFR part 648, Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fisheries; Recreational Measures for the 1999 Fisheries published elsewhere in this issue.) These regulations allow states to implement, on an annual basis, recreational measures that conserve summer flounder to the same extent as the annual Federal measures specified under Sec. 648.100(c) to achieve the recreational harvest limit. The Summer Flounder Technical Committee of the Commission makes a determination of equivalency annually for any state proposing alternative recreational
[[Page 51931]]
measures. Any state may implement conservation equivalent measures without a determination of equivalency by the Summer Flounder Technical Committee review, if the state uses the state-specific tables provided by the Commission and maintains a 15-inch (38-cm) or greater total length minimum fish size.
Once a state receives a determination of equivalency from the Summer Flounder Technical Committee or a state implements conservation equivalent measures contained in the state-specific table provided by the Commission, the Commission is required to recommend to the Administrator, Northeast Region (Regional Administrator) that a notification be published in the Federal Register to waive the annual Federal recreational summer flounder measures and to notify vessel permit holders of the equivalent recreational measures approved by the Commission for each state involved.
The Regional Administrator received a determination from the Commission on July 12, 1999, stating that all states included in the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Interstate Fishery Management Plan have implemented conservation equivalent recreational management measures using a combination of fish sizes, possession limits, and closed seasons that achieve the required 40-percent reduction in fishing effort for 1999. Therefore, effective 0001 hours, September 27, 1999, through December 31, 1999, the annual Federal recreational summer flounder management measures are waived and the following conservation equivalent recreational measures are approved for each state affected.
Minimum Size Possession inches (See Limit/
Open Season note)
Person
Massachusetts
15
8-fish May 29-Sept.11 Rhode Island
15
8-fish May 29-Sept.11 Connecticut
15
8-fish May 29-Sept.11 New York
16
8-fish Jan.1-Dec.31 New Jersey
15.5
8-fish May 15-Oct.11 Delaware
15
8-fish Aug.8-July 15 Maryland Bay
15
8-fish May 8- Dec.31 Coast
15.5
8-fish Apr. 15-Nov.30 Potomac River
15
4-fish May 1-Dec. 31 Fisheries Comm. Virginia
16
8-fish Aug.1-July 24 North Carolina
15
8-fish Jan.1-Dec.31
Note: Metric equivalents are 16 in = 41 cm, 15.5 in = 39 cm, and 15 in = 38 cm.
Vessels fishing in the EEZ are subject to the regulations of the state where the vessel is registered or homeported or where the fish are landed, whichever is more restrictive.
Classification
This action is required by 50 CFR part 648 and is exempt from review under E.O. 12866.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: September 21, 1999. Gary C. Matlock, Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 99-25071Filed9-24-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F
