Fishery conservation and management: Northeastern United States fisheries Summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass,
[Federal Register: April 15, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 72)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 18582-18583]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15ap99-18]
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 981014259-8312-02; I.D. 040599E]
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fisheries; Adjustments to the 1999 Summer Flounder Commercial Quota
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Commercial quota adjustment for 1999.
SUMMARY: This document contains adjustments to the 1999 commercial summer flounder quotas. This action complies with the regulations that implement the Fishery Management Plan for the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fisheries (FMP) that requires landings in excess of a state's individual quota be deducted from a state's respective quota for the following year. The public is advised that preliminary adjustments have been made and is informed of the revised quotas for the affected states.
DATES: Effective April 9, 1999, through December 31, 1999.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul H. Jones, Fisheries Policy Analyst, (978) 281-9273.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
NMFS published a document in the Federal Register on February 3, 1999 (64 FR 5196), announcing preliminary adjustments to the 1999 summer flounder commercial quotas. The document also corrected errors in Rhode Island's commercial summer flounder allocation specified in Table 1.--1999 State Commercial Quotas that was published on December 31, 1998 (63 FR 72203). Portions of the text describing revisions made to Table 1 of the December 31 publication contained errors and some text was omitted. Therefore, NMFS published an additional document in the Federal Register on February 24 1999 (64 FR 9088), which corrected only the text portion of the preamble to the February 3, 1999, correction document related to the Rhode Island commercial summer flounder allocation.
Adjustment to the 1999 commercial summer flounder quotas is necessary because NMFS received data late from some state agencies. State data collections are incomplete for Connecticut, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina; therefore, further adjustments may be necessary for those states.
The preliminary 1998 landings and resulting overages for all states are given in Table 1. The resulting adjusted 1999 commercial quota for each state is given in Table 2. In Table 3, the adjustment has been made to maintain the incidental component of the commercial quota at 32.7 percent of the total (as recommended in the final specifications).
Table 1.--Summer Flounder Preliminary 1998 Landings by State
1998 quota
Preliminary 1998 landings
1998 overage State
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lb
Kg \1\
Lb
Kg \1\
Lb
Kg \1\
ME......................................................
4,791
2,173
5,626
2,552
835
379 NH......................................................
51
23
0
0
0
0 MA......................................................
721,899
327,448
709,387
321,778
0
0 RI...................................................... 1,742,583
790,422 1,715,716
778,249
0
0 CT......................................................
250,457
113,605
249,398
113,127
0
0
[[Page 18583]]
NY......................................................
763,419
346,281
822,151
372,928
58,732
26,647 NJ...................................................... 1,858,363
842,939 1,862,800
844,966
4,437
2,027 DE...................................................... \2\ (14,534)
(6,593)
(10,905)
(4,947)
(25,439)
(11,539) MD......................................................
199,876
90,662
209,358
94,965
9,482
4,303 VA...................................................... 2,362,877 1,071,783 2,543,278 1,153,631
180,401
81,848 NC...................................................... 3,049,589 1,383,270 2,903,527 1,317,040
0
0
Total \3\........................................... 10,939,371 4,962,013 11,010,336 4,994,289
228,448
103,665
\1\ Kilograms are as converted from pounds, and may not necessarily add due to rounding. \2\ Parentheses indicate a negative number. \3\Total quota and total landings do not equal overage because they reflect positive quota balances in several states.
Table 2.--Summer Flounder Preliminary Adjusted 1999 Quotas
1999 initial quota
1999 adjusted quota State
--------------------------------------------------------------- Lb
Kg\1\
Lb
Kg\1\
ME..............................................
5,285
2,397
4,450
2,018 NH..............................................
51
23
51
23 MA..............................................
757,842
343,751
757,842
343,751 RI.............................................. 1,742,583
790,422 1,742,583
790,422 CT..............................................
250,791
113,757
250,791
113,757 NY..............................................
849,680
385,408
790,948
358,768 NJ.............................................. 1,858,363
842,939 1,853,926
840,927 DE..............................................
1,977
897 \2\ (25,439)
(11,539) MD..............................................
226,570
102,770
217,088
98,469 VA.............................................. 2,373,569 1,976,633 2,193,168
994,804 NC.............................................. 3,044,589 1,381,002 3,044,589 1,381,002
Total....................................... 11,111,300 5,039,999 10,829,997 4,912,404
\1\ Kilograms are as converted from pounds, and may not necessarily add due to rounding. \2\ Parentheses indicate a negative number.
Table 3.--Summer Founder 1999 State Quotas and Incidental Catch Allocations
Directed
Incidental catch
Total State
Percent share ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lb
Kg \1\
Lb
Kg
Lb
Kg
ME......................................
0.04756
2,995
1,358
1,455
660
4,450
2,018 NH......................................
0.00046
34
16
17
8
51
23 MA......................................
6.82046
510,028
231,345
247,814
112,407
757,842
343,751 RI......................................
15.68298 1,172,758
531,954
569,825
258,468 1,742,583
790,422 CT......................................
2.25708
168,782
76,558
82,009
37,199
250,791
113,757 NY......................................
7.64699
532,308
241,451
258,640
117,317
790,948
358,768 NJ......................................
16.72499 1,247,692
565,944
606,234
274,983 1,853,926
840,927 DE......................................
0.01779 \2\ (17,120)
(7,766)
(8,319)
(3,773)
(25,439)
(11,539) MD......................................
2.03910
146,100
66,270
70,988
32,200
217,088
98,469 VA......................................
21.31676 1,476,002
669,503
717,166
325,301 2,193,168
994,804 NC......................................
27.44584 2,049,008
929,415
995,581
451,588 3,044,589 1,381,002
Total............................... 100.00000 7,288,588 3,306,048 3,541,409 1,606,356 10,829,997 4,912,404
\1\ Kilograms are as converted from pounds, and may not necessarily add due to rounding. \2\ Parentheses indicate a negative number.
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: April 8, 1999. Gary C. Matlock, Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 99-9339Filed4-9-99; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-M
