[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 186 (Monday, September 27, 1999)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 51930-51931]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-25071]
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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.
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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.
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Minimum Size Possession
inches (See Limit/ Open Season
note) Person
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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
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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. 99-25071 Filed 9-24-99; 8:45 am]
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