Summer Flounder Quota Transfer - Virginia to Massachusetts

Content

ACTION:

Temporary rule; quota transfer.

SUMMARY:

NMFS announces that the Commonwealth of Virginia is transferring a portion of its 2026 commercial summer flounder quota to
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This adjustment to the 2026 fishing year quota is necessary to comply with the Summer Flounder,
Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan (FMP) quota transfer provisions. This announcement informs the public of
the revised 2026 commercial quotas for Virginia and Massachusetts.

DATES:

Effective April 7, 2026, through December 31, 2026.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Matthew Rigdon, Fishery Management Specialist, (978) 281-9336.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Regulations governing the summer flounder fishery are found in 50 CFR 648.100 through 648.111. These regulations require annual
specification of a commercial quota that is apportioned among the coastal states from Maine through North Carolina. The process
to set the annual commercial quota and the percent allocated to each state is described in § 648.102, and the final 2026 allocations
were published on February 19, 2026 (91 FR 7896).

The final rule implementing amendment 5 to the FMP, as published in the
Federal Register
on December 17, 1993 (58 FR 65936), provided a mechanism for transferring summer flounder commercial quota from one state
to another. Two or more states, under mutual agreement and with the concurrence of the NMFS Greater Atlantic Regional Administrator,
can transfer or combine summer flounder commercial quota under § 648.102(c)(2). The Regional Administrator is required to
consider three criteria in the evaluation of requests for quota transfers or combinations: (1) the transfers or combinations
would not preclude the overall annual quota from being fully harvested; (2) the transfers address an unforeseen variation
or contingency in the fishery; and (3) the transfers are consistent with the objectives of the FMP and the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). The Regional Administrator has determined these three criteria
have been met for the transfer approved in this notification.

Virginia is transferring 894 pounds (lb; 406 kilograms (kg)) of summer flounder to Massachusetts through a mutual agreement
between the states. This transfer was requested to repay landings made by an out-of-state permitted vessel under a safe harbor
agreement. The revised summer flounder quotas for 2026 are: Virginia, 2,434,000 lb (1,104,044 kg); and Massachusetts, 1,041,297
lb (472,374 kg).

Classification

NMFS issues this action pursuant to section 305(d) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. This action is required by 50 CFR 648.102(c)(2)(i)
through (iv), which was issued pursuant to section 304(b) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and is exempted from review under Executive
Order 12866.

Authority:

16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

Dated: April 6, 2026. David R. Blankinship, Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. [FR Doc. 2026-06770 Filed 4-7-26; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3510-22-P

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