Summer Flounder Fishery Quota Transfer From Virginia to Massachusetts

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Rule

Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder Fishery; Quota Transfer From Virginia to Massachusetts

A Rule by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on 04/08/2026

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• Document Details Published Content - Document Details Agencies Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Agency/Docket Numbers Docket No. 260209-0039 RTID 0648-XF651 CFR 50 CFR 648 Document Citation 91 FR 17767 Document Number 2026-06770 Document Type Rule Page 17767
  (1 page) Publication Date 04/08/2026 Published Content - Document Details

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• Document Details Published Content - Document Details Agencies Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Agency/Docket Numbers Docket No. 260209-0039 RTID 0648-XF651 CFR 50 CFR 648 Document Citation 91 FR 17767 Document Number 2026-06770 Document Type Rule Page 17767
  (1 page) Publication Date 04/08/2026 Published Content - Document Details

• Document Dates Published Content - Document Dates Effective Date 2026-04-07 Dates Text Effective April 7, 2026, through December 31, 2026. Published Content - Document Dates

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  • AGENCY:
  • ACTION:
  • SUMMARY:
  • DATES:
  • FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
  • SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
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| Docket No. 260209-0039
(4 Documents) | | | |
| --- | | | |
| Date | | Action | Title |
| | 2026-04-08 | Temporary rule; quota transfer. | Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder Fishery; Quota Transfer From Virginia to Massachusetts |
| | 2026-04-08 | Temporary rule; quota transfer. | Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder Fishery; Quota Transfer From North Carolina to New Jersey |
| | 2026-03-16 | Temporary rule; closure. | Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Scup Fishery; 2026 Scup Winter I Commercial Quota Harvested |
| | 2026-02-19 | Final rule. | Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act Provisions; Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; 2026 and Projected 2027 Specifications for the Summer Flounder, Scup, Black Sea Bass, and Bluefish Fisheries |

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Department of Commerce

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

1. 50 CFR Part 648
2. [Docket No. 260209-0039; RTID 0648-XF651]

AGENCY:

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

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

Published Document: 2026-06770 (91 FR 17767)