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National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
Temporary rule; quota transfer.
NMFS announces that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is transferring a portion of its 2025 commercial summer flounder quota to the State of Rhode Island. This adjustment to the 2025 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 2025 commercial quotas for Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Effective September 26, 2025, through December 31, 2025.
Matthew Rigdon, Fishery Management Specialist, (978) 281-9336
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 2025 allocations were published on December 10, 2024 (89 FR 99138).
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.
Massachusetts is transferring 609 pounds (lb; 276 kilograms (kg)) of summer flounder to Rhode Island 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 2025 are: Massachusetts, 594,240 lb (269,543 kg); and Rhode Island, 1,379,116 lb (625,556 kg).
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.
Dated: September 25, 2025.
Kelly Denit,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2025-18923 Filed 9-26-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P