Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Bluefish and Summer Flounder Fisheries

Résumé

NMFS issues this final rule to amend the regulations implementing the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Atlantic bluefish fishery and the FMP for the summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass fisheries. This rule makes administrative changes that will allow NMFS to consider and process state commercial quota transfer requests that address late-season circumstances that necessitate a state quota transfer. The intent of this action is solely to provide the flexibility to address unpredictable late-season events (such as severe weather or port obstruction) that may result in safety concerns in the commercial bluefish and summer flounder fisheries.