Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fisheries; Adjustments to the 2001 Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Commercial Quotas

NMFS publishes corrected adjustments to the 2001 commercial quotas for summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass. This action is necessary to comply with the regulations that implement the Fishery Management Plan for the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fisheries (FMP), which specify that any summer flounder landings in excess of or less than a given state's individual 2000 commercial quota be deducted from or added to that state's quota for 2001. For scup and black sea bass, the FMP specifies that landings in excess of a quota for a given period or quarter be deducted from the quota for the same period or quarter in the following year. The intent of this action is to use the most accurate landings data to make adjustments to a state's annual quota and to correct errors in previous quota adjustments to provide fishermen the opportunity to harvest the quota available without harvesting fish in excess of the quota and requiring reduced catches in future quotas.