Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fisheries; Adjustments to the 2003 Scup and Black Sea Bass Total Allowable Landings (TAL)

NMFS restores 18,665 lb (8,466 kg) of unused research set- aside (RSA) to the 2003 scup TAL and 25,000 lb (11,340 kg) of unused RSA to the black sea bass TAL, and makes corresponding adjustments to the 2003 scup Winter II commercial quota, the 2003 scup recreational harvest limit, the 2003 black sea bass coastwide commercial quota, and the 2003 black sea bass recreational harvest limit. This action complies with Framework Adjustment 1 to the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan (FMP), which implemented procedures for setting aside up to 3 percent of the annual TAL to fund research activities for summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass. Framework Adjustment 1 also specified that, if a research proposal is disapproved by NMFS or the NOAA Grants Office, the research set-aside for that proposal would be reallocated (i.e., added back) into the TAL. In October 2003, NMFS identified two RSA projects that had significant quantities of allocation remaining that were not going to be used. These remaining amounts are being returned to their respective quotas to provide fishermen the opportunity to harvest the available quota.