Rule2021-25557
Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Fisheries
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
November 24, 2021
Effective
December 1, 2021
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS is transferring 9.5 metric tons (mt) of Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) quota from the Reserve category and 20.2 mt from the Harpoon category to the General category for the remainder of the 2021 fishing year. The adjusted General category December subquota, Reserve category quota, and Harpoon category quota will be 39.1 mt, 2 mt, and 0 mt respectively. This action is intended to provide further opportunities for General category fishermen to participate in the December General category fishery, based on consideration of the regulatory determination criteria regarding inseason adjustments. This action would affect Atlantic Tunas General category (commercial) permitted vessels and Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Charter/Headboat permitted vessels with a commercial sale endorsement when fishing commercially for BFT.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 224 (Wednesday, November 24, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 224 (Wednesday, November 24, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 66975-66977]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-25557]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 635
[Docket No. 180117042-8884-02; RTID 0648-XB554]
Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Atlantic Bluefin Tuna
Fisheries
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; quota transfer.
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SUMMARY: NMFS is transferring 9.5 metric tons (mt) of Atlantic bluefin
tuna (BFT) quota from the Reserve category and 20.2 mt from the Harpoon
category to the General category for the remainder of the 2021 fishing
year. The adjusted General category December subquota, Reserve category
quota, and Harpoon category quota will be 39.1 mt, 2 mt, and 0 mt
respectively. This action is intended to provide further opportunities
for General category fishermen to participate in the December General
category fishery, based on consideration of the regulatory
determination criteria regarding inseason adjustments. This action
would affect Atlantic Tunas General category (commercial) permitted
vessels and Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Charter/Headboat permitted
vessels with a commercial sale endorsement when fishing commercially
for BFT.
DATES: Effective December 1, 2021, through December 31, 2021.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Larry Redd, Jr., <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#4d212c3f3f34633f2829290d23222c2c632a223b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="cda1acbfbfb4e3bfa8a9a98da3a2acace3aaa2bb">[email protected]</span></a>,
301-427-8503, or Nicholas Velseboer, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#91fff8f2f9fefdf0e2bfe7f4fde2f3fef4e3d1fffef0f0bff6fee7"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="6d03040e0502010c1e431b08011e0f02081f2d03020c0c430a021b">[email protected]</span></a>, 978-
281-9260.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Atlantic HMS fisheries, including BFT
fisheries, are managed under the authority of the Atlantic Tunas
Convention Act (ATCA; 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq.) and the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act; 16
U.S.C. 1801 et seq.). The 2006 Consolidated Atlantic HMS Fishery
Management Plan (FMP) and its amendments are implemented by regulations
at 50 CFR part 635. Section 635.27 divides the U.S. BFT quota
recommended by the International Commission for the Conservation of
Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) and as implemented by the United States among
the various domestic fishing categories, per the allocations
established in the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP and its amendments. NMFS
is required under the Magnuson-Stevens Act to provide U.S. fishing
vessels with a reasonable opportunity to harvest quotas under relevant
international fishery agreements such as the ICCAT Convention, which is
implemented domestically pursuant to ATCA.
The baseline General, Reserve, and Harpoon category quotas are
555.7 mt, 29.5 mt, and 46 mt respectively. The General category
baseline subquota for the December time-period is 28.9 mt. On December
23, 2020, NMFS transferred 19.5 mt of BFT quota from the December 2021
subquota time-period to the January through March 2021 subquota time-
period resulting in an adjusted subquota of 9.4 mt for the December
2021 time period (85 FR 83832, December 23, 2020).
To date for 2021, NMFS has published several actions that adjusted
the Reserve and Harpoon category quotas (86 FR 8717, February 9, 2021;
86 FR 43420, August 9, 2021; 86 FR 51016, September 14, 2021; 86 FR
54659, October 4, 2021; 86 FR 54873, October 5, 2021). The current
adjusted Reserve and Harpoon category quotas are 11.5 mt and 76 mt,
respectively. Per Sec. 635.27(a)(5), the Harpoon category fishery
automatically closed for the year on November 15, 2021. At that time,
20.2 mt of the Harpoon category quota remained unharvested.
Quota Transfer
Under Sec. 635.27(a)(9), NMFS has the authority to transfer quota
among fishing categories or subcategories after considering
determination criteria provided under Sec. 635.27(a)(8). NMFS has
considered all of the relevant determination criteria and their
applicability to this inseason quota transfer. These considerations
include, but are not limited to, the following:
Regarding the usefulness of information obtained from catches in
the particular category for biological sampling and monitoring of the
status of the stock (Sec. 635.27(a)(8)(i)), biological samples
collected from BFT landed by General category fishermen and provided by
tuna dealers provide NMFS with valuable parts and data for ongoing
scientific studies of BFT age and growth, migration, and reproductive
status. Additional opportunity to land BFT in the General category
would support the continued collection of a broad range of data for
these studies and for stock monitoring purposes.
NMFS also considered the catches of the General category quota to
date (including during the summer/fall and winter fisheries in the last
several years) and the likelihood of closure of that segment of the
fishery if no adjustment is made (Sec. 635.27(a)(8)(ii) and (ix)). To
date, preliminary landings data indicate that the Harpoon category
landed 55.8 mt of the 76 mt adjusted Harpoon category quota before
closing. Transferring 20.2 mt from the Harpoon category to the December
2021 subquota time-period would result in 29.6 mt (9.4 mt + 20.2 mt =
29.6 mt) being available to the General category in December, restoring
the December subquota to roughly its base amount prior to the December
23, 2020 transfer (85 FR 83832). Without a quota transfer at this time,
NMFS would likely need to close the General category fishery shortly
after opening, and participants would have to stop BFT fishing
activities while commercial-sized BFT remain available in the areas
where
[[Page 66976]]
General category permitted vessels operate at this time of year.
Transferring 9.5 mt of quota from the Reserve category in this same
action would provide limited additional opportunities to harvest the
U.S. BFT quota while avoiding exceeding it, leave 2 mt (11.5 mt-9.5 mt
= 2 mt) in the Reserve category to account for any BFT mortalities
associated with research and/or any overharvests that may occur in
December, and result in a total of 39.1 mt (29.6 mt + 9.5 mt = 39.1 mt)
being available for the General category December 2021 subquota time
period.
Regarding the projected ability of the vessels fishing under the
General category quota to harvest the additional amount of BFT quota
transferred before the end of the fishing year (Sec.
635.27(a)(8)(iii)), NMFS considered General category landings over the
last several years and landings to date this year. Landings are highly
variable and depend on access to commercial-sized BFT and fishing
conditions, among other factors, such as the restrictions that some
dealers placed on their purchases of BFT from General category
participants this year. Thus, this quota transfer would allow fishermen
to take advantage of the availability of BFT on the fishing grounds and
provide a reasonable opportunity to harvest available U.S. BFT quota.
NMFS also considered the estimated amounts by which quotas for
other gear categories of the BFT fishery might be exceeded (Sec.
635.27(a)(8)(iv)) and the ability to account for all 2021 landings and
dead discards. In the last several years, total U.S. BFT landings have
been below the available U.S. quota such that the United States has
carried forward the maximum amount of underharvest allowed by ICCAT
from one year to the next. NMFS recently took such an action to
carryover the allowable 127.3 mt of underharvest from 2020 to 2021 (86
FR 54659). NMFS will need to account for 2021 landings and dead
discards within the adjusted U.S. quota, consistent with ICCAT
recommendations, and anticipates having sufficient quota to do that.
NMFS also considered the effects of the adjustment on the BFT stock
and the effects of the transfer on accomplishing the objectives of the
FMP (Sec. 635.27(a)(8)(v) and (vi)). This transfer would be consistent
with established quotas and subquotas, which are implemented consistent
with ICCAT recommendations (established in Recommendation 17-06 and
maintained in Recommendation 20-06), ATCA, and the objectives of the
2006 Consolidated HMS FMP and amendments. In establishing these quotas
and subquotas and associated management measures, ICCAT and NMFS
considered the best scientific information available, objectives for
stock management and status, and effects on the stock. This quota
transfer is in line with the established management measures and stock
status determinations. Another principal consideration is the objective
of providing opportunities to harvest the available General category
quota without exceeding the annual quota, based on the objectives of
the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP and its amendments, including to achieve
optimum yield on a continuing basis and to allow all permit categories
a reasonable opportunity to harvest available BFT quota allocations
(related to Sec. 635.27(a)(8)(x)). Specific to the General category,
this includes providing opportunities equitably across all time-
periods.
Given these considerations, NMFS is transferring 9.5 mt of the
available 11.5 mt of Reserve category quota, and 20.2 mt from the
Harpoon category quota to the General category. Therefore, NMFS adjusts
the General category December 2021 subquota to 39.1 mt, adjusts the
Reserve category quota to 2 mt to account for any BFT mortalities
associated with research, and adjusts the Harpoon category quota to 0
mt. The General category fishery will remain open until December 31,
2021, or until the adjusted General category quota is reached,
whichever comes first.
Monitoring and Reporting
NMFS will continue to monitor the BFT fishery closely. Dealers are
required to submit landing reports within 24 hours of a dealer
receiving BFT. Late reporting by dealers compromises NMFS' ability to
timely implement actions such as quota and retention limit adjustments,
as well as closures, and may result in enforcement actions.
Additionally, and separate from the dealer reporting requirement,
General category and HMS Charter/Headboat vessel owners are required to
report the catch of all BFT retained or discarded dead within 24 hours
of the landing(s) or the end of each trip, by accessing
<a href="http://hmspermits.noaa.gov">hmspermits.noaa.gov</a> or by using the HMS Catch Reporting app or calling
(888) 872-8862 (Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.).
Depending on the level of fishing effort and catch rates of BFT,
NMFS may determine that additional adjustments (e.g., quota adjustment,
daily retention limit adjustment, or closure) are necessary to ensure
available quota is not exceeded or to enhance scientific data
collection from, and fishing opportunities in, all geographic areas. If
needed, subsequent adjustments will be published in the Federal
Register. In addition, fishermen may call the Atlantic Tunas
Information Line at (978) 281-9260, or access <a href="http://hmspermits.noaa.gov">hmspermits.noaa.gov</a>, for
updates on quota monitoring and inseason adjustments.
Classification
NMFS issues this action pursuant to section 305(d) of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act and regulations at 50 CFR part 635 and is exempt from
review under Executive Order 12866.
The Assistant Administrator for NMFS (AA) finds that it is
impracticable and contrary to the public interest to provide prior
notice of, and an opportunity for public comment on, this action for
the following reasons:
The regulations implementing the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP and its
amendments provide for inseason retention limit adjustments to respond
to the unpredictable nature of BFT availability on the fishing grounds,
the migratory nature of this species, and the regional variations in
the BFT fishery. Affording prior notice and opportunity for public
comment to implement the quota transfer for the December 2021 time-
period is contrary to the public interest as such a delay would likely
fail to prevent the closure of the General category fishery when the
baseline subquota for the December time-period is met and the need to
re-open the fishery, with attendant costs to the fishery, including
administrative costs and lost fishing opportunities. The delay would
preclude the fishery from harvesting BFT that are available on the
fishing grounds and that might otherwise become unavailable during a
delay. This action does not raise conservation and management concerns.
Transferring quota from the Reserve and Harpoon categories to the
General category does not affect the overall U.S. BFT quota, and the
adjustment would have a minimal risk of exceeding the ICCAT-allocated
quota. NMFS notes that the public had an opportunity to comment on the
underlying rulemakings that established the U.S. BFT quota and the
inseason adjustment criteria. Therefore, the AA finds good cause under
5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) to waive prior notice and the opportunity for public
comment. For these reasons, there also is good cause under 5 U.S.C.
553(d) to waive the 30-day delay in effective date.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq. and 1801 et seq.
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Dated: November 18, 2021.
Ngagne Jafnar Gueye,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-25557 Filed 11-23-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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