Rule2022-19437
Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Fisheries; General Category September Quota Transfer
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
September 8, 2022
Effective
September 7, 2022
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS is transferring 90.5 metric tons (mt) of Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) quota from the Reserve category to the General category. With this transfer, the adjusted General category September 2022 subquota is 225.5 mt. This action is intended to account for an accrued overharvest of 20.5 mt from previous time period subquotas and to provide further opportunities for General category fishermen to participate in the September General category fishery, based on consideration of the regulatory determination criteria regarding inseason adjustments. This action applies to 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 87 Issue 173 (Thursday, September 8, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 173 (Thursday, September 8, 2022)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 54910-54912]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-19437]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 635
[Docket No. 220523-0119; RTID 0648-XC282]
Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Atlantic Bluefin Tuna
Fisheries; General Category September Quota Transfer
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 90.5 metric tons (mt) of Atlantic bluefin
tuna (BFT) quota from the Reserve category to the General category.
With this transfer, the adjusted General category September 2022
subquota is 225.5 mt. This action is intended to account for an accrued
overharvest of 20.5 mt from previous time period subquotas and to
provide further opportunities for General category fishermen to
participate in the September General category fishery, based on
consideration of the regulatory determination criteria regarding
inseason adjustments. This action applies to 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 September 7, 2022, through September 30, 2022.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ann Williamson,
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#40212e2e6e37292c2c29212d332f2e002e2f21216e272f36"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="f7969999d9809e9b9b9e969a849899b799989696d9909881">[email protected]</span></a>, 301-427-8583; Larry Redd, Jr.,
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5f333e2d2d26712d3a3b3b1f31303e3e71383029"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="234f4251515a0d51464747634d4c42420d444c55">[email protected]</span></a>, 301-427-8503; or Nicholas Velseboer,
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#9df3f4fef5f2f1fceeb3ebf8f1eef8fff2f8efddf3f2fcfcb3faf2eb"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="1d73747e7572717c6e336b78716e787f72786f5d73727c7c337a726b">[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 Atlantic 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 and Reserve category quotas are 587.9 mt and
31.2 mt, respectively. The General category baseline subquota is
further suballocated to different time periods. Relevant to this
action, the subquota for the September time period is 155.8 mt. To date
for 2022, NMFS has published three actions that have resulted in
adjustments to the General and Reserve category quotas, including the
allowable carryover of underharvest from 2021 to 2022 (87 FR 5737,
February 2, 2022; 87 FR 33049, June 1, 2022; 87 FR 43447, July 21,
2022). The current adjusted Reserve category quota is 276.7 mt.
Transfer of 90.5 mt From the Reserve Category to the General Category
Under Sec. 635.27(a)(9), NMFS has the authority to transfer quota
among fishing categories or subcategories after considering the
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
[[Page 54911]]
the stock (Sec. 635.27(a)(8)(i)), biological samples collected from
BFT landed by General category fishermen and provided by BFT 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.
Regarding the likelihood of closure of the General category fishery
if no adjustment is made (Sec. 635.27(a)(8)(ii) and (ix)), NMFS
considered the catches and catch rates of the General category quota to
date (including during the summer/fall and winter fisheries in the last
several years). NMFS also took into consideration the final rule that
set restricted-fishing days for the General Category through November
30, 2022 (87 FR 33056, June 1, 2022). To date, preliminary landings
data indicate that the General category landed a cumulative total of
391.1 mt through August 31, which exceeds the cumulative adjusted quota
available through August 31 (370.6 mt) by 20.5 mt. While the General
category September time period subquota has not yet been exceeded,
without a quota transfer at this time, based on catch rates in recent
years in comparison to the available quota, NMFS anticipates it would
likely need to close the General category fishery shortly. Once the
fishery is closed, participants would have to stop BFT fishing
activities even though commercial-sized BFT remain available in the
areas where General category permitted vessels operate at this time of
year. Transferring 90.5 mt of BFT quota from the Reserve category would
account for the 20.5 mt (391.1 mt-370.6 mt = 20.5 mt) of accrued
overharvest from the prior time periods and result in an additional 70
mt (90.5 mt-20.5 mt = 70 mt) being available for the September 2022
subquota time period, thus effectively providing limited additional
opportunities to harvest the U.S. BFT quota while avoiding exceeding
it.
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. A portion of the transferred quota
covers the 20.5 mt overharvest in the category to date, and NMFS
anticipates that General category participants will be able to harvest
the remaining 70 mt of transferred BFT quota by the end of the subquota
time period. NMFS may adjust each time period's subquota based on
overharvest or underharvest in the prior period and may transfer
subquota from one time period to another time period. By allowing for
such quota adjustments and transfers, NMFS anticipates that the General
category quota would be used before the end of the fishing 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 the available U.S. BFT quota.
NMFS also considered the estimated amounts by which quotas for
other gear categories of the fishery might be exceeded (Sec.
635.27(a)(8)(iv)) and the ability to account for all 2022 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 2021 to 2022 (87
FR 33049, June 1, 2022). NMFS will need to account for 2022 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 21-07), 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
amendments, including to achieve optimum yield on a continuing basis
and to optimize the ability of all permit categories 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 90.5 mt of the
available 276.7 mt of Reserve category quota to the General category.
Of this amount, 20.5 mt accounts for preliminary overharvest of the
January through March and June through August time period subquotas,
and 70 mt is added to the September subquota to provide further
opportunities for General category fishermen to participate in the
September General category fishery. Therefore, NMFS adjusts the General
category September 2022 subquota to 225.5 mt after accounting for the
20.5 mt of overharvest for the prior 2022 time periods and adjusts the
Reserve category quota to 186.2 mt (276.7 mt-90.5 mt = 186.2 mt). The
General category fishery will remain open until September 30, 2022, 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 permitted vessel owners are
required to report the catch of all BFT retained or discarded dead
within 24 hours of the landing(s) or end of each trip, by accessing
<a href="http://hmspermits.noaa.gov">hmspermits.noaa.gov</a>, 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 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.
[[Page 54912]]
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
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 on the quota transfer for the September 2022 time period is
impracticable. The General category fishery is underway, there was an
exceedance of the August subquota, and while the September subquota has
not yet been exceeded, NMFS anticipates that it will likely need to
close the General category soon. Thus, NMFS needs to take this quota
transfer action quickly. Delaying the action is contrary to the public
interest, not only because it would likely result in a General category
closure and associated costs to the fishery, but also administrative
costs due to further agency action needed to re-open the fishery after
quota is transferred. 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 category to the General category does not affect the overall
U.S. BFT quota, and available data show 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. 533(b)(B)
to waive prior notice and the opportunity for public comment. For all
of the above reasons, there is good cause under 5 U.S.C. 5523(d) to
waive the 30-day delay in effectiveness.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq. and 1801 et seq.
Dated: September 2, 2022.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-19437 Filed 9-7-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on September 8, 2022.
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