Pacific Island Pelagic Fisheries; 2015 U.S. Territorial Longline Bigeye Tuna Catch Limits for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
Federal Register, Volume 80 Issue 198 (Wednesday, October 14, 2015)
Federal Register Volume 80, Number 198 (Wednesday, October 14, 2015)
Rules and Regulations
Pages 61767-61772
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov
FR Doc No: 2015-26063
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Docket No. 150615523-5911-02
RIN 0648-XD998
Pacific Island Pelagic Fisheries; 2015 U.S. Territorial Longline Bigeye Tuna Catch Limits for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Final specifications.
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SUMMARY: In this final rule, NMFS specifies a 2015 limit of 2,000 metric tons (mt) of longline-caught bigeye tuna for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). NMFS will allow the territory to allocate up to 1,000 mt each year to U.S. longline fishing vessels in a specified fishing agreement that meets established criteria. As an accountability measure, NMFS will monitor, attribute, and restrict (if necessary) catches of longline-caught bigeye tuna, including catches made under a specified fishing agreement. These catch limits and accountability measures support the long-term sustainability of fishery resources of the U.S. Pacific Islands.
DATES: The final specifications are effective October 9, 2015, through December 31, 2015. The deadline to submit a specified fishing agreement pursuant to 50 CFR 665.819(b)(3) for review is November 9, 2015.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the fishery ecosystem plans are available from the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council), 1164 Bishop St., Suite 1400, Honolulu, HI 96813, tel 808-522-8220, fax 808-522-8226, or www.wpcouncil.org.
Copies of the environmental assessment (EA) and finding of no significant impact for this action, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2015-0077, are available from www.regulations.gov, or from Michael D. Tosatto, Regional Administrator, NMFS Pacific Islands Region (PIR), 1845 Wasp Blvd., Bldg. 176, Honolulu, HI 96818.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jarad Makaiau, NMFS PIRO Sustainable Fisheries, 808-725-5176.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS is specifying a catch limit of 2,000 mt of longline-caught bigeye tuna for the CNMI in 2015. NMFS is also authorizing
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the territory to allocate up to 1,000 mt of its 2,000 mt bigeye tuna limit to U.S. longline fishing vessels permitted to fish under the Fishery Ecosystem Plan for Pelagic Fisheries of the Western Pacific (FEP). The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council recommended these specifications.
NMFS will monitor catches of longline-caught bigeye tuna by the CNMI longline fisheries, including catches made by U.S. longline vessels operating under specified fishing agreements. A specified fishing agreement must meet specific criteria set forth in 50 CFR 665.819--Territorial catch and fishing effort limits, which also governs the procedures for attributing longline-caught bigeye tuna. When NMFS projects a territorial catch or allocation limit will be reached, NMFS will, as an accountability measure, prohibit the catch and retention of longline-caught bigeye tuna by vessels in the applicable territory (if the territorial catch limit is projected to be reached), and/or vessels in a specified fishing agreement (if the allocation limit is projected to be reached). These catch and allocation limits and accountability measures are identical to those that NMFS specified in 2014 (79 FR 64097, October 28, 2014). NMFS notes that there is a pending case in litigation--Conservation Council for Hawai`i, et al., v. NMFS (D. Haw.), case no. 14-cv-528--that challenges the framework process allowing the U.S. Pacific Island territories to allocate a portion of their bigeye tuna catch limit to U.S. longline fishing vessels.
You may find additional background information on this action in the preamble to the proposed specifications published on August 24, 2015 (80 FR 51193).
Comments and Responses
On August 24, 2015, NMFS published the proposed specifications and request for public comments (80 FR 51193); the comment period closed on September 8, 2015. NMFS received comments from individuals, businesses, and non-governmental organizations on the proposed specifications and the draft EA.
Comments on the Proposed Specifications
NMFS responds to comments on the proposed specifications, as follows:
Comment 1: Several commenters expressed concerns that the current closure of the western and central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) to longline-
caught bigeye tuna is having a negative financial effect on fishing vessels and other related businesses, and has created a very unstable environment for sustaining market confidence and job security of employees in the industry.
Response: On August 5, 2015, NMFS closed the U.S. pelagic longline fishery in the WCPO as a result of the fishery reaching the 2015 U.S. bigeye tuna catch limit of 3,502 mt (80 FR 44883). NMFS implemented the 2015 U.S. bigeye tuna catch limit to meet obligations of the United States under the Convention on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPF Convention), including implementation of applicable decisions by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC). At its Eleventh Regular Session, in December 2014, the WCPFC adopted Conservation and Management Measure (CMM) 2014-01 ``Conservation and Management Measure for Bigeye, Yellowfin, and Skipjack Tuna in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean.'' CMM 2014-01 is the most recent in a series of CMMs for the management of tropical tuna stocks under the purview of the WCPFC. For bigeye tuna, the stated objective of CMM 2014-01 and its predecessor CMM (i.e., CMM 2013-01) is to ensure reductions in the fishing mortality rate for bigeye tuna to a level no greater than the fishing mortality rate at maximum sustainable yield or FMSY, i.e., F/FMSY
