Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Fisheries

• Published date: 22 September 2020
• Citation: 85 FR 59445
• Record Number: 2020-20906
• Section: Rules and Regulations
• Court: National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration

59445

Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 184 / Tuesday, September 22, 2020 / Rules and Regulations

(b) [Reserved]

[FR Doc. 2020–20804 Filed 9–18–20; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4165–15–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 635

[Docket No. 180117042–8884–02; RTID

0648–XA483]

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.

SUMMARY

: NMFS is transferring 111.6

metric tons (mt) of Atlantic bluefin tuna

(BFT) quota from the Reserve category

to the General category. This action is

intended to account for an accrued

overharvest of 63.3 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

would affect Atlantic tunas General

category (commercial) permitted vessels

and Highly Migratory Species (HMS)

Charter/Headboat category permitted

vessels with a commercial sale

endorsement when fishing

commercially for BFT.

DATES

: Effective September 17, 2020

through September 30, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

:

Sarah McLaughlin or Nicholas

Velseboer, 978–281–9260, or Larry

Redd, 301–427–8503.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

:

Regulations implemented 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.) governing the harvest of BFT by

persons and vessels subject to U.S.

jurisdiction are found at 50 CFR part

635. Section 635.27 subdivides 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

Highly Migratory Species Fishery

Management Plan (2006 Consolidated

HMS FMP) (71 FR 58058, October 2,

2006) and amendments. NMFS is

required under ATCA and the

Magnuson-Stevens Act to provide U.S.

fishing vessels with a reasonable

opportunity to harvest the ICCAT-

recommended quota.

The current baseline General and

Reserve category quotas are 555.7 mt

and 29.5 mt, respectively. See

§ 635.27(a). Each of the General category

time periods (January, June through

August, September, October through

November, and December) is allocated a

‘‘subquota’’ or portion of the annual

General category quota. The baseline

subquotas for each time period are as

follows: 29.5 mt for January; 277.9 mt

for June through August; 147.3 mt for

September; 72.2 mt for October through

November; and 28.9 mt for December.

Any unused General category quota

rolls forward from one time period to

the next and is available for use in

subsequent time periods. At the time of

drafting this notice, NMFS has taken

four actions that resulted in adjustments

to the General and Reserve category

quotas, resulting in currently adjusted

quotas of 113 mt of quota for the

Reserve category, 100 mt for the General

category January through March 2020

subquota period, and 9.4 mt for the

December 2020 subquota period (85 FR

17, January 2, 2020; 85 FR 6828,

February 6, 2020; 85 FR 43148, July 16,

2020).

Transfer of 111.6 mt From the Reserve

Category to the General Category

Under § 635.27(a)(9), NMFS has the

authority to transfer quota among

fishing categories or subcategories, after

considering regulatory determination

criteria provided under § 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 (§ 635.27(a)(8)(i)), biological

samples collected from BFT landed by

General category fishermen and

provided by tuna dealers provides

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 (§ 635.27(a)(8)(ii)

and (ix)). Preliminary landings data as

of September 15, 2020, indicate that the

General category landed a cumulative

total of 441.2 mt through August 31,

which exceeds the cumulative adjusted

quota available through August 31, i.e.,

377.9 mt. Preliminary September

landings as of September 15, 2020, are

114.2 mt, which represents 78 percent

of the baseline September subquota

(147.3 mt). At the time of drafting of this

inseason action, the General category

subquota has not yet been exceeded, but

without a quota transfer at this time,

NMFS would likely close the General

category fishery shortly, and

participants would have to stop bluefin

tuna fishing activities while

commercial-sized bluefin tuna remain

available in the areas where General

category permitted vessels operate at

this time of year. Transferring 111.6 mt

of quota from the Reserve category

would account for 63.3 mt of accrued

overharvest from the prior time periods

and result in an additional 48.3 mt

being available for the September 2020

subquota period after, thus effectively

providing limited additional

opportunities to harvest the U.S. bluefin

tuna quota while avoiding exceeding it.

Regarding the projected ability of the

vessels fishing under the particular

category quota (here, the General

category) to harvest the additional

amount of BFT quota transferred before

the end of the fishing year

(§ 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. A portion of the

transferred quota covers the 63.3-mt

overharvest in the category to date, and

NMFS anticipates that General category

participants will be able to harvest the

remaining 48.3 mt of transferred BFT

quota by the end of the subquota time

period. In the unlikely event that any of

this quota is unused by September 30,

such quota will roll forward to the next

subperiod within the calendar year (i.e.,

to the October through November

period), and NMFS anticipates that it

would be used before the end of the

fishing year. NMFS also anticipates that

some underharvest of the 2019 adjusted

U.S. BFT quota will be carried forward

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59446

Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 184 / Tuesday, September 22, 2020 / Rules and Regulations

to 2020 and placed in the Reserve

category, in accordance with the

regulations. Thus, this quota transfer

would allow fishermen to take

advantage of the availability of fish on

the fishing grounds, and provide a

reasonable opportunity to harvest the

full U.S. BFT quota.

NMFS also considered the estimated

amounts by which quotas for other gear

categories of the bluefin tuna fishery

might be exceeded (§ 635.27(a)(8)(iv))

and the ability to account for all 2020

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 will need

to account for 2020 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

(§ 635.27(a)(8)(v) and (vi)). This transfer

would be consistent with the current

quotas, which were established and

analyzed in the 2018 BFT quota final

rule (83 FR 51391, October 11, 2018),

and with objectives of the 2006

Consolidated HMS FMP and

amendments and is not expected to

negatively impact stock health or to

affect the stock in ways not already

analyzed in those documents. Another

principal consideration is the objective

of providing opportunities to harvest the

full annual U.S. BFT quota without

exceeding it based on the goals 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 their full BFT

quota allocations (related to

§ 635.27(a)(8)(x)). Specific to the

General category, this includes

providing opportunity equitably across

all time periods.

Based on the considerations above,

NMFS is transferring 111.6 mt from the

Reserve category to the General

category. Of this amount, 63.3 mt

accounts for preliminary overharvest of

the January through March and June

through August time period subquotas,

and 48.3 mt is added to the September

subquota. Therefore, NMFS adjusts the

General category September 2020

subquota to 195.6 mt after accounting

for the 63.3 mt of overharvest through

for the prior 2020 time periods, and

adjusts the Reserve category quota to 1.4

mt, the amount of Reserve category

quota obligated for scientific research.

Again, NMFS anticipates that some

underharvest (i.e., 127.3 mt) of the 2019

adjusted U.S. BFT quota will be carried

forward to 2020 and placed in the

Reserve category, in accordance with

the regulations, in the next few weeks.

The General category fishery will

remain open until September 30, 2020,

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 adjustment, as well as closures,

and may result in enforcement actions.

Additionally, and separate from the

dealer reporting requirement, General

and HMS Charter/Headboat category

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

hmspermits.noaa.gov 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, NMFS may

determine that additional action (e.g.,

quota adjustment, daily retention limit

adjustment, or closure) is necessary to

enhance scientific data collection from,

and fishing opportunities in, all

geographic areas, and to ensure all

available subquotas are not exceeded. 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

hmspermits.noaa.gov, for updates on

quota monitoring and inseason

adjustments.

Classification

NMFS issues this action pursuant to

section 305(d) of the Magnuson-Stevens

Act. This action is required by 50 CFR

part 635, which was issued pursuant to

section 304(c), and is exempt from

review under Executive Order 12866.

The Assistant Administrator for

NMFS (AA) finds that pursuant to 5

U.S.C. 553(b)(B), there is good cause to

waive prior notice and an opportunity

for public comment on this action, as

notice and comment would be

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 to implement the

quota transfer for the September 2020

time period is also contrary to the

public interest as such a delay would

likely result in closure of the General

category fishery when the baseline

quota is met and the need to re-open the

fishery, with attendant administrative

costs and costs to the fishery. 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 shows 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.

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq. and 1801

et seq.

Dated: September 17, 2020.

Jennifer M. Wallace,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 2020–20906 Filed 9–17–20; 4:15 pm]

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