[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 169 (Thursday, September 1, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-21650]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: September 1, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 081194B]
Atlantic Tuna Fisheries
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of control date.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces that anyone entering any Atlantic tuna
fishery after September 1, 1994 (control date), may not be assured of
future access to the commercial tuna fishery in the Atlantic Ocean,
Gulf of Mexico or Caribbean under Federal regulations. This document is
intended to promote awareness of potential eligibility criteria for
access to the Atlantic tuna fisheries and to discourage new entries
into the fisheries based on economic speculation while the Secretary of
Commerce (Secretary) contemplates whether and how access to the
Atlantic tuna resources should be limited. This control date includes
fishing for the following species:
Albacore tuna--Thunnus alalunga
Bigeye tuna--Thunnus obesus
Bluefin tuna--Thunnus thynnus
Skipjack tuna--Katsuwonus pelamis; and
Yellowfin tuna--Thunnus albacares
EFFECTIVE DATE: The control date established by this action is
September 1, 1994.
ADDRESSES: Comments on the control date established herein should be
directed to: Richard B. Stone, Chief, Highly Migratory Species
Management Division (F/CM4), National Marine Fisheries Service, 1315
East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD, 20910.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard B. Stone, 301-713-2347, FAX
301-713-0596, Raymond E. Baglin, 508-281-9140, Kevin Foster, 508-281-
9260 or Rodney C. Dalton, 813-893-3161.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Atlantic tuna fisheries are defined and
managed under regulations at 50 CFR part 285 implementing the
recommendations of the International Commission for the Conservation of
Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) and issued under the authority of the under the
Atlantic Tunas Convention Act, 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq.
The Atlantic tunas listed above are all considered to be either
already overutilized or approaching an overutilized or fully-utilized
condition. Western Atlantic bluefin tuna are believed to be well below
the biomass that can produce the maximum sustainable yield (MSY).
Bigeye and albacore are considered to be fully utilized, and yellowfin
and skipjack are considered to be at or approaching full utilization.
Analyses conducted by the Standing Committee on Research and Statistics
of ICCAT suggest that Atlantic yellowfin tuna biomass may even be
slightly below the level that can produce the MSY. Fishing effort needs
to be controlled on all species simultaneously because fishing pressure
directed at less popular species may quickly increase if effort is
displaced from more heavily exploited species.
One of the concerns of participants in the Atlantic tuna fisheries,
and of the Secretary, is that management restrictions on the fisheries
that may be necessary to prevent overfishing or to rebuild stocks, may
cause economic hardship in the short term before future benefits
accrue. Continuation of the open access status of these fisheries may
exacerbate these short-term economic problems and impede the
effectiveness of management restrictions aimed at rebuilding stocks.
To avoid speculative entry into fisheries that are, or may be
becoming, overutilized and may be overcapitalized, the Secretary is
establishing a control date for possible limited entry. The date
selected is the date of publication of this document. Vessels which
have not entered a particular fishery prior to this date may not be
allowed entry into the fishery should a limited entry program, based on
any of numerous potential criteria (such as individual catch levels or
gear type used) be developed. Also, vessels already in the fisheries
may not meet eligibility criteria depending on which criteria are
eventually established. For the purposes of this document, NMFS has not
developed specific criteria to define entry into the tuna fisheries. In
most cases, entry into the fisheries means either purchase of a tuna
vessel, application for a fishery permit, investment in the
construction or modification of a vessel or gear for the purpose of
fishing for Atlantic tuna (directly or incidentally), the documented
landing of a specified quantity of a managed species of Atlantic tuna,
or a specified number of Atlantic tuna landings. The Secretary, after a
public review process, may adopt one or more of these definitions of
entry into a particular fishery at the time a limited access regime is
proposed, but may choose other options as well.
To help distinguish established Atlantic tuna fishermen from
speculative entrants to the fisheries, a control date may be set before
beginning discussions and planning of limited access regimes. As a
result, fishermen are hereby notified that entering an Atlantic tuna
fishery after that date will not necessarily assure them of future
access to the fishery resource on grounds of previous participation.
Establishment of a control date does not commit the Secretary to
any particular management regime or criterion for entry into Atlantic
tuna fisheries. Fishermen are not guaranteed future participation in
the Atlantic tuna fisheries regardless of their date of entry or
intensity of participation in the fishery before or after the control
date. The Secretary may subsequently choose a different control date,
or he may choose a management regime that does not make use of such a
date. The Secretary is free to apply other qualifying criteria for
fishery entry. The Secretary may give varying considerations to
fishermen in the fisheries before and after the control date. Finally,
the Secretary may choose to take no further action to control entry or
access to the fisheries.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq.
Dated: August 26, 1994.
Nancy Foster, Ph.D.,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 94-21650 Filed 8-31-94; 8:45 am]
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