[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 76 (Monday, April 21, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 19296-19299]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-10220]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 630

[Docket No. 970401075-7075-01; I.D. 121296A]
RIN 0648-AJ69


Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Fisheries; Atlantic Bluefin 
Tuna Quota Specifications

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Proposed quota specifications; public hearings; request for 
comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS issues proposed specifications to set Atlantic bluefin 
tuna (ABT) fishing category quotas for the 1997 fishing year. The 
proposed specifications are necessary to implement the 1996 
recommendation of the International Commission for the Conservation of 
Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) regarding fishing quotas for bluefin tuna, as 
required by the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act (ATCA), and to achieve 
domestic management objectives. NMFS will hold public hearings to 
receive comments from fishery participants and other members of the 
public regarding these proposed specifications.

DATES: Comments are invited and must be received on or before May 16, 
1997. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for dates and times of public 
hearings.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the proposed specifications should be sent to, 
and copies of supporting documents, including a Draft Environmental 
Assessment-Regulatory Impact Review (EA/RIR), are available from, 
Rebecca Lent, Chief, Highly Migratory Species Management Division, 
Office of Sustainable Fisheries (F/SF1), NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, 
Silver Spring, MD 20910-3282. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for 
locations of public hearings.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Kelly, 301-713-2347, or Mark 
Murray-Brown, 508-281-9260.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Atlantic tuna fisheries are managed 
under the authority of ATCA. ATCA authorizes the Secretary of Commerce 
(Secretary) to issue regulations as may be necessary to carry out the 
recommendations of ICCAT. The authority to carry out ICCAT 
recommendations has been delegated from the Secretary to the Assistant 
Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA (AA).
    Based on a revised stock assessment, parties at the 1996 meeting of 
ICCAT adopted a recommendation to increase the annual scientific 
monitoring quota of ABT in the western Atlantic Ocean from 2,200 metric 
tons (mt) to 2,354 mt. The share allocated to the United States was 
increased from 1306 mt to 1,344 mt and applies each year for the 1997 
and 1998 fishing years. These proposed specifications would implement 
that quota recommendation and allocate the total among the several 
established fishing categories. While the ICCAT recommendation refers 
to adjustments to the 1998 quotas based on underharvest or overharvest 
in 1997, there is no provision for such adjustments from the 1996 
fishing year. Therefore, these proposed specifications for 1997 which 
appear as an attachment to this document do not include any adjustments 
relative to landings in 1996.

Relation to Proposed Consolidation

    A proposed rule to consolidate all the Atlantic highly migratory 
species regulations was published by NMFS on November 6, 1996, in the 
Federal Register at 61 FR 57361. That proposed rule would significantly 
reorganize and condense regulatory text regarding the Atlantic tuna 
fisheries. In particular, regulations governing the Atlantic tuna 
fisheries, currently found at 50 CFR part 285, were proposed to be 
combined with other regulations governing highly migratory species 
under 50 CFR part 630. The quotas contained in these proposed 
specifications have been written to be consistent with the previously 
proposed consolidation.
    Additionally, under the consolidation, regulatory text regarding 
annual quotas for ABT was proposed to be eliminated and replaced by 
annual quota specifications to be published in the Federal Register. 
Under the proposed new procedures, NMFS would issue proposed quota 
specifications and applicable supporting analyses (EA/RIR, Initial 
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA)), provide for a public comment 
period, and issue final quota specifications. These proposed ABT quota 
specifications for 1997 are drafted in a format to enable the public to 
place these changes in the context of the proposed consolidated 
regulations under part 630. Copies of the proposed consolidation rule 
may be obtained by writing (see ADDRESSES) or calling the contact 
person (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).

Relation to Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR)

    These proposed specifications address in part comments submitted to 
NMFS in response to an ANPR (61 FR 48876, September 17, 1996). In the 
ANPR, NMFS requested comment on measures necessary to implement quota 
modifications and/or any other management recommendations for Atlantic 
tunas following the 1996 meeting of ICCAT. As stated in the ANPR, NMFS 
is required under ATCA to establish ABT quotas consistent with the 
recommendations of ICCAT. Under this legislative requirement, 
allocation of the U.S. ABT quota has been designed to collect the 
scientific information necessary to monitor the status of the ABT 
resource and, consistent with this, to achieve an equitable 
distribution of fishing opportunities to all fishing categories and all 
geographic areas.
    The ANPR established a 30-day comment period during which NMFS 
received numerous comments on quota allocations. NMFS received 141 
comments that the amount of quota allocated to the handgear categories 
should be increased substantially, given recent estimates of bluefin 
biomass. Some commenters requested that NMFS substantially reduce, and 
ultimately eliminate, the Purse Seine quota. A few individuals 
commented that the Charter/Headboat and Angling category quotas should 
reflect the economic benefits of those recreational fisheries.
    In addition to comments submitted in response to the ANPR, NMFS has 
received a petition for rulemaking regarding Atlantic bluefin tuna 
quotas. The petitioner requested that NMFS reallocate the domestic 
quota in a manner that reduces the Purse Seine category quota to the 
proportion established prior to the 1983 reallocation and increases the 
combined quotas of the General and Angling categories by the same 
amount. NMFS requests comment on the merits and impacts of this 
petition for rulemaking. Copies of the petition are available from NMFS 
(see ADDRESSES).

Proposed Fishing Category Quotas

    In the 1992 final rule (57 FR 32905, July 24, 1992), NMFS 
established quotas for the various commercial and recreational 
categories in the ABT fishery, based upon the historical share of catch 
in each of these categories

[[Page 19297]]

during the period 1983 through 1991 (see table). These base quotas were 
modified in 1995 by an increase of 76 mt to the overall U.S. quota at 
ICCAT and by reducing the Purse Seine category quota to 250 mt. Both 
the overall quota increase and the purse seine transfer were added to 
the Reserve, resulting in a total Reserve of 145 mt. The 1995 adjusted 
base quotas have been used as a reference point for the 1997 quota 
specifications proposed here.
    The total 1997 quota allocated by ICCAT to the United States is 
1,344 mt, a 33 mt increase over 1996. NMFS proposes to modify quotas by 
gear category and the Reserve to achieve a geographic and temporal 
distribution of fishing effort and catch that reflects the scientific 
monitoring nature of the quota. While NMFS has attempted to allocate 
the U.S. quota consistent with maintaining the traditional user groups 
and taking into account recent trends in fishing fleet activity, these 
socio-economic concerns are secondary to the collection of scientific 
data for the purposes of stock assessment.
    The proposed specifications would set the Reserve at 33 mt, would 
maintain the Purse Seine category quota at 250 mt, would maintain the 
Incidental quota at 110 mt, would increase the General category quota 
from 531 mt to 633 mt, would maintain the Harpoon category quota at 53 
mt, and would increase the Angling category quota from 222 mt to 265 
mt.

Reserve Category

    The Reserve category was established to ensure that the annual U.S. 
quota allocated by ICCAT is not exceeded. Since there is a lag time in 
reporting catches and landings of ABT in all commercial and 
recreational fishing categories, there is some uncertainty in real-time 
harvest estimates. In addition, some reasonable advance notice of 
closure is required, and weather conditions can affect the level of 
fishing effort prior to the announced closing date. All these factors 
lead to uncertainty in forecasting fishery closures, thus allocations 
from the Reserve are made to cover potential overharvest or to allow 
fishing to continue in a category for the collection of scientific 
data.
    The 33 mt increase from ICCAT for calendar year 1997 would be 
placed in the Reserve. Given the existing measures for quota monitoring 
of all categories and the additional measures that will be implemented 
in 1997 for Angling category quota monitoring, it is not necessary to 
maintain as much tonnage in the Reserve as had been established in 1995 
(145 mt). NMFS plans to implement a FAX/OCR system for commercial 
dealer reporting and has proposed direct reporting by recreational 
anglers (62 FR 9726, March 4, 1997). Additionally, NMFS has proposed 
changes to the Atlantic Tunas Permit Program that should improve 
information collection through dockside and telephone surveys. 
Consequently, NMFS believes that a 33 mt Reserve is adequate to ensure 
that the overall quota is not exceeded.

Purse Seine Category

    The Purse Seine category has been managed as a limited entry 
fishery of five vessels since 1982. Each vessel is annually allocated 
an equal share of the category quota, which may be harvested or traded 
to another authorized purse seine vessel. In contrast to the handgear 
fisheries, the Purse Seine category is the only ABT fishing category 
that has not been subject to increased participation and premature 
closure in recent years.
    NMFS has received numerous comments that the limited entry Purse 
Seine category is allocated an inordinate share of the national quota 
and that the allocation restricts fishing opportunities for other 
fishermen. Many individuals have requested that the purse seine quota 
be reduced and redistributed to the handgear fisheries. In recent 
years, NMFS has reallocated some of the purse seine quota to try to 
collect scientific information, particularly catch-per-unit effort, 
over the broadest geographic and temporal range as possible.
    NMFS is specifically seeking comment on the issue of reallocation 
of the purse seine quota. Further, NMFS has decided that reallocation 
issues warrant further consideration by the Atlantic Tunas Advisory 
Panel (AP) to be created as required under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act. The AP, required by law to be of 
balanced representation, would consider comments submitted under these 
proposed specifications and will discuss reallocation schemes and 
provide additional opportunities for public comment. For this reason, 
NMFS proposes to utilize the AP for further discussion and 
recommendations to the agency, and proposes no immediate change to the 
Purse Seine category quota.

General and Angling Categories

    Participation in the General and Angling categories has increased 
markedly in recent years and has resulted in early closures for these 
categories. Because of the reliance on the large fish and small fish 
catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) indices for stock assessment, the General 
and Angling category fisheries should be kept open as long as possible 
to achieve high survey sampling rates over the widest possible 
geographic area and temporal range.
    Also, in response to recommendations from the National Research 
Council, NMFS has increased scientific sampling of ABT, working with 
outside organizations in conducting genetic studies, microconstituent 
analysis, sexual maturity determination, tagging studies, and age and 
growth studies.
    Given the need to improve data collection, NMFS proposes to 
reallocate the 145 mt that had been in the 1995 Reserve to the Angling 
and General categories in proportion to the 1995 base quotas 
established for the two categories. In 1995, a total of 753 mt was 
allocated to the two categories: 222 mt (29.5 percent) for Angling and 
531 mt (70.5 percent) for General. Allocating the 145 mt on the basis 
of these proportions would increase the Angling category by 43 mt and 
the General category by 102 mt.
    The proposed increase in allocation to the Angling category would 
be used partially to cover harvest that has occurred during the 
collection of additional scientific information on the winter fishery 
in North Carolina. Approximately 150 archival tags have been surgically 
implanted in bluefin tuna in order to gather data to address movement 
as part of the exchange rate between the east and west Atlantic 
populations. ICCAT has stated in the 1996 session of the Commission 
that large numbers of archival tagged fish would be necessary to 
resolve the mixing question relative to the Mediterranean and Gulf of 
Mexico spawning stocks.
    Additional Angling category quota is also needed to account for 
collection of data relating to the use of circle hooks and discard 
mortality and the use of conventional tags to assess maturation rates 
for ABT of all sizes throughout their geographic range. The 
concentration of bluefin tuna in the Cape Hatteras area and the high 
catch rate makes this an ideal location for these scientific programs.
    The winter ABT fishery, while predominantly a catch-and-release 
fishery for giant fish, also resulted in considerable harvest of small 
medium fish in 1996 and 1997. While NMFS recognizes the value of 
scientific data collection from this uniquely high catch rate fishery, 
restrictive management measures are needed to ensure that scientific 
data collection and fishing opportunities in northern areas are not

[[Page 19298]]

adversely impacted. For these reasons, NMFS lowered the landing 
allowance for the winter fishery to one per vessel per day and issued a 
final rule (62 FR 8634, February 26, 1997) to allow for interim 
closures of the Angling category while the ABT migrate to other areas. 
Apart from these measures, however, additional allocation is needed 
because the summer and fall ABT fisheries have traditionally harvested 
the full amount allocated.
    Under the ABT stock recovery program, ICCAT has recommended that 
the United States limit catch of school bluefin tuna to 8 percent of 
the national quota. NMFS proposes the maximum permissible tonnage under 
the 8 percent ICCAT limit (108 mt) to allow for increased biological 
sampling of school bluefin. A large number of muscle, heart, otolith, 
and vertebrae samples are needed to continue with genetic and 
microconstituent analyses. These biological materials are to be 
obtained through dockside sampling of angler catches during the 
summertime recreational fishery. Broad-based sampling of young fish 
will help resolve important issues relative to stock structure and 
spawning site fidelity.
    NMFS also proposes to increase the Angling category trophy class 
(large medium and giant ABT) from 3 mt to 6 mt. Most of the fish 
implanted with archival tags are in these size classes. Increasing 
fishing opportunities in the trophy class and establishing northern and 
southern area subquotas should improve chances for archival tag 
recovery.
    For the reasons indicated, the Angling category quota would be 
increased from 222 mt to 265 mt. In addition to the total quota change, 
NMFS has previously proposed to increase the geographical and seasonal 
scope of data collection by subdividing the Angling category quota (62 
FR 9726, March 4, 1997). Consistent with that proposal, and the ICCAT 
limitation on catch of school bluefin tuna, the 265 mt would be 
subdivided as follows: School bluefin--108 mt, with 57 mt to the 
northern area (New Jersey and north) and 51 mt to the southern area 
(Delaware and south); large school/small medium bluefin--151 mt, with 
80 mt to the northern area and 71 mt to the southern area; large 
medium/giant bluefin--6 mt, with 2 mt to the northern area and 4 mt to 
the southern area.
    NMFS has previously implemented measures to address broadening the 
fishing opportunities and scientific data collection for the General 
category. These measures have included monthly quotas and restricted-
fishing days. Despite these measures, and new measures previously 
proposed for 1997 (62 FR 9726, March 4, 1997), NMFS recognizes that 
additional quota is needed to balance the increased participation in 
this fishery with the need for broad-based data collection. NMFS 
therefore proposes to increase the General category to 633 mt. NMFS 
will consider subdivision of this total General category quota on a 
seasonal or geographic basis, and possible effort controls, in a 
separate action.

Harpoon Category

    Although comments have been received indicating that catch rates 
and effort have increased in the Harpoon category, the data obtained 
from this fishery have not been as useful as other data in performing 
stock assessments. Due to the nature of the fishery, it is difficult to 
standardize CPUE. Thus far, harpoon catch data have not been 
incorporated into any useful index of abundance. Therefore, NMFS 
proposes that the 1997 quota remain at 53 mt for the Harpoon category.

Incidental Category

    The Incidental category was established to reduce waste in 
recognized situations of ABT bycatch. At the time that the ABT 
scientific monitoring quota was established by ICCAT, there was no 
directed longline fishery for bluefin tuna by U.S. vessels. However, 
incidental catch of bluefin tuna by vessels in the swordfish, shark, 
bigeye tuna, and yellowfin tuna fisheries was well documented. In 
addition, limited bycatch was known to occur in pound nets, traps, 
gillnets and non-tuna purse seine fisheries. Failure to include these 
catches in the U.S. quota would have led to wasteful discards and ABT 
fishing mortality over and above that which would occur in the directed 
handgear and purse seine fisheries.
    NMFS has previously established target catch requirements for the 
Incidental category to reduce incentives for targeting bluefin tuna 
with these types of fishing gear. As prices for ABT increased in the 
mid-1980s, it became necessary to implement trips limits and revise the 
target catch requirements to ensure that catch of ABT remained as an 
incidental occurrence in the traditional directed fisheries. In recent 
years, these landings restrictions have led to situations in which the 
incidental catch quota has not been met, yet substantial discards are 
being recorded and reported to ICCAT. The United States reported to 
ICCAT that longline discards averaged 125 mt a year from 1991 to 1995.
    Because of the high level of reported discards, and the increased 
ABT mortality that results when quota not landed against the Incidental 
category is reallocated to other directed fishing categories, ICCAT 
recommended that the U.S. take measures in 1997 to decrease discards of 
ABT. NMFS is currently analyzing observer reports, vessel logs, and 
dealer reports to more fully assess ABT interaction rates, patterns of 
fishing activity, and economic factors in all ABT fishing categories. 
Once all available data are analyzed, NMFS plans to propose measures to 
reduce ABT discards in a separate rulemaking.
    For these reasons, NMFS proposes that the Incidental category quota 
remain at the 1995 base level. The total quota of 110 mt would be 
allocated as follows: 86 mt to longline vessels operating south of 34 
degrees N. Lat.; 23 mt to longline vessels operating north of 34 
degrees N. Lat.; and 1 mt to fishermen using traps, fixed gear, and 
purse seines in the non-tuna fisheries. Pending the results of the 
analysis on discards, these quotas could be adjusted by allocations 
from the Reserve, if necessary, to conform to future management 
measures designed to reduce ABT discards in this fishing category.
Dates, Times, and Locations of Public Hearings
    The public hearing schedule is as follows:

Tuesday, April 22, 1997, Silver Spring, MD, 2-5 p.m.
    NOAA/NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 4527, Silver Spring, MD 
20910
Tuesday, April 29, 1997, Gloucester, MA, 7-10 p.m.
    Milton Fuller School, 4 School House Road, Gloucester, MA 01930
Wednesday, April 30, 1997, Brunswick, ME, 7-10 p.m.
    Atrium Inn and Conference Center, Cooks Corner, Brunswick, ME 23502
Wednesday, April 30, 1997, Islip, NY, 7-10 p.m.
    Holiday Inn, 3845 Veterans Memorial Highway, Ronkonkoma, NY 11779
Thursday, May 1, 1997, Manteo, NC, 7-10 p.m.
    North Carolina Aquarium, Airport Road, Manteo, NC 27954
Friday, May 2, 1997, Ocean City, MD, 7-10 p.m.
    City Hall, 3rd Street & Baltimore Avenue, Ocean City, MD 21842
Wednesday, May 7, 1997, Toms River, NJ, 7-10 p.m.
    Holiday Inn, 290 State Highway 37 East, Toms River, NJ 08753

[[Page 19299]]

Wednesday, May 7, 1997, St. Petersburg, FL, 7-9 p.m.
    NMFS Southeast Regional Office, 9721 Executive Center Drive, North, 
St. Petersburg, FL 33702
Thursday, May 8, 1997, Plymouth, MA, 7-10 p.m.
    Plymouth North High School, Obery Street, Plymouth, MA 02360

Classification

    These proposed quota specifications are published under the 
authority of the ATCA, 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq. Preliminarily, the AA has 
determined that the regulations contained in these proposed 
specifications are necessary to implement the recommendations of ICCAT 
and are necessary for management of the Atlantic tuna fisheries.
    NMFS prepared a draft EA for these proposed specifications with a 
preliminary finding of no significant impact on the human environment. 
In addition, a draft RIR was prepared with a preliminary finding of no 
significant impact. The Assistant General Counsel for Legislation and 
Regulation of the Department of Commerce has certified to the Chief 
Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration that the 
proposed specifications, if implemented, would not have a significant 
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities as follows:

    The proposed specifications would allocate the Total Allowable 
Catch (TAC) for the Atlantic bluefin tuna fishery in accordance with 
the recommendations of the International Commission for the 
Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) and domestic fishery 
management objectives. For all fishing categories, quotas are 
proposed at levels similar to or slightly higher than prior years. 
Because the overall bluefin tuna quota has increased, additional 
revenues will accrue to many small businesses.

Because of this certification, an IRFA was not prepared.
    These proposed specifications have been determined to be not 
significant for purposes of E.O. 12866.
    NMFS reinitiated consultation on the Atlantic tuna fishery under 
Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act on September 25, 1996. This 
consultation will consider new information concerning the status of the 
northern right whale. NMFS has determined that proceeding with this 
rule, pending completion of that consultation, will not result in any 
irreversible and irretrievable commitment of resources that would have 
the effect of foreclosing the formulation or implementation of any 
reasonable and prudent alternative measures. This proposed rule would 
implement quotas similar to prior years, making minor allocation 
changes. Therefore, the proposed rule is not expected to increase 
endangered species or marine mammal interaction rates.

    Dated: April 15, 1997.
Nancy Foster,
Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.


                               Attachment--Proposed ABT Quotas by Fishing Category                              
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                                                                     1992 Base       1995 Base     Proposed 1997
                                                                       quota          quota d          quota    
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
General.........................................................             531             531             633
Harpoon.........................................................              53              53              53
Incidental......................................................             113             110             110
    Other.......................................................               4               1               1
    Longline....................................................             109             109             109
        North...................................................              23              23              23
        South...................................................              86              86              86
Purse Seine.....................................................           a 301             250             250
Angling.........................................................             219             222             265
    School b....................................................             100             100             108
        North...................................................              53              53              57
        South...................................................              47              47              51
    Large School/Small Medium...................................             119             119             151
        North...................................................  ..............  ..............              80
        South...................................................  ..............  ..............              71
    Trophy c....................................................  ..............               3               6
        North...................................................  ..............  ..............               2
        South...................................................  ..............  ..............               4
Reserve.........................................................              31             145              33
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
      Total.....................................................            1248            1311           1344 
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a The 1992 base quota of 301 mt was reduced to 250 mt in 1995.                                                  
b ICCAT recommendation limits school size class subquota to 8% of U.S. allocation.                              
c Trophy quota category first established in 1995. In prior years, large medium and giant ABT landed by Angling 
  and Charter/Headboat vessels were counted against Incidental-Other gear category.                             
d Actual 1995 quotas included adjustments to base due to overharvest/underharvest from 1994.                    

[FR Doc. 97-10220 Filed 4-16-97; 2:44 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P