[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 106 (Thursday, June 3, 1999)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 29806-29808]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-14054]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Parts 285 and 635
[Docket No. 990217050-9147-02; I.D. 010799A]
RIN 0648-AM17
Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Fisheries; Atlantic
Bluefin Tuna 1999 Quota and Effort Control Specifications
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Final specifications.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NMFS announces specifications to set the 1999 Atlantic bluefin
tuna (BFT) fishing category quotas and General category effort
controls. These specifications are necessary to implement the 1998
recommendation of the International Commission for the Conservation of
Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) required by the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act
(ATCA) and to achieve domestic management objectives.
DATES: The final specifications are effective June 1, 1999, through May
31, 2000.
ADDRESSES: Copies of supporting documents, including the Fishery
Management Plan for Atlantic Tunas, Swordfish, and Sharks (HMS FMP),
are available from the Highly Migratory Species Management Division,
NMFS, Northeast Regional Office, One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA
01930.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brad McHale or Sarah McLaughlin at
978-281-9260.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Atlantic tunas are managed under the dual
authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management
Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) and ATCA. The authority to issue regulations
has been delegated from the Secretary to the Assistant Administrator
for Fisheries, NOAA (AA). Within NMFS, daily responsibility for
management of Atlantic HMS fisheries rests with the Office of
Sustainable Fisheries, and is administered by the HMS Management
Division.
ICCAT has identified the western stock of Atlantic BFT as
overexploited and has recommended fishing quotas for the contracting
parties. Based on the 1998 revised stock assessment, parties at the
1998 meeting of ICCAT adopted a 20-year west Atlantic BFT rebuilding
program, beginning in 1999 and continuing through 2018. ICCAT has
adopted an annual total allowable catch (TAC) of 2,500 metric tons
whole weight (mt ww) of west Atlantic BFT inclusive of dead discards,
to be applied annually until such time as the TAC is changed based on
advice from the Standing Committee on Research and Statistics. Given
the new stock assessment and rebuilding schedule, the annual landing
quota allocated to the United States was increased by 43 mt ww to 1,387
mt ww.
Background information and rationale for these specifications were
provided in the Bluefin Tuna Addendum to the draft HMS FMP and the
final HMS FMP, and are not repeated here. The quota specifications
allocate the landings quota among the several established fishing
categories. The specifications are issued pursuant to interim
provisions of Sec. 635.25(c) of the consolidated HMS regulations (64 FR
29090, May 28, 1999) until June 30, 1999, and thereafter through May
31, 2000, pursuant to Sec. 635.27(a) of the Atlantic HMS regulations.
The General category effort controls are issued pursuant to Sec. 285.24
of the Atlantic tunas regulations until June 30, 1999, and thereafter
through May 31, 2000, pursuant to Sec. 635.23(a) of the Atlantic HMS
regulations.
Changes From the Proposed Specifications
Based on consideration of comments received during the comment
period, NMFS has added 1 day per week (Mondays) to the proposed
schedule of restricted fishing days (RFDs) in order to extend the
General category fishery season.
Fishing Category Quotas
U.S. domestic quota allocations are based on the same percentages
as the 1997 allocations, except that the Purse
[[Page 29807]]
Seine category is capped at its 1997/1998 quota of 250 mt ww. Based on
these percentages, and quota adjustments based on overharvests or
underharvests in the Angling, General, and Purse Seine categories in
1998, the adjusted quotas for the 1999 fishing year are as follows: 261
mt ww for the Angling category, including 99 mt ww for the school BFT
subquota; 654 mt ww for the General category; 54 mt ww for the Harpoon
category; 113 mt ww for the Longline category; 1 mt ww for the Trap
category; 252 mt ww for the Purse Seine category; and 43 mt ww for the
Reserve.
The Angling category quota is subdivided as follows: School BFT--99
mt ww, with 43 mt ww to the northern area, 38 mt ww to the southern
area, and 18 mt ww held in reserve; large school/small medium BFT --
156 mt ww, with 83 mt ww to the northern area and 73 mt ww to the
southern area; large medium/giant BFT -- 6 mt ww, with 2 mt ww to the
northern area and 4 mt ww to the southern area.
The Longline category is subdivided as follows: 89 mt ww to
longline vessels operating south of 34 deg. N, and 24 mt ww to longline
vessels operating north of 34 deg. N.
For 1999, NMFS implements General category quota subdivisions as
established for 1998, as follows: 60 percent for June-August, 30
percent for September, and 10 percent for October-December. Given the
carryover quota for the General category (1 mt ww), adjustments are
necessary to allocate the carryover across the established subperiods.
These percentages are applied only to the coastwide baseline quota for
the General category of 644 mt ww, with the remaining 10 mt ww reserved
for the New York Bight fishery. Thus, of the 644 mt ww baseline General
category quota, 387 mt ww will be available in the period beginning
June 1 and ending August 31, 193 mt ww will be available in the period
beginning September 1 and ending September 30, and 64 mt ww will be
available in the period beginning October 1 and ending December 31.
The New York Bight set-aside area is the area comprising the waters
south and west of a straight line originating at a point on the
southern shore of Long Island at 72 deg.27' W (Shinnecock Inlet) and
running SSE 150 deg. true, and north of 38 deg.47' N. When the
coastwide General category fishery has been closed in any quota period,
NMFS may publish notification in the Federal Register to make available
up to 10 mt ww of the quota set aside for the New York Bight area. The
daily catch limit for the set-aside area will be one large medium or
giant BFT per vessel per day. Upon the effective date of the set-aside
fishery, fishing for, retaining, or landing large medium or giant BFT
is authorized only within the set-aside area. Any portion of the set-
aside amount not harvested prior to the reopening of the coastwide
General category fishery in the subsequent quota period may be carried
over for the purpose of renewing the set-aside fishery at a later date.
Attainment of the subquota in any quota period will result in a
closure until the beginning of the following quota period. The subquota
for the following quota period will be adjusted by any underharvest or
overharvest in the previous quota period. Announcements of closures
will be filed for publication with the Office of the Federal Register,
stating the effective date of closure, and will be disseminated by the
Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Fax Network, the Atlantic Tunas
Information Line, NOAA weather radio, and Coast Guard Notice to
Mariners. Although notification of closure will be provided as far in
advance as possible, fishermen are encouraged to call the Atlantic
Tunas Information Line (978-281-9305 or 888-USA-TUNA) to check the
status of the fishery before leaving for a fishing trip.
Restricted-Fishing Days
Persons aboard vessels permitted in the General category are
prohibited from fishing (including tag and release fishing) for BFT of
all sizes on the following days in 1999: July 7, 11, 12, 14, 18, 19,
21, 25, 26, and 28; August 1, 2, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 18, 22,
23, 25, 29, and 30; September 1, 5, 6, 8, 12, 13, 15, 19, 20, 22, 26,
27 and 29; and October 1. Persons aboard vessels permitted in the
Atlantic Tunas Charter/Headboat category are prohibited from fishing
for large medium and giant BFT under the General category quota on the
indicated RFDs. These RFDs will improve distribution of fishing
opportunities without increasing BFT mortality.
Comments and Responses
NMFS received numerous comments regarding BFT quota allocation and
General category effort controls. NMFS addressed quota allocation
comments in the final rule to implement the HMS FMP.
General Category Quota Subdivision
Comment: NMFS received some comments in support of the status quo
General category time-period subquotas (three periods), and some
suggesting alternate schedules, including: NMFS should implement two
General category time-period subquotas (e.g., for June through
September and October through December) since prices are higher in
August than September, and in order to avoid derby conditions in
October.
Response: NMFS has considered these comments and believes that a
General category season divided into three time-period subquotas, as
proposed, best meets the concerns of the fishing industry, as well as
the fishery management objective of maximizing fishing opportunities. A
season divided into two time-period subquotas as some suggested (June
through September and October through December) could result in the
General category fishery being closed for the entire month of
September. This would reduce fishing opportunities, as the fishery
would be closed during a time when bluefin tuna are available
throughout New England. In addition, catch per unit effort (CPUE)
information has traditionally been collected from the General category
fishery during September, and if the fishery were to be closed during
this time period, the continuous time-series of CPUE data could be
lost.
Restricted-fishing days
Comment: NMFS received numerous comments regarding RFDs, some of
which support the status quo, some of which oppose RFDs altogether, and
some suggesting alternate schedules, including: in order to extend the
General category season, NMFS should implement more RFDs than proposed,
e.g., 3 days or more per week (Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays or
Sundays, Mondays, and Wednesdays) in addition to the days that
correspond to Japanese market closures, and should begin the schedule
of RFDs for 1999 in early July.
Response: NMFS has considered these comments and agrees additional
General category RFDs may increase the likelihood that fishing would
continue throughout the summer and fall, and would further distribute
fishing opportunities without increasing bluefin mortality. NMFS has
added Mondays to the schedule of RFDs.
Classification
These final specifications are published under the authority of the
Magnuson-Stevens Act, 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq., and the Atlantic Tunas
Convention Act, 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq. The AA has determined that these
specifications are necessary to implement the recommendations of ICCAT
and are necessary for the management of the Atlantic tuna fisheries.
The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce
certified
[[Page 29808]]
to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration
that the proposed specifications would not have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small entities. No comments were
received that would alter the basis for this determination. Given the
certification, an initial regulatory flexibility analysis was not
prepared for the proposed specifications. However, irrespective of the
certification, a final regulatory flexibility analysis was prepared for
the HMS FMP, which also contains an analysis of General category effort
controls. A summary of that analysis may be found in the HMS FMP
available from NMFS (see ADDRESSES).
These quota and effort control specifications impose no
requirements with which fishermen will have to come into compliance,
and are necessary to help ensure that the U.S. actions are consistent
with its international obligations at ICCAT. Therefore, NMFS has
determined that there is good cause to waive partially the 30-day delay
in the effective date normally required by 5 U.S.C. 553(d). NMFS will
rapidly communicate these final specifications through the FAX network.
These final specifications have been determined to be not
significant for purposes of E.O. 12866.
Dated: May 28, 1999.
William W. Fox,
Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 99-14054 Filed 5-28-99; 4:31 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F