[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 62 (Friday, March 30, 2001)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 17387-17389]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-7942]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 300

[Docket No. 010111010-1010-01; I.D. 113000B]
RIN 0648-AO42


International Fisheries Regulations; Pacific Tuna Fisheries

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

ACTION: Proposed rule; implementation of Inter-American Tropical Tuna 
Commission (IATTC) recommendations to reduce bycatch in the purse seine 
fishery and to establish a regional vessel register.

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SUMMARY: NMFS proposes fishery conservation and management measures for 
the purse seine fishery in the eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO) to reduce 
bycatch of juvenile tuna, non-target fish species, and non-fish 
species. The measures were recommended by the IATTC and approved by the 
Department of State (DOS), in accordance with the Tuna Conventions Act 
of 1950. These proposed regulations are intended to ensure that U.S. 
fisheries are conducted according to the IATTC's recommendations, as 
approved by the DOS. In addition, the proposed rule would establish 
reporting requirements for U.S. vessels fishing for tuna in the EPO so 
that NMFS can provide information to the IATTC for a regional vessel 
register. This will promote more consistent compliance across all 
member nations.

DATES: Comments must be submitted by April 30, 2001. A public hearing 
will be held on this action in San Diego, CA and announced by NMFS in a 
separate document.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the proposed rule should be sent to Dr. Rebecca 
Lent, Administrator, Southwest Region, NMFS, 501 West Ocean Boulevard, 
Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802. Send comments regarding the reporting 
burden estimate or any other aspect of the collection-of-information 
requirements in this proposed rule to the NMFS address and to the 
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB), Washington, D.C. 00503 (Attn: NOAA Desk Officer). Copies 
of the Environmental Assessment/Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 
(IRFA) are available from Svein Fougner at the NMFS address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Svein Fougner, Sustainable Fisheries 
Division, Southwest Region, NMFS, 562-980-4030.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The United States is a member of the IATTC, 
which was established under the Convention for the Establishment of an 
Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission signed in 1949. The IATTC was 
established to provide an international arrangement to ensure 
conservation and management of yellowfin and other fish species taken 
by tuna fishing vessels in the EPO (also known as the Convention Area), 
which is generally described as the waters bounded by the coast of the 
Americas, 40 deg. N. lat., 150 deg. W. long., and 40 deg. S. lat. The 
IATTC has maintained a scientific research and fishery monitoring 
program for many years and annually assesses the status of tuna stocks 
and conditions in the fisheries to determine appropriate harvest levels 
or other measures to prevent overexploitation and promote maximum 
sustainable yield. The IATTC also has recently devoted increasing time 
and resources to assessing the need for and recommending conservation 
and management measures to deal with problems such as bycatch in the 
tuna fisheries.
    At its annual meeting in June 2000, the IATTC adopted a resolution 
that recommended a number of measures to address concerns about bycatch 
in the purse seine fishery. First, the IATTC agreed to a 1-year pilot 
project in which all purse seine vessels must retain on board and land 
all bigeye, skipjack, and yellowfin tuna caught, except fish considered 
unfit for human consumption for reasons other than size, in order to 
provide fishermen with a disincentive to capture small tuna. That is, 
requiring full retention would fill the vessel earlier such that total 
fishing mortality from a full vessel would represent fewer dead fish 
than if discard of dead juvenile fish had allowed further fishing on a 
trip. A single exception would be the final set of a trip, when there 
might be insufficient well space to accommodate all fish caught in the 
net.
    In addition, the IATTC recommendation calls for requiring purse 
seine fishers to promptly release all sea turtles, sharks, billfishes, 
rays, mahimahi, and other non-target species. The recommendation also 
specifies measures to handle and release encircled or entangled sea 
turtles. These include stationing a speedboat close to the net whenever 
a sea turtle is sighted in the net in order to assist in the release of 
the turtle; ceasing net roll if a turtle is entangled in the net, and 
not resuming net roll until the turtle has been disentangled and 
released; and if necessary, resuscitating before releasing a turtle 
that is brought aboard the vessel.
    The IATTC staff would evaluate the effects and effectiveness of the 
pilot program and provide advice as to whether the program should be 
extended, modified, or replaced by alternative measures. DOS approved 
this recommendation.
    At its June meeting, the IATTC also adopted a resolution to 
establish a regional vessel register. The vessel register would include 
all commercial vessels fishing for tuna in the Convention Area. Thus, 
purse seine, troll, harpoon, drift gillnet, and longline vessels would 
be included on this register. Charter and commercial passenger fishing 
vessels would not be included on the register. The register is intended 
to promote better and more consistent national monitoring and 
enforcement of IATTC recommendations and thus promote compliance with 
those recommendations. It also would provide a sound basis for 
identifying vessels that

[[Page 17388]]

might be affected by different management actions and for evaluating 
the manner in which they would be impacted. The DOS approved this 
recommendation as well.
    This proposed rule would implement the IATTC recommendations by 
establishing bycatch reduction measures and reporting requirements 
consistent with those recommendations.
    Duplication with other reporting requirements would be avoided to 
the extent possible. It is acknowledged that existing information 
collections provide most of the data required for the vessel register. 
For example, Coast Guard Documentation Records for vessels greater than 
5 tons carrying capacity provide vessel name, tonnage, and other vessel 
characteristics. Many of these vessels also have licenses issued under 
the High Seas Fishing Compliance Act (HSFCA), and the applications for 
those permits provide much of the information (e.g., previous vessel 
names, vessel characteristics) that NMFS must provide to the IATTC. A 
standard vessel register form has been provided by the IATTC and will 
be used to collect the needed information. NMFS proposes to identify 
all owners of vessels who have fished for species under IATTC purview 
in the EPO; to review existing data sources and, to the extent 
information is available from those sources, fill in the relevant 
information on the vessel register form; and to require that vessel 
owners confirm the filled-in information and provide information not 
already available. Thus, persons who have already provided the needed 
information under existing requirements (e.g., HSFCA) would not be 
required to provide the same information to NMFS a second time.

Classification

    This rule has been determined to be not significant for purposes of 
Executive Order 12866.
    NMFS prepared an Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA) 
that describes the economic impacts that the proposed rule, if adopted, 
would have on small entities. A copy of this analysis is available from 
NMFS (see ADDRESSES). A summary of the analysis follows.
    For the 2001 fishing year, the proposed action would require full 
retention of all tuna taken in a set and brought on board a fishing 
vessel, except on the last set when there might not be sufficient well 
space to accommodate all tuna in a set; require the prompt release of 
non-target species; and require the use of special procedures to 
release sea turtles with a minimum of injury, and reduce overall 
mortality. These measures should not have significant economic impacts. 
Although requiring fishermen to retain all tuna caught may force the 
fishermen to retain fish with little market value (due to small size), 
the requirement should result in faster filling of the vessel and thus 
less total cost for a fishing trip. Furthermore, the requirement would 
reduce the time normally taken to sort the tuna catch by size to 
discard small fish. Moreover, in the long term, any reduction in 
discards and associated mortality should assist in maintaining the 
productivity of the stocks, which would benefit the fisheries through 
higher catches in the future. The requirement to promptly release non-
target species essentially codifies a current practice and therefore 
would not generate additional cost to the fishermen. The requirement to 
release non-target species would not prevent retention of occasional 
non-target species for consumption on the vessel. Finally, the measures 
to handle sea turtles with special care are already standard practice 
and the measure relating to resuscitation of comatose sea turtles is 
already codified in the regulations at 50 CFR 223.206(d)(1)(B)(i) that 
implement the International Dolphin Conservation Program Act (IDCPA). 
No added costs to fishermen will be generated.
    All of these measures would apply to U.S. purse seine vessels 
fishing for tuna in the EPO. From 1993-1997, the maximum number of U.S. 
tuna vessels active in the EPO was 35 vessels. Of these, 27 small 
vessels (less than 363 mt carrying capacity) are considered to be small 
business entities. None of the proposed measures would have any 
disproportionate economic impact on these small entities.
    With respect to information collection, the proposed rule would 
require reporting certain information about vessels if that information 
is not already being reported to Federal or state agencies under other 
programs. It is estimated that about 1,290 vessels would be involved. 
However, most of the information required for the IATTC register can be 
obtained from other sources, and the added reporting burden is 
estimated to average about 565 hours per year for 3 years.
    For these reasons, NMFS concludes that the proposed measures would 
not cause a 5-percent decrease in gross revenues or a 5- percent or 
greater increase in costs of production or compliance; cause compliance 
costs as a percent of sales to be 10 percent or higher for small 
entities than for large entities; or cause any increase in capital 
costs of compliance for any small entities. Nor would they result in 2 
percent or more of the small entities affected being forced to cease 
business operations.
    NMFS conducted an Endangered Species Act section 7 consultation on 
the U.S. purse seine fishery as it would operate under the terms of the 
IDCPA. The proposed rule would be more restrictive than the IDCPA 
regulations and, as described in the environmental assessment for this 
proposed rule, would further decrease the risk to any listed species. 
The proposed action is within the scope of that earlier consultation, 
and no further consultations are necessary.
    This action is consistent with the Marine Mammal Protection Act, as 
amended by the International Dolphin Conservation Program Act.
    This proposed rule contains a collection-of-information requirement 
subject to review and approval by OMB under the Paperwork Reduction Act 
(PRA). These requirements have been submitted to OMB for approval. The 
owners of approximately 1,290 vessels would be required to provide at 
least some information, but very few will be required to provide 
substantial information because most of the information needed for the 
regional vessel register is available from existing sources. It is 
estimated that the average response time for this collection will be 
65-80 minutes. Public comment is sought regarding: whether this 
proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper 
performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the 
information would have practical utility; the accuracy of the burden 
estimate; ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and ways to minimize the burden of the 
collection of information, including through the use of automated 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology. Send 
comments on these or any other aspects of the collection of information 
to NMFS (see ADDRESSES) and to OMB (Attn: NOAA Desk Officer).
    Notwithstanding any other provision of the law, no person is 
required to respond to, nor shall a person be subject to a penalty for 
failure to comply with, a collection of information subject to the 
requirements of the PRA, unless that collection of information displays 
a currently valid OMB control number.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 300

    Fisheries, High seas fishing, International agreements, Permits, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

[[Page 17389]]


    Dated: March 27, 2001.
William T. Hogarth,
Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.

    For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 300 is 
proposed to be amended as follows:

PART 300--INTERNATIONAL FISHERIES REGULATIONS

Subpart C--Pacific Tuna Fisheries

    1. The authority citation for subpart C continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 951-961 and 971 et seq.

    2. In Sec. 300.22, the heading is revised, the existing paragraph 
is designated as paragraph (a), and a new paragraph (b) is added to 
read as follows:


Sec. 300.22  Recordkeeping and reporting.

* * * * *
    (b) The owner of any fishing vessel that uses purse seine, 
longline, drift gillnet, harpoon, or troll fishing gear to harvest tuna 
in the Convention Area for sale, or a person authorized in writing to 
serve as agent for the owner, must provide such information about the 
vessel and its characteristics as the Regional Administrator requests 
to conform with IATTC actions to establish a regional register of all 
vessels used to fish for species under IATTC purview in the Convention 
Area. This initially includes but is not limited to vessel name and 
registration number; a photograph of the vessel with the registration 
number showing; vessel length, beam and moulded depth; gross tonnage 
and hold capacity in cubic meters and tonnage; engine horsepower; date 
and place where built; and type of fishing method or methods used.

    3. Section 300.28 is amended by adding paragraphs (h) through (l) 
as follows:


Sec. 300.28  Prohibitions.

* * * * *
    (h) Discard any bigeye, skipjack, or yellowfin tuna off a purse 
seine vessel in the Convention Area, except fish unfit for human 
consumption due to spoilage, and except on the last set of the trip if 
the well capacity is filled;
    (i) When using purse seine gear to fish for tuna in the Convention 
Area, fail to release any non-tuna species as soon as practicable after 
being identified;
    (j) Land any non-tuna fish species taken in a purse seine set in 
the Convention Area;
    (k) Fail to use the sea turtle handling and release and turtle 
resuscitation procedures in Sec. 300.29(e); or
    (l) Fail to report information when requested by the Regional 
Administrator under Sec. 300.21.

    4. Section 300.29 is amended by adding a new paragraph (e) to read 
as follows:


Sec. 300.29  Eastern Pacific fisheries management.

* * * * *
    (e) Bycatch reduction measures. (1) Through December 31, 2001, all 
purse seine vessels must retain on board and land all bigeye, skipjack, 
and yellowfin tuna brought on board the vessel after a set, except fish 
deemed unfit for human consumption for other than reason of size. This 
requirement shall not apply to the last set of a trip if the available 
well capacity is insufficient to accommodate the entire fish catch 
brought on board.
    (2) All purse seine vessels must release as promptly as practicable 
all sharks, billfishes, rays, mahimahi (dorado), and other non-tuna 
fish species, except those being retained for consumption aboard the 
vessel.
    (3) All purse seine vessels must apply special sea turtle handling 
and release procedures, as follows:
    (i) Whenever a sea turtle is sighted in the net, a speedboat shall 
be stationed close to the point where the net is lifted out of the 
water to assist in release of the turtle;
    (ii) If a turtle is entangled in the net, net roll shall stop as 
soon as the turtle comes out of the water and shall not resume until 
the turtle has been disentangled and released;
    (iii) If, in spite of the measures taken under paragraphs (e)(3)(i) 
and (ii) of this section, a turtle is accidentally brought aboard the 
vessel, and the turtle is alive and active, the vessel operator shall 
disengage the vessel and shall release the turtle as quickly as 
practicable, head first;
    (iv) If a turtle brought on board under paragraph (e)(3)(iii) of 
this section is alive but comatose or inactive, the resuscitation 
procedures described in Sec. 223.206(d)(1)(B)(i) of this title shall be 
used before release of the turtle.
[FR Doc. 01-7942 Filed 3-29-01; 8:45 am]
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