[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 63 (Monday, April 2, 2001)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 17520-17522]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-8032]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 635

[Docket No. 010326079-1079-01; I.D. 010301C]
RIN 0648-AO96


Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS); 2001 Atlantic Bluefin 
Tuna Quota Specifications and General Category Effort Controls

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

ACTION: Proposed initial annual quota specifications and General 
category effort controls; public hearings; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS proposes initial specifications for the Atlantic bluefin 
tuna (BFT) fishery to set BFT quota and General category effort 
controls for the 2001 fishing year. The proposed initial quota 
specifications and effort controls are necessary to implement the 1998 
recommendation of the International Commission for the Conservation of 
Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) as required by the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act 
(ATCA) and to achieve domestic management objectives under the 
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-
Stevens Act). NMFS will hold public hearings to receive comments from 
fishery participants and other members of the public regarding the 
proposed initial quota specifications and effort controls.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before May 14, 2001.
    The public hearings dates are:
    1. Wednesday, April 11, 2001, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Gloucester, MA 
01930.
    2. Tuesday, April 17, 2001, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Hyannis, MA 02601.
    3. Friday, April 20, 2001, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Brunswick, ME 04011.
    4. Friday, April 27, 2001, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Riverhead, NY 11901.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the proposed initial quota 
specifications and General category effort controls should be sent to 
Chris Rogers, Acting Chief, Highly Migratory Species Management 
Division, Office of Sustainable Fisheries (F/SF1), NMFS, 1315 East-West 
Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910-3282. Comments also may be sent via 
facsimile (fax) to (301) 713-1917. Comments will not be accepted if 
submitted via e-mail or the Internet.
    The public hearing locations are:
    1. Gloucester--Milton Fuller School, 4 School House Road, 
Gloucester, MA 01930.
    2. Hyannis--Sheraton Hyannis Four Points, Route 132, Hyannis, MA 
02601.
    3. Brunswick--The Atrium, 21 Gurnet Road, Cooks Corner, Brunswick, 
ME 04011
    4. Riverhead--Riverhead Town Hall, 2000 Howell Ave, Riverhead, NY 
11901

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Brad McHale or Pat Scida, (978) 281-
9260.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Atlantic tunas are managed under the dual 
authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Act and ATCA. ATCA authorizes the 
Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) to implement binding recommendations 
of ICCAT. The authority to issue regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens 
Act and ATCA has been delegated from the Secretary to the Assistant 
Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA (AA).

Background

    On May 28, 1999, NMFS published in the Federal Register (64 FR 
29090) final

[[Page 17521]]

regulations, effective July 1, 1999, implementing the Fishery 
Management Plan for Atlantic Tunas, Swordfish, and Sharks (HMS FMP) 
that was adopted and made available to the public in April 1999. The 
proposed initial specifications are necessary to implement the 1998 
ICCAT recommendation, which is required by ATCA, and to achieve 
domestic management objectives under the Magnuson-Stevens Act. The 
proposed initial quota specifications would allocate the total ICCAT-
recommended quota (including the allocation of the unused portion of 
the dead discard allowance) among the several established fishing 
categories, would carry-over any unharvested quota in 2000 from a 
specific category to the same category for 2001, and would be 
consistent with the BFT rebuilding program as set forth in the HMS FMP.
    NMFS proposes the 2001 fishing year (June 1, 2001 to May 31, 2001) 
BFT initial quota specifications under the annual and inseason 
adjustment procedures of the HMS FMP. Also in accordance with the HMS 
FMP, NMFS proposes the General category effort control schedule, 
including time-period subquotas and restricted fishing days (RFDs), for 
the upcoming fishing season. After consideration of public comment, 
NMFS will issue final initial specifications and publish them in the 
Federal Register.

Domestic Quota Allocation

    The HMS FMP and the implementing regulations established baseline 
percentage quota shares for each of the domestic fishing categories of 
the ICCAT-recommended U.S. BFT quota. These percentage shares were 
based on allocation procedures that had been developed by NMFS over 
several years. The baseline percentage quota shares established in the 
HMS FMP for fishing years beginning June 1, 2001 are as follows: 
General category--47.1 percent; Harpoon category--3.9 percent; Purse 
Seine category --18.6 percent; Angling category--19.7 percent; Longline 
category--8.1 percent; Trap category--0.1 percent; and Reserve--2.5 
percent.
    The current ICCAT BFT quota recommendation allows, and U.S. 
regulations require, the addition or subtraction, as appropriate, of 
any underharvest or overharvest in a fishing year to the appropriate 
quota category for the following year, provided that such carryover 
does not result in overharvest of the total annual quota and is 
consistent with all applicable ICCAT recommendations, including 
restrictions on landings of school BFT. Therefore, NMFS proposes to 
adjust the 2001 fishing year quota specifications for the BFT fishery 
to account for underharvest and overharvest in the 2000 fishing year.
    The General, Harpoon, and Purse Seine category fisheries for BFT 
have been closed for the 2000 fishing year (June 1, 2000 to May 31, 
2001), but landings figures are still preliminary and may be updated 
before the 2001 specifications are finalized. For the 2000 fishing 
year, NMFS has preliminarily determined that General category landings 
were less then the adjusted General category quota by 9.7 mt; Harpoon 
category landings were less then the adjusted Harpoon category quota by 
0.6 mt; and Purse Seine category landings exceeded the adjusted Purse 
Seine category quota by 4.0 mt. Based on the estimated amount of 
Reserve that NMFS is maintaining for the landing of BFT taken during 
ongoing scientific research projects, NMFS estimates that 9.4 mt of 
Reserve remains unharvested from the 2000 fishing year.
    Given estimated catch rates and available quota, the Angling and 
Longline category fisheries will remain open through May 31, 2001. As 
NMFS anticipates publication of final BFT quota specifications for the 
2001 fishing year prior to the availability of final 2000 landings 
figures for these two categories, best estimates will be used to 
determine carryover amounts, if any. To date, the Angling category has 
the following underharvests for the 2000 fishing year: School BFT--
118.4 mt; large school/small medium BFT--130.1 mt; and large medium/
giant BFT--4.8 mt. In addition, 38.3 mt remains in the school reserve. 
To date, 100.6 mt remain in the Longline category. Should adjustments 
to the proposed initial 2001 BFT quota specifications be required based 
on the final 2000 BFT landings figures, NMFS will publish a Federal 
Register document adjusting the final initial 2001 fishing year quota 
specifications.
    In accordance with the regulations regarding annual adjustments at 
Sec. 635.27(a)(9)(ii), NMFS proposes specifications for the 2001 
fishing year that include carryover adjustments. The proposed quotas 
are: General category--667.0 mt; Harpoon category--55.0 mt; Purse Seine 
category--255.6 mt; Angling category--566.4 mt; Longline category--
213.6 mt; and Trap category--3.9 mt. Additionally, 44.3 mt would be 
reserved for inseason allocations or to cover potential overharvest in 
any category except the Purse Seine category. Regulations at 50 CFR 
635.27(a)(9)(i) require that Purse Seine category vessels add or 
subtract under or overharvests to or from each individual vessel's 
quota allocation, as appropriate.
    As part of the BFT rebuilding program, ICCAT recommended an 
allowance for dead discards. The U.S. dead discard allowance is 68 
metric tons (mt). The 1999 fishing year preliminary estimate of U.S. 
dead discards, as reported in pelagic longline vessel logbooks, totaled 
51 mt (data provided by the Southeast Fisheries Science Center). As 
estimates of BFT dead discards for the 2000 fishing year will not be 
available for some time, the estimate for the 1999 fishing year was 
used to calculate the amount to be added to, or subtracted from, the 
U.S. BFT landings quota for 2001 as a result of dead discards. 
Estimates of dead discards from other gear types and fishing sectors 
that do not use the pelagic longline vessel logbook are unavailable at 
this time and thus are not included in this calculation. As U.S. 
fishing activity is estimated to have resulted in less dead discards 
than its allowance, the ICCAT recommendation and U.S. regulations state 
that the U.S. may add one-half of the difference between the amount of 
dead discards and the allowance (i.e., 68 mt - 51 mt = 17 mt, 17 mt/2 = 
8.5 mt) to its total allowed landings for the following year, or to 
individual fishing categories or to the Reserve. NMFS proposes to 
allocate the 8.5 mt to the total allowed landings quota, which would 
then be allocated to the individual fishing categories based on the 
baseline percentage quota allocations established in the HMS FMP.
    Based on the proposed initial specifications, the Angling category 
quota of 566.4 mt would be divided as follows: School BFT--247.7 mt, 
with 134.3 mt to the northern area (north of 38 deg. 47' N. lat.), 
113.4 mt to the southern area (south of 38 deg. 47' N. lat.), and an 
additional 20.6 mt held in reserve; large school/small medium BFT--
286.9 mt, with 171.1 mt to the northern area and 115.8 mt to the 
southern area; and large medium/giant BFT--11.2 mt, with 4.9 mt to the 
northern area and 6.3 mt to the southern area. NMFS issued a proposed 
rule (65 FR 76601; December 7, 2000) that would adjust the location of 
the north-south dividing line to 39o 18' N. latitude and change the 
percentage quota allocations in the northern and southern areas. Should 
a final rule be issued to implement these changes they will be 
incorporated into the final initial specifications.
    The Longline category quota of 213.6 mt would be subdivided as 
follows: 27.0 mt to longline vessels landing BFT north of 34 deg. N. 
lat. and 186.6 mt to

[[Page 17522]]

longline vessels landing BFT south of 34 deg. N. lat.

General Category Effort Controls

    For the last several years, NMFS has implemented General category 
time-period subquotas to increase the likelihood that fishing would 
continue throughout the late summer and early fall fishing seasons. The 
subquotas are consistent with the objectives of the HMS FMP and are 
designed to address concerns regarding allocation of fishing 
opportunities, to assist with distribution and achievement of optimum 
yield, to allow for a late season fishery, and to improve market 
conditions and scientific monitoring.
    The HMS FMP divides the annual General category quota into three 
time-period subquotas as follows: 60 percent for June-August, 30 
percent for September, and 10 percent for October-December. These 
percentages would be applied to the adjusted 2001 coastwide quota for 
the General category of 657.0 mt, with the remaining 10.0 mt being 
reserved for the New York Bight fishery. Therefore, coastwide, 394.2 mt 
would be available in the period beginning June 1 and ending August 31; 
197.1 mt would be available in the period beginning September 1 and 
ending September 30; and 65.7 mt would be available in the period 
beginning October 1 and ending December 31, 2001.
    In addition to time period subquotas, NMFS also has implemented 
General category RFDs to extend the fishing season throughout the 
summer and fall. The RFDs are consistent with the objectives of the HMS 
FMP and are designed to address the same issues addressed by time-
period subquotas. For the 2001 fishing year, NMFS proposes a schedule 
of RFDs that is similar to that implemented for the 2000 fishing year, 
adjusted as necessary to coordinate with Japanese market holidays.
    Persons aboard vessels permitted in the General category would be 
prohibited from fishing, including tag-and-release, for BFT of all 
sizes on the following days: July 15, 16, 18, 22, 23, 25, 29, and 30; 
August 1, 5, 6, 8, 11, 12, 13, 15, 19, 20, 22, 26, 27, and 29; 
September 2, 3, 5, 9, 10, 12, 16, 17, 19, 23, 24, 26, and 30; October 
1, 3, 7, 8, 10, 14, and 15. These proposed RFDs would improve 
distribution of fishing opportunities without increasing BFT mortality.

Request for Comments

    Over the past year industry has expressed interest and concern over 
the allocation of BFT quota underharvest and the implementation of 
RFDs. NMFS specifically invites comments on the following subjects: (a) 
BFT quota carry-over provisions and the allocation of BFT quota carry-
over for successive years; and (b) alternative methods of implementing 
effort controls, including procedures for waiving or adding RFDs during 
the fishing season.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be considered in 
the development of the final initial quota specifications and effort 
controls, and will also become a matter of public record.

Public Hearings and Special Accommodations

    The public is reminded that NMFS expects participants at the public 
hearings to conduct themselves appropriately. At the beginning of each 
public hearing, a NMFS representative will explain the ground rules 
(e.g., alcohol is prohibited from the hearing room; attendees will be 
called to give their comments in the order in which they registered to 
speak; each attendee will have an equal amount of time to speak; and 
attendees should not interrupt one another). The NMFS representative 
will attempt to structure the hearing so that all attending members of 
the public will be able to comment, if they so choose, regardless of 
the controversial nature of the subject(s). Attendees are expected to 
respect the ground rules, and, if they do not, they will be asked to 
leave the hearing.
    The public hearing sites are physically accessible to people with 
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other 
auxiliary aids should be directed to Brad McHale (see FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT) at least 7 days prior to the hearing.

Classification

    These proposed specifications and effort controls 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. 
Preliminarily, the AA has determined that the proposed specifications 
and the effort controls are consistent with the HMS FMP, the Magnuson-
Stevens Act, and the 1998 ICCAT BFT catch recommendation.
    The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce has 
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business 
Administration that the proposed specifications and effort controls 
would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of 
small entities as follows:
    The proposed initial specifications would set Atlantic BFT tuna 
quota allocations and General category effort controls for the 2001 
fishing year; these proposed initial specifications are similar to 
those set for the 2000 fishing year and are in accordance with the 
Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Tunas, Swordfish, and Sharks 
(Highly Migratory Species (HMS) FMP). Because the overall U.S. BFT 
landings quota and fishing patterns would remain the same, there is 
no anticipated change in revenues that would accrue to, or costs 
that would be incurred by, small businesses or in the fishery 
overall.
    Because of this certification, an Initial Regulatory Flexibility 
Analysis was not prepared.
    These proposed quota specifications and General category effort 
controls have been determined to be not significant for purposes of 
Executive Order 12866.
    Taken together, the proposed quota specifications and General 
category effort controls are not expected to increase endangered 
species or marine mammal interaction rates. On September 7, 2000, NMFS 
re-initiated formal consultation for the HMS fisheries under section 7 
of the Endangered Species Act. The proposed specifications would not 
significantly alter current fishing practices and would not likely 
increase takes of listed species or 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 to reduce adverse impacts on protected 
resources.
    The area in which this proposed action is planned has been 
identified as EFH for species managed by the New England Fishery 
Management Council, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, the 
South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery 
Management Council, the Caribbean Fishery Management Council, and the 
Highly Migratory Species Division of the Office of Sustainable 
fisheries at NMFS. It is not anticipated that this action will have any 
adverse impacts to EFH and, therefore, no consultation is required.

    Dated: March 28, 2001.
Clarence Pautzke,
Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 01-8032 Filed 3-28-01; 3:17 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S