[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 206 (Wednesday, October 24, 2001)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 53735-53736]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-26794]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 300

[Docket No. 011005243-1243-01; I.D. 091001B]
RIN 0648-AO48


International Fisheries; Pacific Tuna Fisheries; 2001 Quotas and 
Management Measures for Yellowfin and Juvenile Bigeye Tuna

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

ACTION: Final rule; 2001 quotas and management measures for yellowfin 
and juvenile bigeye tuna.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: NMFS announces the 2001 quotas and associated purse seine 
fishery conservation measures for the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean 
(ETP), consistent with recommendations by the Inter-American Tropical 
Tuna Commission (IATTC) that have been approved by the Department of 
State (DOS) under the terms of the Tuna Conventions Act.

DATES: Effective October 24, 2001, through December 31, 2001, or 
attainment of either or both quotas, which will be announced in the 
Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the environmental assessment (EA) and the 
biological opinion (BO) for the January 3, 2000, interim final rule 
implementing the International Dolphin Conservation Program Act (IDCPA) 
and the aggregate data upon which the action is based are available 
from: Rodney McInnis, Acting Regional Administrator, Southwest Region, 
NMFS, 501 W. Ocean Boulevard, Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802-4213.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Svein Fougner, Sustainable Fisheries 
Division, Southwest Region, NMFS, 562-980-4040.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    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 
ensure the effective international conservation and management of 
highly migratory species of fish in the Convention Area. The IATTC has 
maintained a scientific research and fishery monitoring program for 
many years and annually assesses the status of stocks of tuna and the 
fisheries to determine appropriate harvest limits or other measures to 
prevent overexploitation of the stocks and promote viable fisheries. 
The area covered by the Convention is all waters of the eastern Pacific 
Ocean (EPO) between 40 deg. N. lat. and 40 deg. S. lat. from North and 
South America west to 150 deg. W. long. Within the area covered by the 
Convention, the IATTC has designated a smaller Commission Yellowfin 
Regulatory Area (CYRA) in which the total catch of yellowfin tuna 
historically has been limited. The boundaries of the CYRA are found at 
50 CFR 300.21.
    Under the regulations implementing the Tuna Conventions Act at 50 
CFR 300.29, the Southwest Regional Administrator, NMFS (Regional 
Administrator), directly notifies owners or agents of U.S. tuna vessels 
of fishery management recommendations made by the IATTC and approved by 
the DOS. As soon as practicable after such notification, NMFS publishes 
a notification of the approved IATTC recommendations in the Federal 
Register.

Action by IATTC

    At its annual meeting June 19-21, 2001, the IATTC adopted a 
resolution dealing with yellowfin tuna conservation. This resolution 
set an initial quota of 250,000 metric tons (mt) for yellowfin tuna 
taken in calendar year 2001 by purse seine vessels in the CYRA. This 
quota could be raised by up

[[Page 53736]]

to three successive increments of 20,000 mt each if the Director of the 
IATTC concludes from examination of available data that such increases 
will pose no substantial danger to the stocks. After the quota is 
reached and the yellowfin tuna fishery is closed, catches of any vessel 
may include a maximum of 15 percent yellowfin tuna (relative to its 
total catch of all species of fish) caught while fishing for other 
species of tuna.
    In a separate resolution adopted in June 2001, the IATTC 
recommended that action be taken to limit the catch of juvenile bigeye 
tuna in the purse seine fisheries to the level reached in 1999, which 
was 5,813 mt. The Director of IATTC will monitor the fisheries and 
determine the date on which the quota is projected to be reached (if at 
all). The Director will then inform the member nations that they should 
prohibit further use of purse seine sets on floating objects within 2 
weeks of that date, except that the floating objects fishery will not 
close sooner than November 1, 2001.
    The yellowfin tuna quota and juvenile bigeye tuna quota are both 
based on 2001 stock assessments of yellowfin and bigeye tuna stocks in 
the ETP. The stock assessments indicate that both the yellowfin and 
bigeye tuna stocks are healthy, although there is substantial 
uncertainty with respect to the bigeye tuna stock assessment. This 
stock extends throughout the Pacific and has not been assessed 
throughout its range by any international organization. However, the 
quotas set for yellowfin tuna and juvenile bigeye tuna are believed to 
be conservative because of the conservative assumptions used in the 
stock assessments concerning life history parameters of yellowfin and 
bigeye tuna.

NMFS Action

    After receiving oral approval of this recommendation from the DOS 
on September 6, 2001, the Regional Administrator provided actual notice 
of these fishery management recommendations to owners or agents of U.S. 
tuna vessels on September 12, 2001. The DOS subsequently provided 
written approval of the IATTC recommendation on September 25, 2001. 
This notice is the formal announcement to the public of the 
implementation of the recommendations of the IATTC. As provided in 50 
CFR 300.29(b), if any quota is reached, NMFS will announce a closure 
directly to the owners or agents of U.S. tuna vessels and publish the 
announcement in the Federal Register as soon as practicable after the 
attainment of the quota.

Classification

    This action is authorized by 50 CFR part 300, subpart C.
    The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA (AA) finds that 
this action constitutes a foreign affairs function under 5 U.S.C. 
553(a)(1), which exempts such functions from that section of the 
Administrative Procedure Act. This action implements quotas and 
management measures that have been recommended by the IATTC and 
approved by DOS, as authorized by the Tuna Conventions Act of 1949 and 
this part. Therefore, the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B) for 
providing prior notice and an opportunity for public comment and the 
provisions of 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) for a 30-day delay in effectiveness do 
not apply to this action.
    An EA was prepared for the interim final rule to implement the 
IDCPA (65 FR 47, January 3, 2000). This document is available from the 
Acting Regional Administrator (see ADDRESSES). The AA concluded that 
that rule would pose no significant impact on the human environment. 
The impacts of the fisheries as they will operate under quotas set in 
this action are within the range of impacts considered in the 
alternatives of that EA, and do not pose significant threats to the 
human environment; therefore, this action does not require further 
environmental analysis.
    NMFS prepared a BO assessing the impacts of the fisheries as they 
would operate under the regulations implementing the IDCPA (65 FR 47, 
January 3, 2000). This document is available from the Acting Regional 
Administrator (see ADDRESSES). NMFS concluded that the fishing 
activities conducted under those regulations are not likely to 
jeopardize the continued existence of any endangered or threatened 
species under the jurisdiction of NMFS or result in the destruction or 
adverse modification of critical habitat. This rule will not result in 
any changes to the fisheries that would cause impacts beyond those 
considered in the BO.
    Because prior notice and opportunity for public comment are not 
required for this rule by 5 U.S.C. 553, or any other law, the 
analytical requirements of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C., 
601 et seq., are inapplicable.
    This action is exempt from review under Executive Order 12866.

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

    Dated: October 18, 2001.
John Oliver,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Operations, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 01-26794 Filed 10-23-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S