[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 250 (Thursday, December 30, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78397-78398]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-28632]



[[Page 78397]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 121704A]


Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; 
Western Pacific Pelagic Fisheries; Highly Migratory Species Fisheries; 
Overfishing Determination for Bigeye Tuna

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

ACTION: Notice of overfishing determination.

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SUMMARY: This action serves as notice that NMFS, on behalf of the 
Secretary of Commerce (Secretary), has determined that overfishing is 
occurring Pacific-wide on bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus), and requests 
the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council and the Pacific Fishery 
Management Council (Councils) to take appropriate action by June 14, 
2005, to end overfishing. The intent of this action is to notify 
interested persons that bigeye tuna is undergoing overfishing in the 
Pacific Ocean.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The following reprint of a December 15, 
2004, letter from NMFS to the Councils notifies the Councils of a 
determination that overfishing is occurring Pacific-wide on bigeye 
tuna, provides the background on how NMFS made the determination, 
provides the legal basis for the Councils to act in response to a 
determination that overfishing is occurring, and requests the Councils 
to take appropriate action to end overfishing on bigeye tuna.

    Dear Chairmen Morioka and Hansen,
    This letter is to advise the Western Pacific Fishery Management 
Council and the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Councils) that 
the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), on behalf of the 
Secretary of Commerce (Secretary), has determined that overfishing 
is occurring Pacific-wide on bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus), and to 
request the Councils to take appropriate action to end overfishing.

Determination

    The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 
(Magnuson-Stevens Act) requires that the Secretary report annually 
on the status of fisheries within each regional fishery management 
council's geographical area of authority and identify those 
fisheries that are overfished or approaching a condition of being 
overfished (16 U.S.C. 1854(e)(1)). According to the guidelines for 
National Standard 1 of the Magnuson-Stevens Act (50 CFR 600.310), 
fishery stock status is assessed with respect to two status 
determination criteria, one of which is used to determine whether a 
stock is ``overfished'' and the second of which is used to determine 
whether the stock is subject to ``overfishing.'' A stock is 
considered to be overfished if its biomass falls below the minimum 
stock size threshold (MSST). A stock is subject to overfishing if 
the fishing mortality rate exceeds the maximum fishing mortality 
threshold (MFMT) for one year. The MSST and MFMT for particular 
stocks are specified in fishery management plans.
    Based on the MFMT specifications for bigeye tuna in the Fishery 
Management Plan for the Pelagic Fisheries of the Western Pacific 
Region, effective July 3, 2003 (68 FR 46112, August 5, 2003), and in 
the Fishery Management Plan for U.S. West Coast Fisheries for Highly 
Migratory Species, approved February 4, 2004, the MFMT would be 
exceeded if the fishing mortality rate exceeded the rate associated 
with maximum sustainable yield (MSY). Recent assessments of the 
status of bigeye tuna in the Pacific, described below, indicate that 
the fishing mortality rate has, for at least one year, been greater 
than the rate associated with MSY. According to these assessments 
and the MFMT specifications in the two fishery management plans, 
therefore, overfishing is occurring.
    The stock structure of bigeye tuna in the Pacific Ocean is 
unresolved. Bigeye tuna in the Pacific has been assessed using two 
different approaches, one that treats it as a single Pacific-wide 
stock and the other that treats it as two stocks, one in the western 
and central Pacific, corresponding to the area of interest of the 
Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), and the other in the 
eastern Pacific, corresponding to the area of authority of the 
Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC). This overfishing 
determination relies on assessment results from both these 
approaches but it does not rely on any assumptions or conclusions 
about stock structure.
    The most recent stock assessments continued the separate stock 
approach used by IATTC and SPC. An assessment for the western and 
central Pacific was completed in July 2004\1\ and an assessment for 
the eastern Pacific was completed in May 2004.\2\ A Pacific-wide 
stock assessment, including comparisons with results from separate 
stock assessments, was completed in July 2003.\3\
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    \1\ Hampton, J., P. Kleiber, A. Langley, and K. Hiramatsu. 2004. 
Stock assessment of bigeye tuna in the western and central Pacific 
Ocean. SCTB17 Working Paper SA-2. 17th Meeting of the Standing 
Committee on Tuna and Billfish, Majuro, Marshall Islands, 9-18 
August 2004. July 2004.
    \2\ Harley, S.J. and M.N. Maunder. 2004. Status of Bigeye Tuna 
in the Eastern Pacific Ocean in 2003 and Outlook for 2004. Working 
Group on Stock Assessments, 5th Meeting, La Jolla, California (USA), 
11-13 May 2004, Document SAR-5-05 BET. Inter-American Tropical Tuna 
Commission.
    \3\ Hampton, J., P. Kleiber, Y. Takeuchi, H. Kurota, and M. 
Maunder. 2003. Stock assessment of bigeye tuna in the western and 
central Pacific Ocean, with comparisons to the entire Pacific Ocean. 
SCTB16 Working Paper BET-1. Sixteenth Meeting of the Standing 
Committee on Tuna and Billfish, Mooloolaba, Queensland, Australia, 
9-16 July 2003.
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    The July 2004 assessment for the western and central Pacific 
indicates that there is a probability of at least 67 percent that 
the recent fishing mortality rate exceeded the fishing mortality 
rate associated with MSY.
    The May 2004 assessment results for the eastern Pacific indicate 
that in all scenarios considered, the recent fishing mortality rate 
exceeded the rate associated with average MSY.
    The results of the collaborative July 2003 assessment for the 
western and central Pacific and for the Pacific Ocean as a whole 
were similar in that the recent fishing mortality rate in both cases 
exceeded the fishing mortality rate associated with MSY. While the 
results with respect to fishing mortality were uncertain for both 
stock assumptions, there was a high degree of correspondence between 
the estimates of stock trends for the western and central Pacific 
and those for the Pacific as a whole.
    Based on these assessment results for bigeye tuna in the Pacific 
Ocean, NMFS, relying on the expertise and advice of its regional 
Fisheries Science Centers, has determined that overfishing is 
occurring Pacific-wide on bigeye tuna.

Notification

    As required by the Magnuson-Stevens Act (16 U.S.C. 1854(e)(2)) 
and the implementing regulations at 50 CFR 600.310(e)(2), the 
Councils are notified by way of this letter that the Secretary has 
determined that overfishing is occurring Pacific-wide on bigeye 
tuna. The Councils must take appropriate action to address this 
overfishing. As required by the Magnuson-Stevens Act (16 U.S.C. 
1854(e)(3)) and the implementing regulations at 50 CFR 
600.310(e)(3), the Councils must take remedial action to end 
overfishing within one year of an identification by the Secretary 
that overfishing is occurring. In the case of Pacific bigeye tuna, 
such an identification was made in the annual report to the Congress 
and the Council on the status of fisheries in 2003. This report was 
transmitted to the Congress on June 15, 2004, so the one-year period 
for Councils to take remedial action ends June 14, 2005.
    Pacific bigeye tuna occurs in the waters of multiple nations and 
the high seas and is fished by the fleets of other nations in 
addition to those of the U.S. The capacity for unilateral action by 
the U.S. to prevent overfishing, as required under National Standard 
1 of the Magnuson-Stevens Act (16 U.S.C. 1851(a)(1)), is limited, as 
is the capacity for action taken by the Councils to end overfishing, 
as required under 50 CFR 600.310(e)(4)(i). Multilateral management 
action is essential to ensure that overfishing on bigeye tuna in the 
Pacific Ocean ends. NMFS will work with the Department of State, the 
regional fishery management councils, industry, and other interests 
to promote conservation and management measures in international and 
regional fishery management organizations to prevent further 
overfishing and ensure that bigeye tuna in the Pacific Ocean does 
not become overfished.
    Sincerely,

William L. Robinson,
Regional Administrator, Pacific Islands Region

[[Page 78398]]

Rodney McInnis,
Regional Administrator, Southwest Region

    Dated: December 23, 2004.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 04-28632 Filed 12-29-04; 8:45 am]
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