[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 2 (Tuesday, January 4, 2005)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 302-303]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-28748]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 635

[I.D. 122704C]


Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Bluefin Tuna Fisheries

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

ACTION: Fishery reopening; quota transfer.

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SUMMARY: NMFS has determined that a reopening of the coastwide General 
category Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) fishery is warranted. In addition, 
NMFS has determined that a BFT quota transfer from the Atlantic tunas 
Purse seine category to the Reserve category is warranted. These 
actions are being taken to ensure that U.S. BFT harvest is consistent 
with recommendations of the International Commission for the 
Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), pursuant to the Atlantic Tunas 
Convention Act (ATCA), and to meet domestic management objectives under 
the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-
Stevens Act) and the Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Tunas, 
Swordfish and Sharks (HMS FMP).

DATES: The effective date for the General category reopening, as 
specified in this rule, is 12:30 a.m. on January 2, 2005, through 11:30 
p.m. on January 4, 2005, inclusive. The effective date of the BFT quota 
transfer is December 29, 2004 through May 31, 2005.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brad McHale at (978) 281-9260.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulations implemented under the authority 
of the ATCA (16 U.S.C. 971 et seq.) and the Magnuson-Stevens Act (16 
U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) governing the harvest of BFT by persons and 
vessels subject to U.S. jurisdiction are found at 50 CFR part 635. 
Section 635.27 subdivides the U.S. BFT quota recommended by ICCAT among 
the various domestic fishing categories, and together with General 
category effort controls are specified annually under procedures 
specified at 50 CFR 635.23(a) and 635.27(a). The proposed initial 2004 
BFT Quota and General category effort controls published in the Federal 
Register on December 10, 2004 (69 FR 71771).

General Category Reopening

    The coastwide General category BFT fishery reopened on December 8, 
2004, and closed on December 20, 2004 (69 FR 71732, December 10, 2004). 
The intent of this 13-day reopening was to provide commercial fishing 
opportunities to both Atlantic tunas General and HMS Charter/Headboat 
category fishery participants to harvest the remainder of the available 
General category quota. Catch rates were lower than anticipated, 
primarily due to inclement weather and approximately 70 metric tons 
(mt) of the available 107 mt was landed during this time period. 
Therefore, 37 mt remains available, which is nearly the same amount as 
landings attributed to southern area fishermen during the winter 
commercial BFT fishery in January 2004.
    Recent information indicates that commercial sized BFT are off the 
coast of North Carolina and are available to General and Charter/
Headboat category fishery participants. In consideration of historical 
General category catch rates in January, the unpredictable nature of 
the weather, the availability of BFT on the fishing grounds, and the 
amount of available quota, NMFS has determined that a coastwide General 
category reopening period of three days should allow harvest of the 
remaining quota without risking overharvest. Therefore, the coastwide 
General category is scheduled to reopen at 12:30 a.m. on January 2, 
2005, and close at 11:30 p.m. on January 4, 2005.

General Category Limits

    The General category daily retention limit during this reopening is 
one large medium or giant BFT, measuring 73 inches or greater (185 cm 
or greater) curved fork length (CFL) per vessel/day/trip. This limit 
applies in all fishing areas, for all vessels fishing under the General 
category quota (i.e., permitted Atlantic tunas General and HMS Charter/
Headboat vessels). Fishing for, retaining, possessing, or landing large 
medium or giant BFT by persons fishing under the General category quota 
must cease at 11:30 p.m. local time January 4, 2005.

BFT Quota Transfer

    The ATCA and the Magnuson-Stevens Act both address the issue of 
setting quotas for the U.S. domestic fishery when a species is subject 
to an allocation negotiated through an international agreement. 
Specifically, NMFS is charged to enable harvest of the full amount of 
these agreed quotas. To balance the collective legislative requirements 
to prevent overharvest of the overall U.S. quota, to allocate available 
quota consistent with traditional fishing practices, and to provide a 
reasonable opportunity to harvest the quota, some flexibility is needed 
to adapt to seasonal variations in the migratory patterns of bluefin 
tuna. Current regulations provide this flexibility in the following 
three ways:(1) placement of a portion of the total quota in a Reserve 
category (50 CFR 635.27(a)(7)); (2) inseason transfers of unharvested 
quota between fishing categories or to the Reserve category (50 CFR 
635.27(a)(8)); and (3) carryover of overharvested or unharvested 
amounts to the subsequent fishing year (50 CFR 635.27(a)(9)).
    While NMFS exercises discretion in adapting to prevailing fishery 
conditions by balancing reserves, transfers, and carryover there are 
certain criteria which guide the decision making process for transfers. 
Those criteria include: (1) the usefulness of information obtained from 
catches in the particular category for biological sampling and 
monitoring of the status of the stock; (2) the catches of the 
particular category quota to date and the likelihood of closure of that 
segment of the fishery if no allocation is made; (3) the projected 
ability of the vessels fishing under the particular category quota to 
harvest the additional amount of BFT before the end of the fishing 
year; (4) the estimated amounts by which quotas established for other 
gear segments of the fishery might be exceeded; (5) the effects of the 
transfer on BFT rebuilding and overfishing; and (6) the effects of the 
transfer on accomplishing the objectives of the HMS FMP. If it is 
determined, based on the indicated factors and the likelihood of 
exceeding the total quota, that vessels fishing under any category or 
subcategory quota are not likely to take the initial quota, NMFS may 
transfer inseason any portion of the remaining quota of that fishing 
category to any other fishing category or to the Reserve quota.
    In considering these criteria, NMFS also recognizes the unique 
nature of the Purse seine category which is managed by an individual 
vessel quota system. As such, the Purse seine vessels are vested with a 
greater degree of autonomy for managing their allocations, including: 
fishing days, transfers between vessels, and planning for carryover. 
Consequently, NOAA Fisheries has elected to exclude Purse seine 
allocations from past inseason transfers between fishing categories on 
the premise that the vessels are always able to harvest their remaining 
allocations or to elect to carry them

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over, after considering: current market conditions, the need to avoid 
discards in setting the gear when only small amounts of allocation 
remain, and the possibilities for transfers between vessels to 
consolidate residual allocations. While this approach has worked 
reasonably well in past years, anomalous fishery conditions since 2002 
have resulted in the carryover of unprecedented amounts of unharvested 
Purse seine quota. Given this atypical situation, NMFS has reconsidered 
how the inseason transfer provisions should be applied to the Purse 
seine category in 2004.
    The 2004 fishing year proposed initial BFT quota specifications 
were prepared in accordance with: the 2002 ICCAT quota recommendation, 
the ICCAT recommendation regarding the dead discard allowance, the HMS 
FMP percentage shares for each of the domestic categories including 
restrictions on landings of school BFT, and the addition or subtraction 
of any underharvest or overharvest from the previous fishing year (69 
FR 71771, December 10, 2004). NMFS proposed initial quota 
specifications for the 2004 fishing year as follows: General category - 
659.0 mt; Harpoon category - 81.4 mt; Purse Seine category - 389.4 mt; 
Angling category - 65.5 mt; Longline category - 171.2 mt; Trap category 
- 2.3 mt; and the Reserve category - 36.6 mt. Subsequently, NMFS 
transferred 300 mt from the General category, 45 mt from the Longline 
category, and 40 mt from the Harpoon category (69 FR 71732, December 
10, 2004). These transfers resulted in additions of 223.1 mt to the 
Angling category and 161.9 mt to the Reserve.
    NMFS has determined that a transfer of 100 mt from the Purse Seine 
category to the Reserve is warranted, based on the 2004 proposed BFT 
specifications, the subsequent transfers, an assessment of the 
commercial and recreational landings data to date, carryover of 
unharvested amounts from prior years, and considering the factors 
governing quota transfers between categories. The Reserve category was 
established, in part, for the purpose of compensating overharvest in 
any category and to ensure overall U.S. landings do not exceed ICCAT 
recommended quotas. Given the suspension of Purse seine fishing 
activity for the remainder of the 2004 fishing year and continued 
fishing activity in several other categories through May 31, 2005, it 
is likely that allowing for full utilization of the U.S. quota may 
require additional transfers from the Reserve.
    The effects on rebuilding and overfishing as a result of this 
transfer are predicted to be neutral. The prime effect is to transfer 
quota among categories and no additional harvest above the level 
authorized in the BFT rebuilding plan is anticipated. The transfer is 
consistent with the objectives of the HMS FMP as it would provide for 
fair and reasonable fishing opportunities and allow for maximum 
utilization of the 2004 U.S. BFT allocation while preventing an 
overharvest of that allocation.

Monitoring and Reporting

    NMFS selected the duration of the reopening and the daily retention 
limit based on a review of available quota, dealer reports, daily 
landing trends, the availability of BFT on the fishing grounds, and 
previous fishing years effort and landings rates for the month of 
January. NMFS will continue to monitor the General category BFT fishery 
closely via the commercial BFT landing reports submitted by authorized 
BFT dealers. Once the General category BFT fishery has closed, NMFS 
will assess reported landings and available quota and determine if a 
subsequent reopening is warranted.

Classification

    The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA (AA), finds that it 
is impracticable and contrary to the public interest to provide prior 
notice of, and an opportunity for public comment on, this action. The 
General category BFT fishery closed on December 20, 2004, after a 13 
day reopening. Catch rates were slower that anticipated, due primarily 
to inclement weather and the full 107 mt of quota that was available 
was not attained. Since the closure, NMFS has compiled all commercial 
BFT landing reports submitted by permitted dealers and determined that 
approximately 37 mt is still available for a limited General category 
BFT fishery in the month of January. Recent information shows BFT in 
the commercial size classes are now available off southern Atlantic 
states in nearshore areas and accessible to commercial anglers as well 
as Charter/Headboat operations. Under ATCA and the HMS FMP, NMFS is 
required to provide fishing opportunities to catch the available quota.
    Delaying this action would be contrary to the public interest as 
BFT are now available in nearshore waters and will soon migrate out of 
range of the commercial and charter/headboat fleets. As the General 
category is currently closed, fishery participants are not currently 
able to access these BFT while they are available. It is in the public 
interest to act quickly to open the fisheries while the BFT are 
accessible so that the short window of fishing opportunity is not lost. 
Therefore, the AA finds good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) to waive 
prior notice and the opportunity for public comment. For all of the 
above reasons and because this action relieves a restriction (e.g., 
reopens fisheries), there is good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(d) to waive 
the delay in effectiveness of this action.
    These actions are being taken under 50 CFR 635.23(a)(4) and 50 CFR 
635.27(a)(8) and are exempt from review under Executive Order 12866.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq. and 1801 et seq.

    Dated: December 28, 2004.
Bruce C. Morehead
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 04-28748 Filed 12-29-04; 2:49 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S