[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 130 (Thursday, July 7, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 39808-39810]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-17079]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE



National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration



50 CFR Part 300



Docket No. 110620342-1340-02]

RIN 0648-BA66




International Fisheries; Pacific Tuna Fisheries; Recommendations 

Adopted by the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission



AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.



ACTION: Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking; request for comments.



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SUMMARY: NMFS is requesting public comment on certain amendments under 

consideration for the regulations governing the longline and purse 

seine fisheries targeting tuna and tuna-like species in the eastern 

Pacific Ocean (EPO) to conform to recommendations adopted by the Inter-

American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC). This rulemaking would be 

issued under authority of the Tuna Conventions Act of 1950. At its 

Eighty-first Meeting, held in September 2010, members of the IATTC 

adopted three recommendations. This ANPR discusses two of these 

decisions, the Recommendation on Tuna Conservation 2011-2013 (C-10-01) 

and the Recommendation Prohibiting Fishing on Data Buoys (C-



[[Page 39809]]



10-03), which would require rulemaking to implement domestically.



DATES: Comments must be submitted in writing by July 27, 2011.



ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by 0648-BA66, by any one 

of the following methods:

     Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public 

comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.

     Fax: 562-980-4047, Attn: Heidi Hermsmeyer.

     Mail: Rodney R. McInnis, Regional Administrator, NMFS 

Southwest Regional Office (SWR), 501 W. Ocean Blvd., Suite 4200, Long 

Beach, CA 90802. Include the identifier ``0648-BA66'' in the comments.

    Instructions: All comments received are a part of the public record 

and will generally be posted to http://www.regulations.gov without 

change. All Personal Identifying Information (for example, name, 

address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly 

accessible. Do not submit Confidential Business Information or 

otherwise sensitive or protected information.

    NMFS will accept anonymous comments (enter N/A in the required 

fields, if you wish to remain anonymous). You may submit attachments to 

electronic comments in Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF 

file formats only.



FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Heidi Hermsmeyer, NMFS SWR, 562-980-

4036.



SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: At its Eighty-first Meeting, held in 

September 2010, members of the IATTC adopted the following three 

recommendations: (1) Recommendation on Tuna Conservation 2011-2013 (C-

10-01); (2) Recommendation on Seabirds (C-10-02); and (3) 

Recommendation Prohibiting Fishing on Data Buoys (C-10-03). 

Recommendation C-10-02 established measures to mitigate the impact of 

the longline fishery on seabirds, which are similar to those in place 

in the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) 

Convention Area. The United States has domestic seabird conservation 

measures in place for U.S. longline fisheries that operate in the EPO 

that satisfy the recommendations adopted in Recommendation C-10-02, 

thus no additional regulatory action is required to implement this 

recommendation. The United States is considering amending regulations 

to implement IATTC Recommendations C-10-01 and C-10-03. While this is 

the preferred course of action at this time, the United States is also 

considering not amending the regulations currently in effect, which 

implement IATTC Resolution C-09-01, or removing those regulations. The 

United States is considering these alternatives because there has been 

some uncertainty regarding whether Resolution C-09-01 required 

ratification by the IATTC in 2010 to remain effective in 2011, and 

whether Recommendation C-10-01 replaced Resolution C-09-01 for all 

intents and purposes. All active resolutions and recommendations are 

available on the following IATTC Web site: http://www.iattc.org/ResolutionsActiveENG.htm.



Potential Changes to Tuna Conservation Measures for 2011-2013



    The Recommendation on Tuna Conservation for 2011-2013 is very 

similar to the Resolution on a Multiannual Program for the Conservation 

of Tuna in the Eastern Pacific Ocean in 2009-2011 (IATTC Resolution C-

09-01), which was adopted in 2009 by the IATTC. The United States 

implemented IATTC Resolution C-09-01 in November 2010 (74 FR 61046, 

November 23, 2009). Similar to Resolution C-09-01, the main objectives 

of Recommendation C-10-01 are to limit the fishing mortality of 

yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) and to reduce the fishing mortality 

of bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) in the EPO. The measures are based in 

part on the recommendations and analysis of IATTC scientific staff and 

the 2010 stock assessments of bigeye and yellowfin tuna completed by 

IATTC staff. The differences between Recommendation C-10-01 and 

Resolution C-09-01 that are being considered for rulemaking are: (1) A 

change in the length of the closure period of the IATTC Convention Area 

for tuna purse seine vessels class sizes 4-6 (182 metric tons carrying 

capacity or greater) in 2011 from 73 days to 62 days and continuation 

of that closure period in 2012 and 2013; (2) continuation of the annual 

500 metric ton bigeye tuna quota in the longline fishery for vessels 

over 24 meters in length from 2011-2013; and (3) renewal of the tuna 

retention program for 2011 that requires all bigeye, skipjack, and 

yellowfin tuna caught by a U.S. purse seine vessel of class sizes 4-6 

(i.e., larger than 182 cubic meters carrying capacity) be retained on 

board and landed, except fish deemed unfit for human consumption for 

reasons other than size. The single exemption for this would be the 

final set of a trip, when there may be insufficient well space 

remaining to accommodate all the tuna caught in that set. Additionally, 

NMFS is considering giving vessel owners the option of choosing between 

the two possible purse seine closure periods that were established 

under IATTC Recommendation C-10-01 for each applicable year, rather 

than requiring the entire U.S. fleet to adhere to the later closure 

period as was done in 2009 and 2010. It appears that most, if not all, 

other members of the IATTC are implementing the closure period on a 

vessel-by-vessel basis since it provides fleets with greater 

flexibility. The two options would be July 29 to September 28, or 

November 18 to January 18 of the following year for 2011, 2012, and 

2013.



Potential Prohibition on Fishing Around Data Buoys



    The main objective of the Recommendation Prohibiting Fishing on 

Data Buoys is to stop vandalism and damage to data buoys from fishing 

vessels that often leads to loss of data critical to weather 

forecasting, tsunami warnings, search and rescue efforts, and research 

of the marine environment and that IATTC members expend time and 

resources to locate, replace, and repair data buoys damaged or lost by 

fishing methods or vandalism. Recommendation C-10-03 defines data buoys 

as floating devices, either drifting or anchored, that are deployed by 

governmental or recognized scientific organizations or entities for the 

purpose of electronically collecting environmental data, and not in 

support of fishing activities.

    Recommendation C-10-03 urges members to prohibit fishing vessels 

from fishing within one nautical mile of, or interacting with, a data 

buoy in the EPO. A possible rulemaking action would: (1) Prohibit 

encircling a data buoy with fishing gear, tying up to or attaching the 

vessel, or any fishing gear, part or portion of the vessel, to a data 

buoy, and, if the buoy is anchored, cutting its anchor line; (2) 

prohibit fishing vessels from taking on board a data buoy, unless 

specifically authorized or requested to do so by a member or 

cooperating non-member of the IATTC or owner responsible for that buoy; 

(3) encourage fishing vessels operating in the EPO to keep watch for 

data buoys at sea and to take all reasonable measures to avoid fishing 

gear entanglement or directly interacting in any way with those data 

buoys; and (4) require fishing vessels that become entangled with a 

data buoy to remove the entangled fishing gear with as little damage to 

the data buoy as possible. However, any scientific research program 

would be allowed to operate



[[Page 39810]]



fishing vessels within one nautical mile of a data buoy, provided the 

IATTC Secretariat is notified in advance about the operation and the 

fishing gear/vessel does not interact with a data buoy.

    Executive Order 12866: This action has been determined to be not 

significant under EO 12866.



    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 951 et seq.



    Dated: June 30, 2011.

John Oliver,

Deputy Assistant Administrator for Operations, National Marine 

Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 2011-17079 Filed 7-6-11; 8:45 am]

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