[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 248 (Monday, December 29, 2014)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 77943-77946]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-30341]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 635

[Docket No. 120328229-4949-02]
RIN 0648-XD653


Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Atlantic Bluefin Tuna 
Fisheries

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

ACTION: Temporary rule; inseason General category bluefin tuna quota 
transfer and retention limit adjustment.

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SUMMARY: NMFS is transferring 21 metric tons (mt) of Atlantic bluefin 
tuna (BFT) quota from the General category December 2015 subquota 
period to the January 2015 subquota period (from January 1 through 
March 31, 2015, or until the available subquota for this period is 
reached, whichever comes first). NMFS also is adjusting the Atlantic 
tunas General category BFT daily retention limit for the January 2015 
subquota period to three large medium or giant BFT from the default 
retention limit of one. This action is based on consideration of the 
regulatory determination criteria regarding inseason adjustments and 
applies to Atlantic tunas General category (commercial) permitted 
vessels and Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Charter/Headboat category 
permitted vessels when fishing commercially for BFT.

DATES: The quota transfer is effective January 1, 2015. The General 
category retention limit adjustment is effective January 1, 2015, 
through March 31, 2015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sarah McLaughlin or Brad McHale, 978-
281-9260.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulations implemented under the authority 
of the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act (ATCA; 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq.) and 
the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (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 divides the U.S. BFT quota recommended by the 
International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) 
among the various domestic fishing categories, per the allocations 
established in the 2006 Consolidated Highly Migratory Species Fishery 
Management Plan (2006 Consolidated HMS FMP) (71 FR 58058, October 2, 
2006), as amended by the recently published Amendment 7 to the 2006 
Consolidated HMS FMP (Amendment 7) (79 FR 71510, December 2, 2014,) and 
in accordance with implementing regulations. NMFS is required under 
ATCA to provide U.S. fishing vessels with a reasonable opportunity to 
harvest the ICCAT-recommended quota.

Inseason Transfer to the General Category

    The 2010 ICCAT recommendation regarding western BFT management 
resulted in baseline U.S. quotas for 2011 and for 2012 of 923.7 mt (not 
including the separate 25 mt that ICCAT allocated to the United States 
to account for bycatch of BFT in pelagic longline fisheries in the 
Northeast Distant Gear Restricted Area). The allocation formula applied 
in the 2011 BFT quota rule (76 FR 39019, July 5, 2011) resulted in a 
codified quota of 435.1 mt for the General category fishery (a 
commercial tunas fishery in which handgear is used), which was then 
further divided according to the time-period allocations established in 
the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP. The General category quota and time 
period subquotas as codified were not modified for 2012, 2013, or 2014. 
Although the 2014 ICCAT recommendation regarding western BFT management 
would result in an increase to the baseline U.S. BFT quota and 
subquotas for 2015, domestic implementation of that recommendation will 
take place in a separate rulemaking, likely in mid-2015.
    Among other things, Amendment 7 revised the allocations to all 
quota categories, effective January 1, 2015. As a result, based on the 
currently codified quota of 923.7 mt, the General category quota is 403 
mt. See Sec.  635.27(a). Each of the General category time periods 
(January, June through August, September, October through November, and 
December) is allocated a portion of the annual General category quota. 
Although it is called the ``January'' subquota, the regulations allow 
the General category fishery under this quota to continue until the 
subquota is reached or March 31, whichever comes first. Based on the 
General category quota of 403 mt, the subquotas for each time period 
are as follows: 21.4 mt for January; 201.5 mt for June through August; 
106.8 mt for September; 52.4 mt for October through November; and 21 mt 
for December. Any unused General category quota rolls forward within 
the fishing year, which coincides with the

[[Page 77944]]

calendar year, from one time period to the next, and is available for 
use in subsequent time periods.
    During the Amendment 7 rulemaking, NMFS received comment from 
General category participants that NMFS should provide more quota to 
the January subquota period and should consider shifting subquota from 
December to the January period. Some of the comments expressed concern 
that, due to the timing of NMFS' implementation of quota rules and/or 
quota specifications (which are usually finalized mid-year), General 
category participants in the January period do not benefit from any 
increased opportunities that may become available to those fishing in 
the summer and fall. The final rule implementing Amendment 7 responded 
to this concern and allows NMFS to proactively transfer General 
category quota from one time period to an earlier time period in the 
same calendar year.
    Under Sec.  635.27(a)(9), NMFS has the authority to transfer quota 
among fishing categories or subcategories, after considering 
determination criteria provided under Sec.  635.27(a)(8), including the 
five new criteria recently added in Amendment 7, which include: The 
usefulness of information obtained from catches in the particular 
category for biological sampling and monitoring of the status of the 
stock; the catches of the particular category quota to date and the 
likelihood of closure of that segment of the fishery if no adjustment 
is made; 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; the estimated amounts by which 
quotas for other gear categories of the fishery might be exceeded; 
effects of the adjustment on BFT rebuilding and overfishing; effects of 
the adjustment on accomplishing the objectives of the fishery 
management plan; variations in seasonal distribution, abundance, or 
migration patterns of BFT; effects of catch rates in one area 
precluding vessels in another area from having a reasonable opportunity 
to harvest a portion of the category's quota; review of dealer reports, 
daily landing trends, and the availability of the BFT on the fishing 
grounds; optimizing fishing opportunity; accounting for dead discards, 
facilitating quota monitoring, supporting other fishing monitoring 
programs through quota allocations and/or generation of revenue; and 
support of research through quota allocations and/or generation of 
revenue.
    NMFS has considered the relevant determination criteria regarding 
inseason adjustments and their applicability to the General category 
fishery for the January 2015 subquota period. A principal consideration 
is the objective of providing opportunities to harvest the full annual 
U.S. BFT quota without exceeding it based on the goals of the 2006 
Consolidated HMS FMP and Amendment 7, including to achieve optimum 
yield on a continuing basis and to optimize the ability of all permit 
categories to harvest their full BFT quota allocations.
    General category landings in the winter BFT fishery, which 
typically occurs in the mid-Atlantic beginning in December or January 
each year, are highly variable and depend on availability of 
commercial-sized BFT to participants. As of early December, commercial-
sized BFT are actively being landed. For the last three years, under a 
daily retention limit of two large medium or giant BFT, the available 
January subquota (23.1 mt) was reached on January 22, 2012, February 
15, 2013, and March 21, 2014. For these same three years, the General 
category did not reach its available quota by the end of the year.
    A quota transfer from the December 2015 to January 2015 period 
would provide additional opportunities to harvest the available U.S. 
BFT quota without exceeding it, while preserving the opportunity for 
General category fishermen to participate in the winter BFT fishery. 
NMFS also anticipates that up to 94.9 mt of underharvest of the 2014 
adjusted U.S. BFT quota will be carried forward to 2015 to the Reserve, 
in accordance with the regulations implementing Amendment 7. This, in 
addition to the fact that any unused General category quota will roll 
forward to the next subperiod within the calendar year, and the 
anticipated increase in the U.S. quota and subquotas for 2015 as a 
result of ICCAT recommendations, make it very likely that General 
category quota will remain available through the end of 2015 for 
December fishery participants, even with the quota transfer. NMFS also 
may choose to transfer unused quota from the Reserve or other 
categories, inseason, based on consideration of the determination 
criteria. Therefore, NMFS anticipates that General category 
participants in all areas and time periods will have opportunities to 
harvest the General category quota. Thus, the quota transfer would 
allow fishermen to take advantage of the availability of fish on the 
fishing grounds now, consider the expected increases in available quota 
later in the year, and provide a reasonable opportunity to harvest the 
full U.S. BFT quota.
    Other considerations consistent with the regulatory criteria 
include, but are not limited to, the following:
    Biological samples collected from BFT landed by General category 
fishermen and provided by BFT dealers continue to provide NMFS with 
valuable parts and data for ongoing scientific studies of BFT age and 
growth, migration, and reproductive status. Continued BFT landings 
would support the collection of a broad range of data for these studies 
and for stock monitoring purposes. Without a quota transfer at this 
time, the quota available for the January through March 2015 period 
would be 21.4 mt (5.3 percent of the General category quota), and 
participants would have to stop BFT fishing activities once that amount 
is met, while commercial-sized BFT may remain available in the areas 
General category permitted vessels operate. Transferring the 21-mt 
quota available for December 2015 (5.2 percent of the General category 
quota) would result in 42.4 mt (10.5 percent of the General category 
quota) being available for the January subquota period.
    This action will be taken consistent with the quotas previously 
implemented and analyzed in the 2011 BFT quota final rule, as adjusted 
by the final rule to implement Amendment 7, and consistent with the 
objectives of the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP and Amendments, and is not 
expected to negatively impact stock health. It is also supported by the 
Supplemental Environmental Assessment prepared for the 2013 quota 
specifications and the Final Environmental Impact Statement/Regulatory 
Impact Review/Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis prepared for 
Amendment 7.
    Based on the considerations above, NMFS has decided to transfer 21 
mt of General category quota allocated for the December period to the 
January period. The transfer will provide a reasonable opportunity to 
harvest the U.S. quota of BFT, without exceeding it, while maintaining 
an equitable distribution of fishing opportunities; allow the 
collection of a broad range of data for stock monitoring purposes; and 
be consistent with the objectives of the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP and 
Amendments. Therefore, NMFS transfers the 21 mt to the General category 
January 2015 period, resulting in a subquota of 42.4 mt for that period 
and a December period subquota of 0 mt for the 2015 fishing year. NMFS 
will close the General category fishery when the adjusted General 
category January period subquota has been reached, or it will close 
automatically on March 31, 2015, and it will remain closed until the

[[Page 77945]]

General category fishery reopens on June 1, 2015.

Adjustment of General Category Daily Retention Limit

    Unless changed, the General category daily retention limit starting 
on January 1 would be the default retention limit of one large medium 
or giant BFT (measuring 73 inches (185 cm) curved fork length (CFL) or 
greater) per vessel per day/trip (Sec.  635.23(a)(2)). This default 
retention limit would apply to General category permitted vessels and 
to HMS Charter/Headboat category permitted vessels when fishing 
commercially for BFT. For the 2014 fishing year, NMFS adjusted the 
daily retention limit from the default level of one large medium or 
giant BFT to two large medium or giant BFT for the January subquota 
period (78 FR 77362, December 23, 2013), which closed March 21, 2014, 
when the subquota was met (79 FR 15924, March 24, 2014); and four large 
medium or giant BFT for the June through August period (79 FR 30745, 
May 29, 2014) as well as the September, October through November, and 
December periods (79 FR 50854, August 26, 2014).
    Under Sec.  635.23(a)(4), NMFS may increase or decrease the daily 
retention limit of large medium and giant BFT over a range of zero to a 
maximum of five per vessel based on consideration of the relevant 
criteria provided under Sec.  635.27(a)(8), and listed above. NMFS has 
considered the relevant criteria and their applicability to the General 
category BFT retention limit for the January 2015 subquota period. 
These considerations include, but are not limited to, the following:
    As described above with regard to the quota transfer, additional 
opportunity to land BFT would support the collection of a broad range 
of data for the biological studies and for stock monitoring purposes. 
In 2012, 2013, and 2014, under a two-fish limit, the available January 
subquota (23.1 mt) was reached on January 22, February 15, and March 
21, respectively, and in each of these years the General category did 
not reach its available quota by the end of the year. For the remainder 
of the 2014 General category fishery (i.e., June through December), 
NMFS adjusted the daily retention limit to four fish, and preliminary 
landings information indicate that the General category will be close 
to but likely not fill its quota. As this action would be taken 
consistent with the previously implemented and analyzed quotas, it is 
not expected to negatively impact stock health. It is also supported by 
the Environmental Analysis for the 2011 final rule regarding General 
and Harpoon category management measures, which increased the General 
category maximum daily retention limit from three to five fish (76 FR 
74003, November 30, 2011).
    As above, the winter BFT fishery is variable, but as of early 
December 2014, commercial-sized BFT are actively being landed. 
Considering this information and the transfer of the December 2015 
subquota to the quota for the January 2015 time period (for an adjusted 
total of 42.4 mt), the default one-fish limit likely would be overly 
restrictive. Increasing the daily retention limit from the default may 
mitigate rolling an excessive amount of unused quota from one time-
period subquota to the next and thus help maintain an equitable 
distribution of fishing opportunities. Although NMFS has the authority 
to set the daily retention limit to up to five fish, the rate of 
harvest of the January subquota could be accelerated under a high limit 
(and higher fish availability), and result in a relatively short 
fishing season. A short fishing season may preclude or reduce fishing 
opportunities for some individuals or geographic areas because of the 
migratory nature and seasonal distribution of BFT.
    Based on these considerations, NMFS has determined that a three-
fish General category retention limit is warranted for the January 2015 
subquota. It would provide a reasonable opportunity to harvest the U.S. 
quota of BFT without exceeding it, while maintaining an equitable 
distribution of fishing opportunities, help optimize the ability of the 
General category to harvest its full quota, allow collection of a broad 
range of data for stock monitoring purposes, and be consistent with the 
objectives of the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP and Amendments. Therefore, 
NMFS increases the General category retention limit from the default 
limit (one) to three large medium or giant BFT per vessel per day/trip, 
effective January 1, 2015, through March 31, 2015, or until the 42.4-mt 
January subquota is harvested, whichever comes first.
    Regardless of the duration of a fishing trip, the daily retention 
limit applies upon landing. For example, during the January 2015 
subquota period, whether a vessel fishing under the General category 
limit takes a two-day trip or makes two trips in one day, the day/trip 
limit of three fish applies and may not be exceeded upon landing. This 
General category retention limit is effective in all areas, except for 
the Gulf of Mexico, where NMFS prohibits targeted fishing for BFT, and 
applies to those vessels permitted in the General category, as well as 
to those HMS Charter/Headboat permitted vessels fishing commercially 
for BFT.

Monitoring and Reporting

    NMFS will continue to monitor the General category BFT fishery 
closely through the mandatory landings and catch reports. Dealers are 
required to submit landing reports within 24 hours of a dealer 
receiving BFT. Consistent with the regulations implementing Amendment 
7, General and HMS Charter/Headboat category vessel operators are 
required to report the number and length of all BFT catch (i.e., 
retained or discarded dead) through an online catch reporting system 
within 24 hours of the landing(s) or end of each trip, by accessing 
hmspermits.noaa.gov. Depending on the level of fishing effort and catch 
rates of BFT, NMFS may determine that additional retention limit 
adjustments or closures are necessary to ensure available quota is not 
exceeded or to enhance scientific data collection from, and fishing 
opportunities in, all geographic areas. Subsequent actions, if any, 
will be published in the Federal Register. In addition, fishermen may 
call the Atlantic Tunas Information Line at (888) 872-8862 or (978) 
281-9260, or access hmspermits.noaa.gov, for updates on quota 
monitoring and inseason adjustments.

Classification

    The Assistant Administrator for NMFS (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 for 
the following reasons:
    The regulations implementing the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP and 
Amendments provide for inseason retention limit adjustments to respond 
to the unpredictable nature of BFT availability on the fishing grounds, 
the migratory nature of this species, and the regional variations in 
the BFT fishery. Affording prior notice and opportunity for public 
comment to implement the quota transfer and daily retention limit for 
the January subquota time period is impracticable as NMFS needs to wait 
until it has necessary data and information about the fishery before it 
can select the appropriate retention limit for a time period prescribed 
by regulation. By the time NMFS has the necessary data, implementing 
the retention limit following a public comment period would preclude 
fishermen from harvesting BFT that are legally available consistent 
with all of the regulatory criteria. Analysis of available data shows 
that the General category BFT retention limits may be increased with 
minimal risks of

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exceeding the ICCAT-allocated U.S. BFT quota.
    Delays in increasing these retention limits would adversely affect 
those General and HMS Charter/Headboat category vessels that would 
otherwise have an opportunity to harvest more than the default 
retention limit of one BFT per day/trip and may exacerbate the problem 
of low catch rates and quota rollovers. Limited opportunities to 
harvest the respective quotas may have negative social and economic 
impacts for U.S. fishermen that depend upon catching the available 
quota within the designated time periods. Adjustment of the retention 
limit needs to be effective January 1, 2015, or as soon as possible 
thereafter, to minimize any unnecessary disruption in fishing patterns, 
to allow the impacted sectors to benefit from the adjustment, and to 
provide fishing opportunities for fishermen in geographic areas with 
access to the fishery only during this time period. 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 these reasons, there is good cause 
under 5 U.S.C. 553(d) to waive the 30-day delay in effectiveness.
    This action is being taken under 50 CFR 635.23(a)(4) and 
635.27(a)(9), and is exempt from review under Executive Order 12866.

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

    Dated: December 22, 2014.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2014-30341 Filed 12-22-14; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P