[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 43 (Monday, March 5, 2018)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 9232-9235]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-04397]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 635

[Docket No. 150121066-5717-02]
RIN 0648-XG061


Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Atlantic Bluefin Tuna 
Fisheries; General Category Fishery

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

ACTION: Temporary rule; General category January fishery for 2018; 
inseason bluefin tuna quota transfer and closure.

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SUMMARY: NMFS transfers 10 metric tons (mt) of Atlantic bluefin tuna 
(BFT) quota from the Reserve category to the January 2018 subquota 
period (from January 1 through March 31, 2018, or until the available 
subquota for this period is reached, whichever comes

[[Page 9233]]

first) and closes the General category fishery for large medium and 
giant BFT until the General category reopens on June 1, 2018. The quota 
transfer 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 with a 
commercial sale endorsement when fishing commercially for BFT. The 
intent of the closure is to prevent overharvest of the available 
General category January 2018 BFT subquota as adjusted in this action.

DATES: The quota transfer is effective February 28, 2018, through March 
2, 2018. The closure is effective 11:30 p.m., local time, March 2, 
2018, through May 31, 2018.

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 
635. Section 635.27 subdivides the U.S. BFT quota recommended by the 
International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) 
and as implemented by the United States 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 
Amendment 7 to the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP (Amendment 7) (79 FR 
71510, December 2, 2014). NMFS is required under ATCA and the Magnuson-
Stevens Act to provide U.S. fishing vessels with a reasonable 
opportunity to harvest the ICCAT-recommended quota.
    NMFS is required, under regulations at Sec.  635.28(a)(1), to file 
a closure notice for publication with the Office of the Federal 
Register when a BFT quota is reached or is projected to be reached. On 
and after the effective date and time of such notification, for the 
remainder of the fishing year or for a specified period as indicated in 
the notification, retaining, possessing, or landing BFT under that 
quota category is prohibited until the opening of the subsequent quota 
period or until such date as specified in the notice.
    The base quota for the General category is 466.7 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 ``subquota'' or 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. The 
subquotas for each time period are as follows: 24.7 mt for January; 
233.3 mt for June through August; 123.7 mt for September; 60.7 mt for 
October through November; and 24.3 mt for December. Any unused General 
category quota rolls forward within the fishing year, which coincides 
with the calendar year, from one time period to the next, and is 
available for use in subsequent time periods. Effective January 1, 
2017, NMFS transferred 14.3 mt of the 24.3-mt General category quota 
allocated for the December 2018 period to the January 2018 period, 
resulting in an adjusted subquota of 39 mt for the January period and a 
subquota of 10 mt for the December 2017 period (82 FR 60680, December 
22, 2017).
    Although the 2017 ICCAT recommendation regarding western BFT 
management would result in an increase to the baseline U.S. BFT quota 
(i.e., from 1,058.79 mt to 1,247.86 mt) and subquotas for 2018 
(including an expected increase in General category quota from 466.7 mt 
to 555.7 mt, consistent with the annual BFT quota calculation process 
established in Amendment 7), domestic implementation of that 
recommendation will take place in a separate rulemaking, likely to be 
finalized in mid-2018.

Transfer of 10 mt From the Reserve Category to the General Category

    Under Sec.  635.27(a)(9), NMFS has the authority to transfer quota 
among fishing categories or subcategories, after considering regulatory 
determination criteria provided under Sec.  635.27(a)(8). NMFS has 
considered all of the relevant determination criteria and their 
applicability to this inseason quota. These considerations include, but 
are not limited to, the following:
    Regarding the usefulness of information obtained from catches in 
the particular category for biological sampling and monitoring of the 
status of the stock (Sec.  635.27(a)(8)(i)), biological samples 
collected from BFT landed by General category fishermen and provided to 
researchers by tuna dealers give NMFS valuable parts and data for 
ongoing scientific studies of BFT age and growth, migration, and 
reproductive status.
    NMFS also considered the catches of the General category quota to 
date (including during the winter fishery in the last several years), 
and the likelihood of closure of that segment of the fishery if no 
adjustment is made (Sec.  635.27(a)(8)(ii)). As of February 26, 2018, 
the General category landed 31.3 mt (80 percent) of its adjusted 
January 2018 subquota of 39 mt. Although this Notice also closes the 
fishery, without a quota transfer, closure may have been necessary 
sooner or the subquota category could have exceeded its available 
quota, while some quota is available in the Reserve category and while 
commercial-sized bluefin tuna may remain available in the areas where 
General category permitted vessels operate at this time of year. 
Transferring 10 mt of quota from the Reserve category would result in 
49 mt being available for the January fishery, thus providing limited 
additional opportunities to harvest the U.S. bluefin tuna quota while 
avoiding exceeding it.
    Regarding the projected ability of the vessels fishing under the 
particular category quota (here, the General category) to harvest the 
additional amount of BFT before the end of the fishing year (Sec.  
635.27(a)(8)(iii)), NMFS anticipates that all of the 10 mt of qutoa 
will be used by March 2, based on current figures and the relatively 
small amount of quota being transferred. In the unlikely event that any 
of this quota is unused, by March 31, such quota will roll forward to 
the next subperiod within the calendar year (i.e., the June-August time 
period), and NMFS anticipates that it would be used before the end of 
the fishing year.
    NMFS also considered the estimated amounts by which quotas for 
other gear categories of the fishery might be exceeded (Sec.  
635.27(a)(8)(iv)) and the ability to account for all 2018 landings and 
dead discards. In the last several years, total U.S. BFT landings have 
been below the available U.S. quota such that the United States has 
carried forward the maximum amount of underharvest allowed by ICCAT 
from one year to the next. In 2016 and 2017, the General category 
exceeded its adjusted quota (discussed below) but sufficient quota was 
available to cover the exceedance without affecting the other 
categories. NMFS will need to account for 2018 landings and dead 
discards within the adjusted U.S. quota, consistent with ICCAT 
recommendations, and anticipates having sufficient quota to do that, 
even with the 10 mt transfer to the General category for the January 
fishery.

[[Page 9234]]

    This transfer would be consistent with the current quotas, which 
were established and analyzed in the 2015 BFT quota final rule (80 FR 
52198, August 28, 2015), and with objectives of the 2006 Consolidated 
HMS FMP and amendments. (Sec.  635.27(a)(8)(v) and (vi)). At this time, 
there is a relatively small amount of quota in the Reserve category 
available to transfer to other categories or use for scientific 
research and for prudent responsive management. In the past, we have 
conducted the annual reallocation of unused Purse Seine category quota 
to the Reserve category earlier in the year, which resulted in more 
Reserve category quota available at this time of year. Even if more 
quota were available, however, we likely would limit the amount of 
transferred quota, given considerations related to prudent longer-term 
management for all categories of the fishery this year. Another 
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 (related to Sec.  635.27(a)(8)(x)).
    NMFS also anticipates that some underharvest of the 2017 adjusted 
U.S. BFT quota will be carried forward to 2018 and placed in the 
Reserve category, in accordance with the regulations, later this year. 
This, in addition to the fact that any unused General category quota 
will roll forward to the next subperiod within the calendar year, as 
well as the anticipated increase in the U.S. quota and subquotas for 
2018 as a result of ICCAT recommendations and NMFS' plan to actively 
manage the subquotas to avoid any exceedances, makes it likely that 
General category quota will remain available through the end of 2018 
for December fishery participants, after the fishery re-opens later 
this year. NMFS also may choose to transfer unused quota from the 
Reserve or other categories, inseason, based on consideration of the 
determination criteria, as NMFS did for late 2017 (i.e., transferred 
156.4 mt from the Reserve category, effective October 1, 2017 (82 FR 
46000, October 3, 2017)), and later transferred another 25.6 mt from 
the Harpoon category, effective December 1 (82 FR 55520, November 22, 
2017). NMFS anticipates that General category participants in all areas 
and time periods will have opportunities to harvest the General 
category quota in 2018, through active inseason management such as 
retention limit adjustments and/or the timing of quota transfers, as 
practicable. Thus, this quota transfer would allow fishermen to take 
advantage of the availability of fish on the fishing grounds to the 
extent consistent with the available amount transferrable quota and 
other management objectives, while avoiding quota exceedance.
    Based on the considerations above, NMFS is transferring 10 mt of 
the 24.8-mt Reserve category quota to the General category for the 
January 2018 fishery, resulting in a subquota of 49 mt for the January 
2018 fishery and 14.8 mt in the Reserve category.

Closure of the January 2018 General Category Fishery

    Based on the best available bluefin tuna General category landings 
information (i.e., 31.3 mt landed as of February 26, 2018) as well as 
average catch rates and anticipated fishing conditions, NMFS projects 
that the General category January subquota of 49 mt, as adjusted in 
this action, will be reached by March 2, 2018, and that the fishery 
should be closed to avoid exceedance of the enhanced quota. Through 
this action, we are closing the General category bluefin tuna fishery 
effective 11:30 p.m., March 2, 2018, through May 31, 2018. The fishery 
will reopen on June 1, 2018, with a quota of 233.3 mt available for the 
June through August time period. Therefore, retaining, possessing, or 
landing large medium or giant BFT by persons aboard vessels permitted 
in the Atlantic tunas General and HMS Charter/Headboat categories must 
cease at 11:30 p.m. local time on March 2, 2018. The General category 
will reopen automatically on June 1, 2018, for the June through August 
2018 subquota period. This action applies to Atlantic tunas General 
category (commercial) permitted vessels and Highly Migratory Species 
(HMS) Charter/Headboat category permitted vessels when fishing 
commercially for BFT, and is taken consistent with the regulations at 
Sec.  635.28(a)(1). The intent of this closure is to prevent 
overharvest of the available General category January BFT subquota.
    Fishermen may catch and release (or tag and release) BFT of all 
sizes, subject to the requirements of the catch-and-release and tag-
and-release programs at Sec.  635.26. All BFT that are released must be 
handled in a manner that will maximize their survival, and without 
removing the fish from the water, consistent with requirements at Sec.  
635.21(a)(1). For additional information on safe handling, see the 
``Careful Catch and Release'' brochure available at www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/.

Monitoring and Reporting

    NMFS will continue to monitor the BFT fishery closely. Dealers are 
required to submit landing reports within 24 hours of a dealer 
receiving BFT. Late reporting by dealers compromises NMFS' ability to 
timely implement actions such as quota and retention limit adjustment, 
as well as closures, and may result in enforcement actions. 
Additionally, and separate from the dealer reporting requirement, 
General and HMS Charter/Headboat category vessel owners are required to 
report the catch of all BFT retained or discarded dead within 24 hours 
of the landing(s) or end of each trip, by accessing hmspermits.noaa.gov 
or by using the HMS Catch Reporting App.
    Depending on the level of fishing effort and catch rates of BFT, 
NMFS may determine that additional action (e.g., quota adjustment, 
daily retention limit adjustment, or closure) is necessary to ensure 
available subquotas are not exceeded or to enhance scientific data 
collection from, and fishing opportunities in, all geographic areas. If 
needed, subsequent adjustments will be published in the Federal 
Register. In addition, fishermen may call the Atlantic Tunas 
Information Line at (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 quota transfers and fishery closures 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. These fisheries are currently underway 
and the currently available quota for the subcategory is projected to 
be reached shortly. Affording prior notice and opportunity for public 
comment to implement the quota transfer is impracticable and contrary 
to the public interest as such a delay would likely result in 
exceedance of the General category January fishery subquota or earlier 
closure of the fishery while fish are available on the fishing grounds. 
Subquota exceedance may result in the

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need to reduce quota for the General category later in the year and 
thus could affect later fishing opportunities. 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, there 
also is good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(d) to waive the 30-day delay in 
effectiveness.
    This action is being taken under Sec. Sec.  635.27(a)(9) and 
635.28(a)(1), and is exempt from review under Executive Order 12866.

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

    Dated: February 28, 2018.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2018-04397 Filed 2-28-18; 4:15 pm]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P