[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 61 (Thursday, March 29, 2018)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 13466-13468]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-06373]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 300

[Docket No. 171227999-8273-01]
RIN 0648-BH48


Tuna Conventions Act; Advance Notice of Rulemaking; Regulatory 
Amendments to Procedures for the Active and Inactive Vessel Register

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

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is considering 
amending regulations governing the utilization of purse seine vessel 
capacity limits associated with the Regional Vessel Register of the 
Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission. This advance notice of 
proposed rulemaking (ANPR) is intended to provide notice to the public 
of our planning efforts and request comment that will assist in 
identifying revised administrative processes to improve the efficient 
utilization and management of capacity limits. This information will 
help inform our evaluation of what, if any, regulatory amendments are 
necessary and advisable.

DATES: Comments must be submitted in writing by April 30, 2018.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document, identified by 
NOAA-NMFS-2018-0030, by any of the following methods:
     Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to 
www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2018-0030, click the 
``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter or 
attach your comments.
     Mail: Attn: Heidi Taylor, Highly Migratory Species Branch 
Chief, NMFS West Coast Region, 501 W Ocean Blvd., Suite 4200, Long 
Beach, CA 90802. Include the identifier ``NOAA-NMFS-2018-0030'' in the 
comments.
    Instructions: Comments sent by any other method, to any other 
address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period, 
may not be considered by NMFS. All comments received are a part of the 
public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on 
www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying 
information (e.g., name, address, etc.), confidential business 
information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily 
by the sender will be publicly accessible. NMFS will accept anonymous 
comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you wish to remain 
anonymous).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Daniel Studt, NMFS West Coast Region, 
562-980-4073.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background on the IATTC

    The United States is a member of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna 
Commission (IATTC), which was established under the 1949 Convention for 
the Establishment of an Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission. In 
2003, the IATTC adopted the Convention for the Strengthening of the 
IATTC Established by the 1949

[[Page 13467]]

Convention between the United States of America and the Republic of 
Costa Rica (Antigua Convention). The Antigua Convention entered into 
force in 2010. The United States acceded to the Antigua Convention on 
February 24, 2016. The full text of the Antigua Convention is available 
at: https://www.iattc.org/PDFFiles2/Antigua_Convention_Jun_2003.pdf.
    The IATTC consists of 21 Members and five Cooperating Non-Members 
and facilitates the conservation and management of highly migratory 
species of fish in the IATTC Convention Area (Convention Area), as well 
as conducting scientific research on these species. The Convention Area 
is defined as the waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO) within the 
area bounded by the west coast of the Americas, the 50[deg] N latitude, 
the 150[deg] W longitude, and the 50[deg] S latitude.

Obligations of the United States Under the IATTC Convention

    As a Party to the Antigua Convention and a member of the IATTC, the 
United States is legally bound to implement certain decisions of the 
IATTC. The Tuna Conventions Act (16 U.S.C. 951 et seq.), as amended on 
November 5, 2015, by Title II of Public Law 114-81, directs that the 
Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Secretary of State and, 
with respect to enforcement measures, the Secretary of the Department 
of Homeland Security, may promulgate such regulations as may be 
necessary to carry out the United States' international obligations 
under the Antigua Convention, including recommendations and decisions 
adopted by the IATTC. The Secretary of Commerce's authority to 
promulgate such regulations has been delegated to NMFS.
    In June 2000, the IATTC adopted Resolution C-00-06: Resolution on a 
Regional Vessel Register. This Resolution has been amended, including 
most recently through adoption of Resolution C-14-01, which requires 
that Members submit a list of all vessels authorized to fish in the EPO 
to be listed on a Regional Vessel Register (Register). Purse seine 
vessels are further categorized on the Register as either ``active'' or 
``inactive and sunk'' (inactive). Recognizing concerns of excess 
fishing capacity, the IATTC in 2002 adopted Resolution C-02-03: 
Resolution on the Capacity of the Tuna Fleet Operating in the Eastern 
Pacific Ocean (Revised). The Resolution established a vessel capacity 
limit of 158,000 cubic meters for all purse seine vessels authorized by 
the IATTC to fish for tuna species in the EPO. The Resolution further 
specified that each Member and Cooperating Non-Member was allocated a 
purse seine vessel capacity limit by the IATTC based on historical 
fishing levels in the EPO, the level of tuna stocks, and other relevant 
factors. Pursuant to C-02-03, the United States was allocated a purse 
seine capacity limit of 31,866 cubic meters (m\3\). Each U.S. purse 
seine vessel listed on the Register, either as active or inactive, 
counts towards this U.S. capacity limit, except those utilizing a 
single-trip option exemption as described at 50 CFR 300.22(b)(1).

Background on the Pacific Purse Seine Fleet

    Since 1971, the number of large (greater than 400 short tons (st) 
or 362.8 metric tons (mt) carrying capacity) U.S. purse seine vessels 
fishing for tuna in the EPO has decreased from over 155 to an average 
of 10 active and inactive large U.S purse seine vessels over the past 
five years, utilizing an average of roughly 18,209 m\3\ of capacity. 
Most of the U.S. vessels that historically fished in the EPO have 
either re-flagged or are now active in the Western and Central Pacific 
Ocean (WCPO), fishing under the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries 
Commission and a treaty between the United States and certain Pacific 
Island States (the Treaty on Fisheries between the Governments of 
Certain Pacific Island States and the Government of the United States 
of America, also known as the South Pacific Tuna Treaty (SPTT)). The 
number of vessels in the U.S. WCPO purse seine fishery has also 
gradually decreased; shrinking from the late 1990s until 2006, and it 
has fluctuated since. In recent years, the U.S. WCPO purse seine fleet 
has included an average of 37 vessels, with a maximum of 40 vessels 
allowed to fish under the SPTT. These 37 vessels amount to roughly 
55,000 m\3\ of carrying capacity for reference.
    In the last few years, changing operating conditions in the WCPO 
and an increase in the costs assessed to U.S. purse seiners for fishing 
under the SPTT has led to an increased number of large purse seine 
vessels seeking to be added to the IATTC Register. In 2016, 17 of the 
37 purse seiners authorized to fish in the WCPO also fished in the EPO, 
which means they either utilized capacity on the Active Register or 
fished under the single-trip option exemption. Additionally, since 
2014, small (less than or equal to 400 st or 362.8 mt carrying 
capacity) coastal purse seiners have had increased opportunities for 
catching tuna locally, leading to a growing number of small purse seine 
vessels utilizing active capacity on the Register. Over the last 5 
years, an average of 17 small U.S. purse seine vessels have utilized 
1,945 m\3\ of capacity.
    This combination of interest by large and small purse seine vessel 
has led to the U.S. capacity on the Register to become fully allocated 
in recent years, such that no additional vessels could be added to the 
Register. The total capacity of requested vessels have exceeded the 
available capacity and NMFS anticipates this trend may continue. Thus, 
NMFS seeks to re-examine the administrative processes associated with 
the Register to ensure that capacity is being utilized to the full 
extent possible in the most effective way for both large and small 
purse seine vessels.

U.S. Regulations on the Regional Vessel Register

    NMFS has implemented regulations governing U.S. purse seine vessels 
on the Register at 50 CFR 300.22(b). These regulations include the 
process for how vessel owners or managing owners request a purse seine 
vessel be added to the Register, including when and how to submit such 
a request; when and how to obtain the appropriate vessel and operator 
permits; pay the vessel assessment fee; and how vessels permitted and 
authorized under an alternative international tuna purse seine 
fisheries management regime in the Pacific Ocean may utilize a one-trip 
option into the EPO while being exempted from the requirement to be 
included on the Register. The regulations also address processes for 
removing a vessel from the Register and for replacing those vessels, 
and establishes criteria to deem requests for active status as 
``frivolous'' for vessels that occupy U.S. capacity on the Register but 
do not actually fish in a given year. Furthermore, the regulations lay 
out the prioritization of requests following a specified hierarchy.
    Requests for active status are prioritized according to the 
hierarchy listed at 50 CFR 300.22(b)(4)(i)(C). In general, the requests 
are prioritized in the following order: Vessels that were listed as 
active on the Register in the previous year, vessels that were listed 
as inactive on the Register in the previous year, vessels not listed on 
the Register in the previous year prioritized on a first-come, first-
serve basis, and vessels which were previously listed on the Register 
as active in a given year but have been determined to have made a 
frivolous request.
    Requests for active status are considered ``frivolous'' if, for a 
vessel categorized as active in a given calendar year, less than 20 
percent of the vessel's

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total landings, by weight, in that same year is comprised of tuna 
harvested by purse seine in the Convention Area, or the vessel did not 
fish for tuna at all in the Convention Area in that same year. Some 
exceptions to this apply.
    The frivolous request provisions apply only to large purse seine 
vessels. These provisions are intended to prevent large purse seine 
vessel owners who do not have intent to fish in the Convention Area 
from requesting listing on the Register and occupying assigned capacity 
that may otherwise be utilized by active fishing vessels. Small purse 
seine vessels are not subject to the frivolous request provisions 
because owners of small vessels tend to have difficulty anticipating 
whether unassociated schools of tuna will migrate within the range of 
the vessels off the U.S. West Coast during the summer months in the 
upcoming year. Frivolous requests criteria may need to be reexamined to 
ensure full utilization of the U.S. capacity limit.
    Additionally, there is no time limit for how long a vessel may 
remain on the Register as inactive, provided the vessel owner or 
managing owner requests this status every year and pays the associated 
vessel assessment. Since 2015, a single large purse seine vessel has 
been on the Register as inactive, occupying 1,523 m\3\ of capacity that 
would otherwise be available for actively fishing vessels. NMFS seeks 
input on whether to restrict the current practice that allows vessels 
to be continually listed as inactive, to improve the utilization of the 
U.S. purse seine capacity limit by vessels that will actually fish.
    Lastly, NMFS intends to issue a technical correction to existing 
U.S. regulations to correct the regulatory carrying capacity to match 
that on record with the IATTC. A vessel which historically fished in 
the EPO prior to 2002, and whose carrying capacity was used in the 
initial capacity calculations for allotment to the United States, had 
its blueprints re-examined by the IATTC and was found to have had an 
additional 91 m\3\ of carrying capacity than what was used in the 
initial calculation. The IATTC recognized that this re-examination 
increased the United States' historical capacity, and revised their 
accounting of U.S. capacity to reflect this. NMFS would, therefore, 
correct the capacity of 31,775 m\3\ cited in our domestic regulations 
to reflect the IATTC's updated accounting that the U.S. capacity 
allotment is 31,866 m\3\.
    For additional information on current regulations pertaining to the 
Register and procedures for purse seine vessels to be authorized to 
fish for tuna and tuna-like species in the EPO, please see the 
compliance guide located at http://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/publications/fisheries/migratory_species/iattc-rvr-compliance-guide.pdf 
and the NMFS website http://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/fisheries/migratory_species/regional_vessel_register.html.

Request for Comment

    NMFS is soliciting comments from the public to help determine what, 
if any, regulatory amendments could make management of U.S. tuna purse 
seine vessels on the IATTC Regional Vessel Register more effective. 
Comments may include suggestions to improve the procedure for making 
requests to add vessels to the Register, for the identification of 
``frivolous requests for active status'' and management of such 
requests, or how the hierarchy of prioritization of requests should be 
structured to allow for capacity to be utilized to the full extent 
possible in the most effective way. NMFS will fully consider all 
relevant information and comments received, and if necessary, issue 
proposed regulatory amendments for further consideration.

    Authority: Tuna Conventions Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 
1531 et seq.).

    Dated: March 26, 2018.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2018-06373 Filed 3-28-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P