[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 205 (Tuesday, October 23, 2018)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 53399-53401]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-23080]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 665

[Docket No. 180208146-8946-01]
RIN 0648-XG025


Pacific Island Pelagic Fisheries; 2018 U.S. Territorial Longline 
Bigeye Tuna Catch Limits

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

ACTION: Final specifications.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In this final rule, NMFS specifies a 2018 limit of 2,000 
metric tons (t) of longline-caught bigeye tuna for each U.S. Pacific 
territory (American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern 
Mariana Islands (CNMI)). NMFS will allow each territory to allocate up 
to 1,000 t each year to U.S. longline fishing vessels in a valid 
specified fishing agreement. As an accountability measure, NMFS will 
monitor, attribute, and restrict (if necessary), catches of longline-
caught bigeye tuna, including catches made under a specified fishing 
agreement. These catch limits and accountability measures support the 
long-term sustainability of fishery resources of the U.S. Pacific 
Islands.

DATES: The final specifications are effective October 22, 2018, through 
December 31, 2018. The deadline to submit a specified fishing agreement 
pursuant to 50 CFR 665.819(b)(3) for review is November 21, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Fishery Ecosystem Plan for Pelagic Fisheries 
of the Western Pacific (Pelagic FEP) are available from the Western 
Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council), 1164 Bishop St., Suite 
1400, Honolulu, HI 96813, tel 808-522-8220, fax 808-522-8226, or 
www.wpcouncil.org.
    NMFS prepared environmental analyses that describe the potential 
impacts on the human environment that would result from the action. 
Copies of those analyses, which include a 2018 environmental assessment 
(EA) and a finding of no significant impact (FONSI), are available from 
www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2018-0026, or from 
Michael D. Tosatto, Regional Administrator, NMFS Pacific Islands Region 
(PIR), 1845 Wasp Blvd., Bldg. 176, Honolulu, HI 96818.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rebecca Walker, NMFS PIRO Sustainable 
Fisheries, 808-725-5184.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS is specifying a catch limit of 2,000 t 
of longline-caught bigeye tuna for each U.S. territory in 2018. NMFS is 
also authorizing each territory to allocate up to 1,000 t of its 2,000 
t bigeye tuna limit to U.S. longline fishing vessels permitted to fish 
under the Pelagic FEP. NMFS will monitor catches of longline-caught 
bigeye tuna by the longline fisheries of each territory, including 
catches made by U.S. longline vessels operating under specified fishing 
agreements. The criteria that a specified fishing agreement must meet, 
and the process for attributing longline-caught bigeye tuna, will 
follow the procedures in 50 CFR 665.819. When NMFS projects that a 
territorial catch or allocation limit will be reached, NMFS will, as an 
accountability measure, prohibit the catch and retention of longline-
caught bigeye tuna by vessels in the applicable territory (territorial 
catch limit), and/or vessels in a specified fishing agreement 
(allocation limit).

[[Page 53400]]

    You may find additional background information on this action in 
the preamble to the proposed specifications published on August 8, 2018 
(83 FR 39037).

Comments and Responses

    On August 8, 2018, NMFS published the proposed specifications and 
request for public comments (83 FR 39037); the comment period closed on 
August 23, 2018. In light of the decision in Territory of American 
Samoa v. NMFS, et al. (16-cv-95, D. Haw), NMFS specifically invited 
public comments that would address the impact of the proposed action on 
cultural fishing in American Samoa. NMFS received no comments 
addressing cultural fishing.
    NMFS received comments only from the Hawaii Longline Association 
(HLA) on the proposed specifications and the draft EA. NMFS considered 
the public comments, and responds to comments below.
    Comment 1: NMFS should act thoughtfully and quickly in completing 
this rulemaking process. In past years, the deep-set fishery in the 
Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) and the Eastern Pacific Ocean 
(EPO) attained the U.S. bigeye tuna catch limits in each area. As a 
result, many U.S. deep-set vessels were unable to fish because they 
were not able to allocate catch pursuant to already-executed specified 
fishing agreements. Such delays in rulemaking impede the achievement of 
the goals of the Pelagic FEP.
    Response: NMFS reviews the proposed catch and allocation limits for 
consistency with the provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the 
Pelagic FEP, decisions of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries 
Commission (WCPFC), and other applicable laws. This review requires 
preparation of comprehensive supporting environmental analyses to 
ensure the conservation of affected fish stocks and protected species. 
While NMFS is committed to preparing analyses before the fishery could 
reach the WCPO bigeye tuna limit, we also encourage HLA to consider 
industry-led actions in both the WCPO and the EPO that might reduce the 
likelihood of reaching a catch limit, or otherwise alleviate the impact 
of a closure.
    Comment 2: The proposed rule will provide substantial benefits for 
the Hawaii-based longline fisheries, the Hawaii seafood market, the 
territories, and protected species.
    Response: NMFS agrees. We are satisfied that this action (which is 
identical to the catch and allocation limits implemented in 2017 (82 FR 
47642, Oct. 13, 2017)) addresses the conservation and management needs 
of bigeye tuna in the western and central Pacific Ocean, and considers 
the needs of fishing communities of the U.S. Pacific Islands, and the 
impacts to protected species.
    Comment 3: Transferred effects caused by closing Hawaii-based 
longline fisheries have detrimental impacts on local Hawaii seafood 
markets and on protected species that are caught more frequently by 
foreign fisheries. HLA provided copies of scientific papers on 
transferred effects, and requested that NMFS include these papers, 
along with its comment letter, in the administrative record for this 
rulemaking.
    Response: NMFS acknowledges the concept of transferred effects 
during a closure of the U.S. longline fleet, and we have posted HLA's 
comment letter and enclosures at www.regulations.gov.
    Comment 4: The issuance of the proposed rule will have no 
significant impacts on the WCPO bigeye tuna stock.
    Response: NMFS agrees, and is satisfied that this action is 
consistent with the conservation and management needs of bigeye tuna in 
the WCPO.
    Comment 5: HLA notes that the proposed limits are substantially 
more stringent than conservation measures adopted by WCPFC, which do 
not establish any bigeye limits for the Territories, and questions 
whether there is a factual basis to limit each territory to a 1,000 t 
allocation.
    Response: This action implements the recommendation from the 
Council's 172nd meeting, in March 2018, that NMFS specify for each U.S. 
participating territory, a 2,000 t longline bigeye catch limit and 
specify that each territory can each allocate up to 1,000 t of their 
bigeye catch limit. Utilizing the best scientific information 
available, NMFS has determined that these catch and allocation limits 
are consistent with WCPFC objectives to conserve the bigeye stock. NMFS 
agrees that the WCPFC has not adopted bigeye limits for the U.S. 
Territories, and notes that the Council has recommended amending the 
Pelagic FEP and Federal regulations to remove the requirement that NMFS 
must first specify catch limits for the territories before specifying 
allocation limits, but the Council has not yet developed the 
recommended amendment.
    Comment 6: HLA disagrees with the conclusions of the draft EA that 
the deep-set fishery may have some (albeit very limited) adverse effect 
on the insular false killer whale stock, because NMFS observers have 
never recorded an interaction in the very small area in which fishing 
effort and the designated range of the insular stock currently overlap.
    Response: The conclusion that the Hawaii deep-set longline fishery 
is likely to adversely affect the main Hawaiian Islands insular false 
killer whale stock is based on NMFS determinations made in the most 
recent (2014 as supplemented in 2017) biological opinion for the 
fishery, which we reference in the EA. While we agree that observers 
have not recently documented interactions in the area where fishing 
effort and the designated range of the insular stock currently overlap, 
based on historical data and fishing gear employed, NMFS anticipates 
that low levels of fishery interactions are still likely to occur on 
trips within that overlap zone. NMFS applies a proration method 
described in the 2014 biological opinion that uses fishing effort 
inside and outside the U.S. EEZ around the MHI to attribute mortality 
and serious injury, a subset of total take, of false killer whales and 
unidentified black fish to the pelagic false killer whale stock, the 
northwestern Hawaiian Islands killer whale stock or the MHI insular 
false killer whale stock. The proration method also accounts for effort 
within the small area fishing effort and the insular stock overlap. 
Because this proration method results in attribution of take to the MHI 
insular false killer whale stock, NMFS, in the 2014 biological opinion, 
determined the fishery is likely to adversely affect this stock, but is 
not likely to jeopardize its continued existence.
    Comment 7: Reference to the recent settlement in the shallow-set 
fishery litigation should clarify that the hard cap limit of 17 
loggerhead sea turtles will be effective January 1, 2019, unless or 
until superseded by a new hard cap limit.
    Response: NMFS has made this suggested change in section 3.3.1.2 of 
the EA.
    Comment 8: The EA should clarify that the Southern Exclusion Zone 
closure is temporary, lasting only to the end of 2018.
    Response: NMFS revised the text in EA sections 3.2.3.1, 3.3.2.1, 
and 4.3.1.1 to reflect the temporary nature of the closure.
    Comment 9: As to protected species more broadly, it is more 
accurate to say that the proposed rule will not result in significant 
adverse effects to protected species (as opposed to ``large adverse 
effects.''
    Response: NMFS agrees that the action implemented by this final 
rule will not result in significant impacts to protected species.

[[Page 53401]]

Classification

    The Regional Administrator, NMFS Pacific Islands Region, determined 
that this action is necessary for the conservation and management of 
Pacific Island fishery resources, and that it is consistent with the 
Magnuson-Stevens Act and other applicable laws.
    The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce 
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business 
Administration during the proposed rule stage that this action would 
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities. NMFS published the factual basis for the certification in the 
proposed rule, and we do not repeat it here. NMFS received no comments 
on this certification; as a result, a regulatory flexibility analysis 
is not required, and none has been prepared.
    Because this rule relieves a restriction, it is not subject to the 
30-day delayed effectiveness provision of the APA pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 
553(d)(1). This rule allows U.S. vessels identified in a valid 
specified fishing agreement to resume fishing in the western and 
central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) if and when NMFS closes the longline 
fishery for bigeye tuna. On July 18, 2018, through a separate action, 
NMFS established the 2018 limit of 3,554 t of bigeye tuna caught by 
U.S. longline fisheries in the WCPO (83 FR 33851). When NMFS projects 
that the fishery will reach the limit, NMFS must close the fishery for 
bigeye tuna in the WCPO. Regulations at 50 CFR 665.819 require NMFS to 
begin attributing longline caught bigeye tuna to the U.S. territory to 
which a fishing agreement applies seven days before the date NMFS 
projects the fishery will reach the WCPO U.S bigeye tuna limit, or upon 
the effective date of the agreement, whichever is later. Based on 
longline catch records to date, NMFS projects the fishery will reach 
the current 3,554 t limit of WCPO bigeye tuna in early November 2018. 
If the effectiveness of this final rule is delayed past the date the 
WCPO bigeye tuna limit is reached, NMFS would be required to publish a 
temporary rule that restricts the Hawaii-based longline fishery for 
WCPO bigeye tuna until this final rule is effective. After the 
effective date, NMFS would remove the restrictions for U.S. vessels 
identified in a valid specified fishing agreement with a U.S. 
territory. By implementing this rule immediately, it allows the Hawaii 
longline fishery to continue fishing without the uncertainty or 
disruption of a potential closure.
    This action is exempt from review under E.O. 12866 because it 
contains no implementing regulations.

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

    Dated: October 17, 2018.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2018-23080 Filed 10-22-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P