[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 30 (Wednesday, February 13, 2019)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 3724-3726]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-02190]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 635

[Docket No. 180117042-8884-02]
RIN 0648-XG787


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; inseason quota transfer.

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SUMMARY: NMFS transfers 26 metric tons (mt) of Atlantic bluefin tuna 
(BFT) quota from the Reserve category to the General category January 
2019 period (from January 1 through March 31, 2019, or until the 
available subquota for this period is reached, whichever comes first). 
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 with a 
commercial sale endorsement when fishing commercially for BFT.

DATES: The quota transfer is effective February 8, 2019, through March 
31, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Uriah Forest-Bulley, 978-675-2154, or 
Sarah McLaughlin, 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 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 published a final rule (i.e., the ``quota rule'' (83 FR 51391, 
October 11, 2018)) that increased the baseline U.S. BFT quota from 
1,058.79 mt to 1,247.86 mt consistent with a 2017 ICCAT recommendation 
and accordingly increased the domestic category quotas for 2018, until 
changed via a subsequent ICCAT recommendation. Within the General 
category quota, each time period (January, June through August, 
September, October through November, and December) is further 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 baseline subquotas for 
each time period are as follows: 29.5 mt for January; 277.9 mt for June 
through August; 147.3 mt for September; 72.2 mt for October through 
November; and 28.9 mt for December. Any unused General category quota 
rolls forward from one time period to

[[Page 3725]]

the next and is available for use in subsequent time periods within the 
fishing year, which coincides with the calendar year. Effective January 
1, 2019, NMFS transferred 19.5 mt of the 28.9-mt General category quota 
allocated for the December 2019 period to the January 2019 period, 
resulting in an adjusted subquota of 49 mt for the January period and a 
subquota of 9.4 mt for the December 2018 period (83 FR 67140, December 
28, 2018).

Transfer of 26 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 at Sec.  635.27(a)(8). NMFS has considered all 
of the relevant determination criteria and their applicability to the 
General category fishery. 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 by 
BFT dealers continue to provide NMFS with valuable data for ongoing 
scientific studies of BFT age and growth, migration, and reproductive 
status. Additional opportunity to land BFT over the longest time-period 
allowable would support the collection of a broad range of data for 
these studies and for stock monitoring purposes.
    NMFS 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) and (ix)). As of February 5, 
2019, the General category landed 37 mt (76 percent) of its adjusted 
January 2019 subquota of 49 mt. Without a quota transfer, NMFS would 
have to close the January 2019 General category fishery, while unused 
quota remains in the Reserve category and while commercial-sized BFT 
remain available in the areas where General category permitted vessels 
operate at this time of year.
    Regarding the projected ability of the vessels fishing under the 
particular category quota (here, the General category) to harvest the 
additional amount of BFT quota transferred before the end of the 
fishing year (Sec.  635.27(a)(8)(iii)), NMFS considered General 
category landings over the last several years and landings to date this 
year. Landings are highly variable and depend on access to commercial-
sized BFT and fishing conditions, among other factors. NMFS anticipates 
that all 26 mt of quota will be used by March 31. In the unlikely event 
that any of this quota is unused by March 31, the unused quota will 
roll forward to the next subperiod within the calendar year (i.e., the 
June through August time period), and NMFS anticipates that it would be 
used by the subquota category 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 2019 landings and 
dead discards. In the last several years, total U.S. BFT landings have 
been below the total 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. NMFS will need to account for 2019 landings 
and dead discards within the adjusted U.S. quota, consistent with ICCAT 
recommendations, and NMFS anticipates having sufficient quota to do 
that, even with this 26-mt transfer to the General category.
    This transfer would be consistent with the current U.S. quota, 
which was established and analyzed in the 2018 BFT quota final rule, 
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, NMFS has conducted the annual 
reallocation of unused Purse Seine category quota to the Reserve 
category early in the calendar year, which resulted in more Reserve 
category quota available at this time of year. However, a government 
shutdown occurred due to a lack of appropriations during December 2018-
January 2019, which resulted in an administrative backlog that will 
delay that action for 2019. Given that consideration, current catch 
rates, and the availability of fish on the fishing grounds, NMFS is 
moving forward with this inseason transfer based on the immediate needs 
of the General category fishery. Another principal consideration is the 
objective of providing opportunities to harvest the full annual U.S. 
BFT quota equitably without exceeding it based on the goals of the 2006 
Consolidated HMS FMP and amendments, 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 2018 adjusted 
U.S. BFT quota will be carried forward to 2019 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 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 2019 for December fishery participants. NMFS also 
may transfer unused quota from the Reserve or other categories, 
inseason, based on consideration of the determination criteria, as it 
did in 2018 (i.e., transferred 60 mt from the Reserve category 
effective September 18, 2018 (83 FR 47843, September 21, 2018); 40 mt 
form the Harpoon category and 15 mt from the Reserve category effective 
October 4, 2018 (83 FR 50857, October 10, 2018); and 9.9 mt from the 
Harpoon category and 129.2 mt from the General category effective 
November 29, 2018 (83 FR 62512, December 4, 2018). NMFS anticipates 
that General category participants in all areas and time periods will 
have opportunities to harvest the General category quota in 2019, 
through active inseason management measures, 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 of transferrable quota and other management 
objectives, while avoiding quota exceedance.
    Based on the considerations above, NMFS is transferring 26 mt from 
the Reserve category to the General category for the January 2019 
fishery, resulting in a subquota of 75 mt for the January 2019 fishery 
and 3.5 mt in the Reserve category.

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

[[Page 3726]]

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, 
or calling (888) 872-8862 (Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 4:30 
p.m.).
    Depending on the level of fishing effort and catch rates of BFT, 
NMFS may determine that additional action (e.g., quota 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 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 result in 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. 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 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.  635.27(a)(9) (Inseason 
adjustments) and is exempt from review under Executive Order 12866.

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

    Dated: February 8, 2019.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-02190 Filed 2-8-19; 4:15 pm]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P