[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 40 (Thursday, February 28, 2019)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 6701-6703]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-03554]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 635
[Docket Nos. 120328229-4949-02 and 180117042-8884-02]
RIN 0648-XG839
Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Atlantic Bluefin Tuna
Fisheries
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; annual adjustment of Atlantic bluefin tuna
Purse Seine and Reserve category quotas; inseason quota transfer from
the Reserve category to the General category.
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SUMMARY: NMFS is adjusting the Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) Purse Seine
and Reserve category quotas for 2019, as it has done annually since
2015. NMFS also is transferring 25 metric tons (mt) of 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). The transfer to the
General category 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: Effective February 25, 2019, through December 31, 2019.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sarah McLaughlin, 978-281-9260, Uriah
Forrest-Bulley, 978-675-2154, or Larry Redd, 301-427-8503.
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) among the various domestic fishing categories, per the
allocations established in the 2006 Consolidated Atlantic 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.
Annual Adjustment of the BFT Purse Seine and Reserve Category Quotas
In 2018, NMFS implemented a final rule that established the U.S.
BFT quota and subquotas consistent with ICCAT Recommendation 17-06 (83
FR 53191, October 11, 2018). As a result, based on the currently
codified U.S. quota of 1,247.86 mt (not including the 25 mt allocated
by ICCAT to the United States to account for bycatch of BFT in pelagic
longline fisheries in the Northeast Distant Gear Restricted Area), the
baseline Purse Seine, General, and Reserve category quotas are codified
as 219.5 mt, 555.7 mt, and 29.5 mt, respectively. See Sec. 635.27(a).
For 2019 to date, NMFS has made the following inseason quota transfers:
19.5 mt from the General category December 2019 subquota period to the
January 2019 subquota period (83 FR 67140, December 28, 2018) and 26 mt
from the Reserve category to the General category (84 FR 3724, February
13, 2019), resulting in an adjusted 2019 Reserve category quota of 3.5
mt.
Pursuant to Sec. 635.27(a)(4), NMFS has determined the amount of
quota available to the Atlantic Tunas Purse Seine category participants
in 2019, based on their BFT catch (landings and dead discards) in 2018.
In accordance with the regulations, NMFS makes available to each Purse
Seine category participant either 100 percent, 75 percent, 50 percent,
or 25 percent of the individual baseline quota allocations based on the
previous year's catch, as described in Sec. 635.27(a)(4)(ii), and
reallocates the remainder to the Reserve category. NMFS has calculated
the
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amounts of quota available to the Purse Seine category participants for
2019 based on their individual catch levels in 2018 and the codified
process adopted in Amendment 7. NMFS did not open the Purse Seine
fishery in 2018 because there were no purse seine vessels permitted to
fish for BFT and thus no catch in 2018. As a result, each Purse Seine
category participant will receive 25 percent of the individual baseline
quota amount, which is the required distribution even with no fishing
activity under the current regulations. The individual baseline amount
is 43.9 mt (219.5 mt divided by five Purse Seine category
participants), 25 percent of which is 11 mt. Consistent with Sec.
635.27(a)(4)(v)(C), NMFS notifies Atlantic Tunas Purse Seine category
participants of the amount of quota available for their use this year
through the IBQ electronic system established under Sec. 635.15 and in
writing.
By summing the individual available allocations, NMFS has
determined that 55 mt are available to the Purse Seine category for
2019. Thus, the amount of Purse Seine category quota to be reallocated
to the Reserve category is 164.5 mt (219.5 mt-55 mt). This reallocation
results in an adjusted 2019 Reserve category quota of 168 mt (3.5 mt +
164.5 mt), before any further transfers to other categories.
Transfer of 25 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)). On February 20,
2019, the General category had landed 74 mt of its adjusted January
2019 subquota of 75 mt. At that time, NMFS considered that without a
quota transfer, the January 2019 General category fishery would face
closure, while unused quota remained in the Reserve category and
commercial-sized bluefin tuna 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 25 mt of transferred 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 25-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,
which include measures to meet obligations related to ending
overfishing and rebuilding stocks (Sec. 635.27(a)(8)(v) and (vi)).
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
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 (Sec.
635.27(a)(8)(viii). Thus, this quota transfer would allow fishermen to
take advantage of the availability of fish on the fishing grounds
considering the expected increases in available 2019 quota later in the
year, and provide a reasonable opportunity to harvest the full U.S.
bluefin tuna quota, without precluding vessels in another area from
having a reasonable opportunity to harvest a portion of the category's
quota. As the agency decision-making process for this inseason action
progressed, additional catches in the General category brought landings
to date up to 76.6 mt as of February 22, 2019. Given that this inseason
action adjusting the quota was then pending, we determined that filing
a closure notice, immediately followed by re-opening the General
category, would create unnecessary administrative burden for NMFS and
potentially confuse the regulated community.
Based on the considerations above, NMFS is transferring 25 mt from
the adjusted Reserve category to the General
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category for the January 2019 fishery, resulting in a subquota of 100
mt for the January 2019 fishery (75 mt + 25 mt) and 143 mt in the
Reserve category (168 mt - 25 mt).
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, 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, the transfer from
the Reserve category to the General category 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 fishery
would be closed absent the additional quota. 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 further 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. Sec. 635.15(b) and
635.27(a)(4), (7), (8), and (9), and is exempt from review under
Executive Order 12866.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq. and 1801 et seq.
Dated: February 25, 2019.
Karen H. Abrams,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-03554 Filed 2-25-19; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P