[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 25 (Thursday, February 6, 2020)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 6828-6830]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-02217]


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

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 635

[Docket Nos. 120328229-4949-02 and 180117042-8884-02; RTID 0648-XT032]


Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Atlantic Bluefin Tuna 
Fisheries

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

ACTION: Temporary rule; Purse Seine category annual quota adjustment; 
quota transfer.

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

SUMMARY: NMFS is adjusting the Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) Purse Seine 
and Reserve category quotas for 2020, as it has done annually since 
2015. NMFS also is transferring 51 metric tons (mt) of BFT quota from 
the Reserve category to the General category January 2020 period (from 
January 1 through March 31, 2020, 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 5, 2020, through December 31, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sarah McLaughlin, 978-281-9260, 
Nicholas Velseboer 978-675-2168, 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), and amendments. 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

    The current baseline Purse Seine, General, and Reserve category 
quotas are codified as 219.5 mt, 555.7 mt, and 29.5 mt, respectively. 
Pursuant to Sec.  635.27(a)(4), NMFS has determined the amount of quota 
available to the Atlantic Tunas Purse Seine category participants in 
2020, based on their BFT catch (landings and dead discards) in 2019. 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 amounts of quota available to the Purse Seine category participants 
for 2020 based on their individual catch levels in 2019 and the 
codified process adopted in Amendment 7. NMFS did not open the Purse 
Seine fishery in 2019 because there were no purse seine vessels 
permitted to fish for BFT and thus no catch in 2019. 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 Individual Bluefin Quota 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 
2020. 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 2020 Reserve category quota of 194 mt, before 
any further transfers to other categories.

Transfer of 51 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

[[Page 6829]]

criteria at Sec.  635.27(a)(8). For 2020 to date, NMFS has transferred 
19.5 mt from the General category December 2020 subquota period to the 
January 2020 subquota period (85 FR 17, January 2, 2020), resulting in 
an adjusted General category January period subquota of 49 mt.
    NMFS has considered all of the relevant determination criteria and 
their applicability to the inseason quota transfer. 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 continued collection of a broad range of 
data for these studies and for stock monitoring purposes.
    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) and (ix)). As of January 28, 
2020, the General category has landed 14.9 mt of its adjusted January 
2020 subquota of 49 mt. Commercial-size BFT are currently readily 
available to vessels fishing under the General category quota. Without 
a quota transfer at this time, General category participants would have 
to stop BFT fishing activities with very short notice, while 
commercial-sized BFT remain available in the areas General category 
permitted vessels operate. Transferring 51 mt of BFT quota from the 
Reserve category would result in a total of 100 mt being available for 
the General category for the January 2020 subquota period.
    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 51 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 2020 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 2020 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 51-mt transfer to the General category.
    NMFS also considered the effects of the adjustment on the BFT stock 
and the effects of the transfer on accomplishing the objectives of the 
FMP (Sec.  635.27(a)(8)(v) and (vi)). 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)). Specific to the General category, this includes 
providing opportunity equitably across all time periods.
    NMFS also anticipates that some underharvest of the 2019 adjusted 
U.S. BFT quota will be carried forward to 2020 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 2020 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 2019 (i.e., transferred 60 mt from the Reserve category 
effective September 11, 2019 (84 FR 48566, September 16, 2019); 100 mt 
from the Reserve category effective October 1, 2019 (84 FR 52806, 
October 3, 2019); and 53.2 mt from the Reserve category effective 
November 18, 2019 (84 FR 63812, November 19, 2019). NMFS anticipates 
that General category participants in all areas and time periods will 
have opportunities to harvest the General category quota in 2020, 
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 2020 quota later in the 
year, and provide a reasonable opportunity to harvest the full U.S. BFT 
quota, without precluding vessels in another area from having a 
reasonable opportunity to harvest a portion of the category's quota.
    Based on the considerations above, NMFS is transferring 51 mt from 
the adjusted Reserve category to the General category for the January 
2020 fishery, resulting in a subquota of 100 mt for the January 2020 
fishery and 143 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 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

[[Page 6830]]

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 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: January 30, 2020.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-02217 Filed 2-5-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P