[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 229 (Friday, November 27, 2020)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 75918-75920]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-26218]


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

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 635

[Docket No. 180117042-8884-02]
RTID 0648-XA652


Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Atlantic Bluefin Tuna 
Fisheries

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

ACTION: Temporary rule; quota transfer.

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

SUMMARY: NMFS is transferring 19.5 metric tons (mt) of Atlantic bluefin 
tuna (BFT) quota from the Reserve category to the General category. 
This action is intended to provide additional opportunities for General 
category fishermen to participate in the December General category 
fishery, which is scheduled to reopen on December 1, 2020, and is based 
on consideration of the regulatory determination criteria regarding 
inseason adjustments. This action would affect Atlantic tunas General 
category (commercial) permitted vessels

[[Page 75919]]

and Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Charter/Headboat category permitted 
vessels with a commercial sale endorsement when fishing commercially 
for BFT.

DATES: Effective December 1, 2020, through December 31, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sarah McLaughlin or Nicholas 
Velseboer, 978-281-9260, 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) 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) 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.
    The current baseline General and Reserve category quotas are 555.7 
mt and 29.5 mt, respectively. See Sec.  635.27(a). Each of the General 
category time periods (January, June through August, September, October 
through November, and December) is allocated a ``subquota'' or portion 
of the annual General category quota. 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 the next and is available for use 
in subsequent time periods. To date for 2020, NMFS has taken several 
actions that resulted in adjustments to the General and Reserve 
category quotas, leaving 20 mt of quota currently available in the 
Reserve category (85 FR 17, January 2, 2020; 85 FR 6828, February 6, 
2020; 85 FR 43148, July 16, 2020; 85 FR 59445, September 22, 2020; 85 
FR 61872, October 1, 2020; 85 FR 64411, October 13, 2020; and 85 FR 
68798, October 30, 2020).
    For the January 2020 subquota period, NMFS transferred 19.5 mt of 
BFT quota from the December 2020 subquota period, and transferred 51 mt 
from the Reserve category, resulting in an adjusted subquota of 100 mt 
for the January 2020 period and a subquota of 9.4 mt for the December 
2020 period (85 FR 17, January 2, 2020, and 85 FR 6828, February 6, 
2020). The General category fishery is currently closed and reopens 
December 1, 2020.

Transfer of 19.5 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 provided under Sec.  635.27(a)(8). NMFS has 
considered all of the relevant determination criteria and their 
applicability to this 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 valuable data for ongoing scientific 
studies of BFT age and growth, migration, and reproductive status. 
Additional opportunity to land BFT in the General category would 
support the 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 summer/fall and winter fisheries 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)). 
Preliminary landings data as of November 16, 2020, indicate that the 
General category has landed approximately 818 mt this year, which is 
also the total of the adjusted subquotas for the January through 
November time period. Absent a transfer, the December General category 
fishery would reopen on December 1 with an available quota of 9.4 mt, 
which, depending on BFT availability and fishing conditions, could be 
harvested quickly. Transferring 19.5 mt of BFT quota from the Reserve 
category would result in 28.9 mt being available to the General 
category in December, restoring the December subquota to its base 
amount prior to the January 2, 2020 action (85 FR 17), and would leave 
0.5 mt in the Reserve category to account for any BFT mortalities 
associated with research.
    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 General category participants will be able to harvest the 19.5 mt 
of transferred BFT quota by 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 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 anticipates having sufficient quota to do that, 
even with this 19.5 mt transfer to the General category. 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.
    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 quotas, which were established and analyzed in the 
2018 BFT quota final rule (83 FR 51391, October 11, 2018), and with 
objectives of the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP and amendments and is not 
expected to negatively impact stock health or to affect the stock in 
ways not already analyzed in those documents. 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

[[Page 75920]]

Sec.  635.27(a)(8)(x)). Specific to the General category, this includes 
providing opportunity equitably across all time periods.
    Based on the considerations above, NMFS is transferring 19.5 mt 
from the Reserve category to the General category. Therefore, NMFS 
adjusts the General category December 2020 subquota quota to 28.9 mt 
and adjusts the Reserve category quota to 0.5 mt. The General category 
fishery reopens December 1, 2020, and will remain open until December 
31, 2020, or until the adjusted General category quota is reached, 
whichever comes first.

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., 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.
    NMFS reminds General category participants that when the fishery 
reopens December 1, 2020, the BFT General category daily retention 
limit will be one large medium or giant BFT per vessel per day/trip.

Classification

    NMFS issues this action pursuant to section 305(d) of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act. This action is required by 50 CFR part 635, which was 
issued pursuant to section 304(c), and is exempt from review under 
Executive Order 12866.
    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. Affording prior notice and opportunity for public comment 
to implement the quota transfer for the December 2020 subquota period 
at this time is impracticable and contrary to the public interest as 
NMFS could not have proposed this action earlier, as it needed to 
consider and respond to updated landings data in deciding to transfer a 
portion of the Reserve quota to the General category quota. If NMFS was 
to offer a public comment period now, after having appropriately 
considered that data, it could preclude fishermen from harvesting BFT 
that are legally available consistent with all of the regulatory 
criteria. This action does not raise conservation and management 
concerns. Transferring quota from the Reserve category to the General 
category does not affect the overall U.S. BFT quota, and available data 
shows the adjustment would have a minimal risk of exceeding the ICCAT-
allocated quota. NMFS notes that the public had an opportunity to 
comment on the underlying rulemakings that established the U.S. BFT 
quota and the inseason adjustment criteria. For all of the above 
reasons, there is good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(d) to waive the 30-day 
delay in effectiveness.

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

    Dated: November 23, 2020.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-26218 Filed 11-25-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P