[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 194 (Friday, October 7, 2022)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 60938-60940]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-21975]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 635

[Docket No. 220523-0119; RTID 0648-XC420]


Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Atlantic Bluefin Tuna 
Fisheries; General Category October Through November Quota Transfer

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

ACTION: Temporary rule; quota transfer.

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SUMMARY: NMFS is transferring 125 metric tons (mt) of Atlantic bluefin 
tuna (BFT) quota from the Reserve category to the General category. 
With this transfer, the adjusted General category October through 
November 2022 subquota is 177.9 mt. This action is intended to account 
for an accrued overharvest of 23.5 mt from previous time period 
subquotas and to provide further opportunities for General category 
fishermen to participate in the October through November General 
category fishery, based on consideration of the regulatory 
determination criteria regarding inseason adjustments. This action 
applies to Atlantic Tunas General category (commercial) permitted 
vessels and Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Charter/Headboat permitted 
vessels with a commercial sale endorsement when fishing commercially 
for BFT.

DATES: Effective October 5, 2022, through November 30, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Larry Redd, Jr., [email protected], 
301-472-8503, Ann Williamson, [email protected], 301-427-8503, or 
Nicholas Velseboer, [email protected], 978-281-9260.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Atlantic HMS fisheries, including BFT 
fisheries, are managed 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.). The 2006 Consolidated Atlantic HMS Fishery 
Management Plan (FMP) and its amendments are implemented by regulations 
at 50 CFR part 635. Section 635.27 divides 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 Atlantic HMS FMP and its 
amendments. NMFS is required under the Magnuson-Stevens Act to provide 
U.S. fishing vessels with a reasonable opportunity to harvest quotas 
under relevant international fishery agreements such as the ICCAT 
Convention, which is implemented domestically pursuant to ATCA.
    The baseline General and Reserve category quotas are 587.9 mt and 
31.2 mt, respectively. The General category baseline subquota is 
further suballocated to different time periods. Relevant to this 
action, the subquota for the October through November time period is 
76.4 mt. To date for 2022, NMFS has published several actions that have 
resulted in adjustments to the General and Reserve category quotas, 
including the allowable carryover of underharvest from 2021 to 2022 (87 
FR 5737, February 2, 2022; 87 FR 33049, June 1, 2022; 87 FR 43447, July 
21, 2022; 87 FR 54910, September 8, 2022). The current adjusted Reserve 
category quota is 186.2 mt.

Transfer of 125 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 the 
determination criteria provided under Sec.  635.27(a)(8). NMFS has 
considered all of the relevant determination criteria and their

[[Page 60939]]

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 provide NMFS with valuable parts and 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 continued collection of a broad range of data for 
these studies and for stock monitoring purposes.
    Regarding the likelihood of closure of the General category fishery 
if no adjustment is made (Sec.  635.27(a)(8)(ii) and (ix)), NMFS 
considered the catches and catch rates of the General category quota to 
date (including during the summer/fall and winter fisheries in the last 
several years). NMFS also took into consideration the final rule that 
set restricted-fishing days for the General Category through November 
30, 2022 (87 FR 33056, June 1, 2022). While the General category 
October through November time period subquota has not yet been 
exceeded, without a quota transfer at this time, based on catch rates 
in the last three years in comparison to the available quota, NMFS 
anticipates it would likely need to close the General category fishery 
in October. Once the fishery is closed, participants would have to stop 
BFT fishing activities even though commercial-sized BFT remain 
available in the areas where General category permitted vessels operate 
at this time of year. Transferring 125 mt of BFT quota from the Reserve 
category would account for the 23.5 mt (640.4 mt - 616.9 mt = 23.5 mt) 
of accrued overharvest from the prior time periods and result in an 
additional 101.5 mt (125 mt - 23.5 mt = 101.5 mt) being available for 
the October through November 2022 subquota time period, thus 
effectively providing limited additional opportunities to harvest the 
U.S. BFT quota while avoiding exceeding it.
    Regarding the projected ability of the vessels fishing under the 
General category quota 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. A portion of the transferred quota 
covers the 23.5 mt overharvest in the category to date, and NMFS 
anticipates that General category participants will be able to harvest 
the additional 101.5 mt of transferred BFT quota by the end of the 
subquota time period. NMFS may adjust each time period's subquota based 
on overharvest or underharvest in the prior period and may transfer 
subquota from one time period to another time period. By allowing for 
such quota adjustments and transfers, NMFS anticipates that the General 
category quota would be used before the end of the fishing year. Thus, 
this quota transfer would allow fishermen to take advantage of the 
availability of BFT on the fishing grounds and provide a reasonable 
opportunity to harvest the available U.S. BFT quota.
    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 2022 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 recently took such an action to carry 
over the allowable 127.3 mt of underharvest from 2021 to 2022 (87 FR 
33049). NMFS will need to account for 2022 landings and dead discards 
within the adjusted U.S. quota, consistent with ICCAT recommendations, 
and anticipates having sufficient quota to do that.
    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 established quotas and subquotas, which are implemented consistent 
with ICCAT recommendations (established in Recommendation 21-07), ATCA, 
and the objectives of the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP and amendments. In 
establishing these quotas and subquotas and associated management 
measures, ICCAT and NMFS considered the best scientific information 
available, objectives for stock management and status, and effects on 
the stock. This quota transfer is in line with the established 
management measures and stock status determinations. Another principal 
consideration is the objective of providing opportunities to harvest 
the available General category quota without exceeding the annual 
quota, based on the objectives 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 
available BFT quota allocations (related to Sec.  635.27(a)(8)(x)). 
Specific to the General category, this includes providing opportunities 
equitably across all time periods.
    Given these considerations, NMFS is transferring 125 mt of the 
available 186.2 mt of Reserve category quota to the General category. 
Of this amount, 23.5 mt accounts for preliminary overharvest of the 
June through August and September time period subquotas, and 101.5 mt 
is added to the October through November subquota to provide further 
opportunities for General category fishermen to participate in the 
October through November General category fishery. Therefore, NMFS 
adjusts the General category October through November 2022 subquota to 
177.9 mt (76.4 mt + 101.5 mt = 177.9 mt) after accounting for the 23.5 
mt of overharvest for the prior 2022 time periods and adjusts the 
Reserve category quota to 61.2 mt (186.2 mt-125 mt = 61.2 mt). The 
General category fishery will remain open until November 30, 2022, 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 adjustments, 
as well as closures, and may result in enforcement actions. 
Additionally, and separate from the dealer reporting requirement, 
General category and HMS Charter/Headboat permitted 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, 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 adjustments are necessary to ensure 
available quota is 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

[[Page 60940]]

quota monitoring and inseason adjustments.

Classification

    NMFS issues this action pursuant to section 305(d) of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act and regulations at 50 CFR part 635 and is exempt from 
review under Executive Order 12866.
    The Assistant Administrator for NMFS (AA) finds that pursuant to 5 
U.S.C. 553(b)(B), 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. Specifically, the 
regulations implementing the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP and amendments 
provide for inseason retention limit adjustments 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. Providing prior notice and opportunity for public comment 
on the quota transfer for the October through November 2022 time period 
is impracticable. The General category fishery is underway, there was 
an exceedance of the September subquota, and while the October through 
November subquota has not yet been exceeded, NMFS anticipates that it 
will likely need to close the General category soon. Delaying the 
action is contrary to the public interest, not only because it would 
likely result in a General category closure and associated costs to the 
fishery, but also administrative costs due to further agency action 
needed to re-open the fishery after quota is transferred. The delay 
would preclude the fishery from harvesting BFT that are available on 
the fishing grounds and that might otherwise become unavailable during 
a delay. 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 
show 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, the AA also finds that pursuant to 5 
U.S.C. 553(d), there is good cause to waive the 30-day delay in 
effectiveness.

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

    Dated: October 4, 2022.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-21975 Filed 10-5-22; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P