[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 218 (Tuesday, November 14, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 77903-77905]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-24923]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 635

[Docket No. 220919-0193; RTID 0648-XD473]


Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Atlantic Bluefin Tuna 
Fisheries; Quota Transfer and Adjustment (General Category December 
Subquota)

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

ACTION: Temporary rule; quota transfer and adjustment.

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SUMMARY: NMFS is adjusting the Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) General 
category December 2023 subquota by transferring quota from the Reserve 
category. This adjustment results in an adjusted December time period 
subquota of 48.7 mt and an adjusted Reserve category quota of 1 mt. 
This action accounts for the accrued overharvest from previous 2023 
General category time period subquotas, and will further opportunities 
for General category fishermen to participate in the December General 
category fishery, based on consideration of the regulatory 
determination criteria regarding inseason adjustments. This action 
would affect 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: The quota transfer and adjustment is effective December 1, 2023, 
through December 31, 2023.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erianna Hammond, 
[email protected], 301-427-8503; or Larry Redd, Jr., 
[email protected], 301-427-8503.

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 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.
    As described in Sec.  635.27(a), the current baseline U.S. BFT 
quota is 1,316.14 metric tons (mt) (not including the 25 mt ICCAT 
allocated to the United States to account for bycatch of BFT in pelagic 
longline fisheries in the Northeast Distant Gear Restricted Area). The 
baseline quotas for the General and Reserve categories are 710.7 mt and 
38.2 mt, respectively. The General category baseline quota is 
suballocated to different time periods. Relevant to this action, the 
baseline subquota for the December time period is 37 mt. Effective 
January 1, 2023, NMFS transferred 20.5 mt of BFT quota from the 
December 2023 time period to the January through March 2023 time period 
resulting in an adjusted subquota of 16.5 mt (37 mt-20.5 mt = 16.5 mt) 
for the December 2023 time period (88 FR 786, January 5, 2023).
    To date, NMFS has published several actions that adjusted the 
Reserve category quota (88 FR 48136, July 26, 2023; 88 FR 64385, 
September 19, 2023; 88 FR 64831, September 20, 2023; 88 FR 67654, 
October 2, 2023). As a result of these previous actions, the current 
adjusted Reserve category quota prior to this action is 87.2 mt.
    Based on preliminary landings data received to date, NMFS has 
determined that the General category landed 795 mt. This amount 
exceeded the cumulative adjusted quota available through November 30 
(741 mt) by 54 mt (795 mt-741 mt = 54 mt).

Quota Transfer and Adjustment

    Under Sec.  635.27(a)(1)(ii) NMFS has the authority to adjust each 
period's apportionment based on overharvest or underharvest in the 
prior period, after considering determination criteria provided under 
Sec.  635.27(a)(7). Additionally, under Sec.  635.27(a)(8), NMFS has 
the authority to transfer quota among fishing categories or 
subcategories after considering the determination criteria provided 
under Sec.  635.27(a)(7). This section focuses on the calculations 
involved in transferring quota from the Reserve category to the General 
category and adjusting the quota available for the General category 
December subquota time period; the consideration of the determination 
criteria can be found below after this section.
    As stated above, the adjusted Reserve category quota is 87.2 mt. 
The quota in the Reserve category is held in reserve for inseason or 
annual adjustments and research. Under Sec.  635.24(a)(8), NMFS may 
allocate any portion of the Reserve category quota for inseason or 
annual adjustments to any fishing category quota.
    Transferring 86.2 mt from the Reserve category to the General 
category would account for the 54 mt accrued overharvest from the 
January through November time periods, results in a total adjusted 
December time period subquota of 48.7 mt (16.5 mt + 32.2 mt = 48.7 mt), 
and leaves 1 mt in the Reserve category to account for any BFT 
mortalities associated with research. The General category quota is 
available for use by Atlantic Tunas General category (commercial) 
permitted vessels and HMS Charter/Headboat permitted vessels with a 
commercial sale endorsement when fishing commercially for BFT.
    In summary, these modifications result in a total adjusted General 
category December time period subquota of 48.7 mt and a Reserve 
category quota of 1 mt. This action accounts for the accrued 
overharvest from previous 2023 General category time period subquotas, 
and will further opportunities for General category fishermen to 
participate in the December General category fishery, based on 
consideration of the regulatory determination criteria regarding 
inseason adjustments (see below). These quotas will be in effect when 
the fishery automatically opens on December 1, 2023.

Consideration of the Relevant Determination Criteria

    NMFS has considered all of the relevant determination criteria and 
their applicability to this inseason action. 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)(7)(i)), biological samples 
collected from BFT landed by General category fishermen and provided by 
tuna dealers provide NMFS

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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.
    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)(7)(ii) and (ix)). As 
stated above, preliminary landings data to date, indicate that the 
General category landed 795 mt. This amount exceeded the cumulative 
adjusted quota available through November 30 by 54 mt. While the 
General category is currently closed and December time period has not 
yet opened or been exceeded, without a quota transfer and adjustment at 
this time, based on recent catch rates in comparison to the current 
available quota (16.5 mt), NMFS would likely need to close the General 
category fishery shortly after the December time period opens. Once the 
fishery is closed, participants would have to stop BFT fishing 
activities while commercial-sized BFT remain available in the areas 
where General category permitted vessels operate. A quota transfer and 
adjustment at this time provides 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 
before the end of the fishing year (Sec.  635.27(a)(7)(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, such as the restrictions that some dealers placed on their 
purchases of BFT from General category participants this year. Thus, 
this quota transfer and adjustment would allow fishermen to take 
advantage of the availability of BFT on the fishing grounds and provide 
a reasonable opportunity to harvest available U.S. BFT quota.
    NMFS also considered the estimated amounts by which quotas for 
other gear categories of the BFT fishery might be exceeded (Sec.  
635.27(a)(7)(iv)) and the ability to account for all 2023 landings and 
dead discards. In most of the 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 
carryover the allowable 106.5 mt of underharvest from 2022 to 2023 (88 
FR 64831, September 20, 2023). NMFS anticipates having sufficient quota 
to account for landings and dead discards within the adjusted U.S. 
quota, consistent with ICCAT recommendations.
    NMFS also considered the effects of the adjustment on the BFT stock 
and the effects of the adjustment on accomplishing the objectives of 
the FMP (Sec.  635.27(a)(7)(v) and (vi)). This quota transfer and 
adjustment would be with established quotas and subquotas, which are 
implemented consistent with ICCAT Recommendation 22-10, 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 and adjustment 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 its amendments, including to achieve optimum 
yield on a continuing basis and to allow all permit categories a 
reasonable opportunity to harvest available BFT quota allocations 
(related to Sec.  635.27(a)(7)(x)). Specific to the General category, 
this includes providing opportunities equitably across all time 
periods.

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 and HMS Charter/Headboat category vessel owners are required to 
report their own catch of all BFT retained or discarded dead within 24 
hours of the landing(s) or end of each trip, by accessing https://www.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 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 https://hmspermits.noaa.gov, for updates on 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. 533(b)(B), there is good cause to waive prior notice and 
opportunity to provide comment on this action, as notice and comment 
would be impracticable and contrary to 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 this quota transfer 
and adjustment of the General category is impracticable and contrary to 
the public interest as the General category fishery will open on 
December 1 for the December time period. Based on General category 
catch rates, a delay in this action would likely result in BFT landings 
exceeding the adjusted December 2023 General category quota shortly 
after the opening on December 1. Subquota exceedance may result in the 
need to reduce quota for the General category later in the year and 
thus could affect later fishing opportunities. NMFS could not have 
proposed this action earlier, as it needed to consider and respond to 
updated landings data, in deciding to add the underharvest from the 
October through November time period and transfer a portion of the 
Reserve category quota to the General category, specifically the 
December time period subquota. 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

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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 finds that pursuant to 5 
U.S.C. 553(d), there is good cause to waive the 30-day delay in 
effective date.

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

    Dated: November 7, 2023.
Kelly Denit,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-24923 Filed 11-13-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P