[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 40 (Wednesday, February 28, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 14594-14595]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-04054]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 300

Docket No. 220801-0167; RTID 0648-XD737]


International Fisheries; Pacific Tuna Fisheries; Inseason Action 
for 2024 Commercial Pacific Bluefin Tuna Annual Catch Limit in the 
Eastern Pacific Ocean

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

ACTION: Temporary rule; inseason announcement of 2024 annual catch 
limit.

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SUMMARY: NMFS is announcing that the Pacific bluefin tuna (PBF) 2024 
annual catch limit for U.S. commercial fishing vessels in the eastern 
Pacific Ocean (EPO) is 720 metric tons (mt).

DATES: The rule is effective 12 a.m. local time on March 28, 2024, 
through 11:59 p.m. local time on December 31, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tyler Lawson, NMFS West Coast Region, 
503-230-5421.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The United States is a member of the Inter-
American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), which was established under 
the Convention for the Establishment of an IATTC signed in 1949 (1949 
Convention). The 1949 Convention provides an international agreement to 
ensure the effective international conservation and management of 
highly migratory species of fish in the IATTC Convention Area. In 2003, 
the IATTC updated the 1949 Convention through the adoption of the 
Convention for the Strengthening of the IATTC Established by the 1949 
Convention between the United States of America and the Republic of 
Costa Rica (Antigua Convention). The IATTC Convention Area, as amended 
by the Antigua Convention, includes the waters of the EPO bounded by 
the coast of the Americas, the 50[deg] N and 50[deg] S parallels, and 
the 150[deg] W meridian.
    Fishing for PBF in the EPO is managed, in part, under the Tuna 
Conventions Act of 1950, as amended (the Act), 16 U.S.C. 951 et seq. 
Under the Act, NMFS must publish regulations to carry out 
recommendations and decisions of the IATTC in consultation with the 
Department of State. Regulations implementing conservation and 
management measures for tuna and tuna-like species in the EPO are 
codified at 50 CFR part 300, subpart C.

[[Page 14595]]

    On August 5, 2022, NMFS published a final rule (87 FR 47939) 
implementing IATTC Resolution C-21-05 (Measures for the Conservation 
and Management of Pacific Bluefin Tuna in the Eastern Pacific Ocean). 
That rule established an initial combined catch limit for 2023-2024 of 
1,017 mt, not to exceed 720 mt in a single year. The 2023 catch limit 
was therefore set at 720 mt, and the 2024 catch limit is the lesser of 
the amount caught in 2023 subtracted from the biennial limit or 720 mt. 
That rule also provided that the initial 2023-2024 biennial limit would 
be adjusted if there was an over-harvest or under-harvest of the 2021-
2022 biennial limit. On October 5, 2023, NMFS published a notice in the 
Federal Register (88 FR 69098) announcing a PBF 2023-2024 biennial 
catch limit of 1,054 mt. That notice stated that the annual catch limit 
for 2024 would be announced at the beginning of 2024. This notification 
announces the catch limit for 2024 will remain unchanged at 720 mt 
(i.e., the 1-year maximum catch limit for 2023-2024).
    As established in the August 2022 final rule, the annual catch 
limit for 2024 is contingent upon the amount of PBF tuna caught in 
2023; specifically, the 2024 limit is the lesser of the amount caught 
in 2023 subtracted from the biennial limit or 720 mt. Based on landings 
data and other information available as of February 5, 2024, 186 mt of 
PBF were caught by U.S. commercial vessels fishing in the EPO in 2023, 
which when subtracted from the biennial limit (1,054 mt) results in an 
amount that is in excess of the 1-year maximum catch limit of 720 mt. 
The annual catch limit for 2024 is therefore 720 mt.
    Notice of the annual catch limit has also been posted on the NMFS 
website: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/west-coast/sustainable-fisheries/pacific-bluefin-tuna-commercial-harvest-status.

Classification

    There is good cause to waive prior notice and an opportunity for 
public comment on this action under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), as notice and 
comment would be impracticable, unnecessary, and contrary to the public 
interest. Existing regulations provide NMFS with no discretion in 
setting the 2024 annual catch limit; therefore, public comment on this 
action is unnecessary. Moreover, prior notice and an opportunity for 
public comment were provided when NMFS promulgated the regulations for 
determining the biennial and annual catch limits for 2023-2024. 
Notification of the 2023-2024 biennial catch limit and associated 
annual catch limit were also provided to the public through posting on 
the NMFS website.
    This action is exempt from review under Executive Order 12866.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 951 et seq.

    Dated: February 22, 2024.
Everett Wayne Baxter,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-04054 Filed 2-27-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P