Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 49 / Monday, March 14, 2011 / Proposed Rules 13583 

Appendix A to Part 665—Tests To Be 

Performed at the Bus Testing Facility 

* * * * * 

5. Structural Integrity 

Two complementary structural integrity 

tests should be performed. Structural 

strength and distortion tests should be 

performed at the Bus Testing Center, and the 

structural durability test should be performed 

at the test track. 

a. Structural Strength and Distortion Tests 

(1) A shakedown of the bus structure 

should be conducted by loading and 

unloading the bus with a distributed load 

equal to 2.5 times the fully loaded weight. 

The bus should then be unloaded and 

inspected for any permanent deformation on 

the floor or coach structure. This test should 

be repeated a second time, and should be 

repeated up to one more time if the 

permanent deflections vary significantly 

between the first and second tests. 

(2) The bus should be loaded to its fully 

loaded weight, with one wheel on top of a 

curb and then in a pothole. This test should 

be repeated for all four wheels. The test 

verifies: 

(i) Normal operation of the steering 

mechanism; and 

(ii) Operability of all passenger doors, 

passenger escape mechanisms, windows, and 

service doors. A water leak test should be 

conducted in each suspension travel 

condition. 

* * * * * 

Issued on: March 8, 2011. 

Peter M. Rogoff, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2011–5831 Filed 3–11–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–57–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 635 

[Docket No. 110210132–1133–01] 

RIN 0648–BA65 

Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; 

Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Quotas and 

Atlantic Tuna Fisheries Management 

Measures 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for 

comments; notice of public hearings. 

SUMMARY: NMFS proposes to modify 

Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) base quotas 

for all domestic fishing categories; 

establish BFT quota specifications for 

the 2011 fishing year; reinstate pelagic 

longline target catch requirements for 

retaining BFT in the Northeast Distant 

Gear Restricted Area (NED); amend the 

Atlantic tunas possession at sea and 

landing regulations to allow removal of 

Atlantic tunas tail lobes; and clarify the 

transfer at sea regulations for Atlantic 

tunas. This action is necessary to 

implement recommendations of the 

International Commission for the 

Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), 

as required by the Atlantic Tunas 

Convention Act (ATCA), and to achieve 

domestic management objectives under 

the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act). NMFS solicits 

written comments and will hold public 

hearings to receive oral comments on 

these proposed actions. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received on or before April 14, 2011. 

The public hearing dates and times 

are: 

1. March 21, 2011, 3 to 5 p.m., 

Gloucester, MA. 

2. March 22, 2011, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., 

Barnegat, NJ. 

3. March 28, 2011, 7 to 9 p.m., 

Manteo, NC. 

4. April 5, 2011, 5:15 to 7:15 p.m., 

Silver Spring, MD. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by ‘‘0648–BA65’’, by any one 

of the following methods: 

• Electronic Submissions: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

• Fax: 978–281–9340, Attn: Sarah 

McLaughlin. 

• Mail: Sarah McLaughlin, Highly 

Migratory Species Management 

Division, Office of Sustainable Fisheries 

(F/SF1), NMFS, 55 Great Republic 

Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. 

• Instructions: All comments received 

are a part of the public record and will 

generally be posted to http:// 

www.regulations.gov without change. 

All Personal Identifying Information (for 

example, name, address, etc.) 

voluntarily submitted by the commenter 

may be publicly accessible. Do not 

submit Confidential Business 

Information or otherwise sensitive or 

protected information. NMFS will 

accept anonymous comments (enter 

N/A in the required fields, if you wish 

to remain anonymous). You may submit 

attachments to electronic comments in 

Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or 

Adobe PDF file formats only. To be 

considered, electronic comments must 

be submitted via the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Do not submit 

electronic comments to individual 

NMFS staff. 

Supporting documents, including the 

draft Environmental Assessment, 

Regulatory Impact Review, and Initial 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, are 

available by sending your request to 

Sarah McLaughlin at the mailing 

address specified above. These 

documents and others, such as the 

Fishery Management Plans described 

below, also may be downloaded from 

the HMS Web site at http:// 

www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/. 

The public hearing locations are: 

1. Gloucester—NMFS, 55 Great 

Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. 

2. Barnegat—Ocean County Library, 

112 Burr Street, Barnegat, NJ 08005. 

3. Manteo—Town Hall, 407 Budleigh 

Street, Manteo, NC 27954. 

4. Silver Spring—Crowne Plaza Hotel, 

8777 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 

20910. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Sarah McLaughlin, 978–281–9260. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Atlantic 

bluefin tuna, bigeye tuna, albacore tuna, 

yellowfin tuna, and skipjack tuna 

(hereafter referred to as ‘‘Atlantic tunas’’) 

are managed under the dual authority of 

the Magnuson-Stevens Act and ATCA. 

ATCA authorizes the Secretary of 

Commerce (Secretary) to promulgate 

regulations, as may be necessary and 

appropriate, to implement ICCAT 

recommendations. The authority to 

issue regulations under the MagnusonStevens Act and ATCA has been 

delegated from the Secretary to the 

Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, 

NOAA (AA). 

Background 

On May 28, 1999, NMFS published in 

the Federal Register (64 FR 29090) final 

regulations, effective July 1, 1999, 

implementing the Fishery Management 

Plan for Atlantic Tunas, Swordfish, and 

Sharks (1999 FMP). The 1999 FMP 

included framework provisions to 

promulgate annual specifications for the 

BFT fishery, in accordance with ATCA 

and the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and to 

implement the annual recommendations 

of ICCAT. Since 1982, ICCAT has 

recommended a Total Allowable Catch 

of BFT, and since 1991, ICCAT has 

recommended specific limits (quotas) 

for the United States and other BFT 

Contracting Parties. 

On October 2, 2006, NMFS published 

in the Federal Register (71 FR 58058) a 

final rule, effective November 1, 2006, 

implementing the 2006 Consolidated 

Atlantic Highly Migratory Species 

Fishery Management Plan (Consolidated 

HMS FMP), which consolidated 

management of all Atlantic HMS (i.e., 

sharks, swordfish, tunas, and billfish) 


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13584 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 49 / Monday, March 14, 2011 / Proposed Rules 

into one comprehensive FMP. The 

implementing regulations for Atlantic 

HMS are at 50 CFR part 635. Among 

other things, the Consolidated HMS 

FMP maintained an allocation scheme, 

established in the 1999 Fishery 

Management Plan for Atlantic Tunas, 

Swordfish, and Sharks (1999 FMP), for 

dividing the baseline annual U.S. BFT 

quota among several domestic quota 

categories. 

Adjustment of the BFT annual quota 

is necessary to implement the 2010 

ICCAT quota recommendation for 

western Atlantic bluefin tuna (western 

BFT), as required by ATCA, and to 

achieve domestic management 

objectives under the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act, including rebuilding stocks and 

ending overfishing. It is necessary to 

establish the 2011 quota specifications 

in order to adjust the 2011 BFT baseline 

quota and subquotas to account for dead 

discards as well as the amount of 2010 

underharvest (of 2010 adjusted quota) 

allowed by ICCAT to be carried forward 

to 2011. In addition to modifying the 

BFT base quotas and establishing the 

quota specifications, NMFS is proposing 

three Atlantic tunas management 

measures, including reinstating pelagic 

longline vessel target catch 

requirements for retaining BFT in the 

Northeast Distant Gear Restricted Area 

(NED); clarifying the regulations 

concerning Atlantic tunas possession at 

sea and landing to allow removal of 

Atlantic tunas tail lobes; and clarifying 

the Atlantic tunas transfer at sea 

regulations to address concerns raised 

in a recent decision by a NOAA 

Administrative Law Judge (see Atlantic 

Tunas Transfer at Sea section for case 

reference). 

NMFS has prepared a draft 

Environmental Assessment (EA), 

Regulatory Impact Review (RIR), and an 

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

(IRFA), which present and analyze 

anticipated environmental, social, and 

economic impacts of several alternatives 

for each of the major issues contained in 

this proposed rule. The complete list of 

alternatives and their analysis is 

provided in the draft EA/RIR/IRFA, and 

is not repeated here in its entirety. A 

copy of the draft EA/RIR/IRFA prepared 

for this proposed rule is available from 

NMFS (see ADDRESSES). 

NMFS plans to make daily retention 

limit adjustments, if needed, for the 

2011 fishing year via Federal Register 

notices separate from the final quota 

specifications. Federal regulations at 50 

CFR 635.23 allow the establishment and 

adjustment of General and Angling 

category retention limits via inseason 

actions, and NMFS has in the past used 

inseason actions for this purpose (i.e., to 

adjust daily retention limits). 

ICCAT Recommendation, Including the 

Carrying Forward of Underharvest 

ICCAT adopted a western BFT Total 

Allowable Catch (TAC) of 1,750 mt 

annually for 2011 and 2012 after 

considering the results of the 2010 

western BFT stock assessment and 

following protracted negotiations among 

western BFT Contracting Parties (ICCAT 

Recommendation 10–03—Supplemental 

Recommendation by ICCAT concerning 

the western BFT Rebuilding Program). 

The 1,750-mt TAC, reduced from 1,800 

mt for 2010, is expected to allow for 

continued stock growth under both the 

low and high stock recruitment 

scenarios. 

ICCAT Recommendation 10–03 

includes a revised allocation scheme 

that now includes the United Kingdom 

(in respect of Bermuda), France (in 

respect of St. Pierre and Miquelon), and 

Mexico. These three ICCAT Contracting 

Parties previously received western BFT 

allocations as specific tonnage directly 

from the TAC prior to application of the 

agreed allocation scheme (to the United 

States, Canada, and Japan). The amount 

of TAC allocated to the Contracting 

Parties depends on the amount of the 

overall recommended TAC. For 2011 

and 2012, the net effect is that these 

Contracting Parties will receive the 

same amounts as they did in 2009 and 

2010 (i.e., 4 mt, 4 mt, and 95 mt, 

respectively, for the United Kingdom, 

France, and Mexico). 

For 2011 and 2012, the ICCAT 

Recommendation makes the following 

allocations from the 1,750-mt TAC for 

bycatch related to directed longline 

fisheries in the Northeast Distant gear 

restricted area (NED): 15 mt for Canada 

and 25 mt for the United States. 

Following subtraction of these 

allocations directly from the TAC, the 

recommendation allocates the 

remainder to the UK (0.23 percent), 

France (0.23 percent), Mexico (5.56 

percent), the United States (54.02 

percent), Canada (22.32 percent) and 

Japan (17.64 percent). For the United 

States, 54.02 percent of the remaining 

1,710 mt is 923.7 mt annually for 2011 

and 2012. This represents the baseline 

annual U.S. BFT quota analyzed in this 

EA. Accounting for the 25-mt NED 

allocation, the total U.S. quota is 948.7 

mt annually (i.e., a decrease of 28.7 mt 

or 2.9 percent from the 2010 total U.S. 

quota of 977.4 mt). 

The current ICCAT recommendation 

also maintains a provision from 

previous recommendations allowing a 

Contracting Party with a quota 

allocation to make a one-time transfer 

within a fishing year of up to 15 percent 

of its quota allocation to other 

Contracting Parties with quota 

allocations. Contracting Parties with an 

allocation of 4 mt or less may transfer 

up to 100 percent of their allocation. 

The ICCAT recommendation stipulates 

that the quota transfer may not be used 

to cover overharvests, and that a 

Contracting Party that receives a onetime quota transfer may not re-transfer 

that quota. Further, as a method for 

limiting fishing mortality on juvenile 

BFT, ICCAT continues to recommend a 

tolerance limit on the annual harvest of 

BFT measuring less than 115 cm to no 

more than 10 percent of the total bluefin 

quota per Contracting Party over the 

2011 and 2012 fishing period. The 

United States implements this provision 

by limiting the harvest of school BFT 

(measuring 27 to less than 47 inches 

(68.5 to less than 119 cm curved fork 

length)) as appropriate to not exceed the 

10-percent limit over the 2-year period. 

Notably, ICCAT Recommendation 10– 

03 limits the amount of unused quota 

Contracting Parties may carry forward to 

2011 to 10 percent of their total quota. 

This would limit the amount of 2010 

U.S. underharvest carried forward to 

2011 to 94.9 mt (10 percent of the 948.7 

mt total U.S. quota). Previously, ICCAT 

Recommendation 06–06 reduced the 

amount of underharvest parties could 

carry forward from 100 percent of a 

Contracting Party’s total allocation to 50 

percent. This aspect of the ICCAT 

recommendation was maintained 

through 2010, but ICCAT recommended 

in 2008 that the amount be reduced 

effective for 2011 onward 

(Recommendation 08–04). 

Domestic Allocations and Quotas 

The 1999 FMP and its implementing 

regulations established baseline 

percentage quota shares for the domestic 

fishing categories. These percentage 

shares were based on allocation 

procedures that NMFS developed over 

several years, based on historical share, 

fleet size, effort, and landings by 

category, and stock assessment data 

collection needs. The baseline 

percentage quota shares established in 

the 1999 FMP and continued in the 

Consolidated HMS FMP (effective since 

June 1, 1999), are as follows: General 

category—47.1 percent; Harpoon 

category—3.9 percent; Purse Seine 

category—18.6 percent; Angling 

category—19.7 percent; Longline 

category—8.1 percent; Trap category— 

0.1 percent; and Reserve category—2.5 

percent. The second column of the table 

below shows the proposed quotas that 

result from application of the 

Consolidated HMS FMP quota shares to 


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the 2010 ICCAT-recommended baseline 

annual U.S. BFT quota. These quotas 

would be codified at § 635.27(a) and 

would remain in effect until ICCAT 

adopts a subsequent ICCAT western 

BFT recommendation. Because ICCAT 

adopted TACs for 2011 and 2012 in 

Recommendation 10–03, NMFS 

currently anticipates these base quotas 

to be in effect for 2012. NMFS would 

adjust these base quotas for the 2012 

fishing year based on the best estimate 

of dead discards and information 

regarding over- or underharvests when 

the 2012 BFT quota specifications are 

prepared (likely in early 2012). As 

described below, 160 mt is used as a 

proxy for dead discards based on the 

2009 estimate, which is the latest and 

best available estimate. 

2011 Quota Specifications 

In recommendations that applied 

from 1999 through 2006, ICCAT 

historically recommended a deduction 

of 79 mt from the TAC as an allowance 

for dead discards, and the U.S. portion 

of this allowance was 68 mt. ICCAT 

recommendations from 2006 onward 

have neither included a recommended 

dead discard allowance nor specified a 

dead discard reporting methodology for 

compliance purposes. Nevertheless, the 

ICCAT-recommended TAC and U.S. 

quota are inclusive of dead discards. 

The United States accounts for this 

mortality as part of the domestic 

specification calculation process and 

reports dead discard estimates to ICCAT 

annually. 

In 2007 through 2010, NMFS 

accounted for pelagic longline dead 

discards within the Longline category 

quota, and deducted the best available 

estimate of dead discards from the 

current year Longline base quota. In the 

quota specifications for these years, 

NMFS also carried forward the full 

amount of prior-year underharvest 

allowed by ICCAT and distributed the 

underharvest to: (1) Ensure that the 

Longline category has sufficient quota to 

operate during the fishing year after the 

required accounting for BFT dead 

discards; (2) maintain 15 percent of the 

2010 U.S. quota in Reserve for potential 

transfer to other ICCAT Contracting 

Parties and other domestic management 

objectives, if warranted; and (3) provide 

the non-Longline quota categories a 

share of the remainder of the 

underharvest consistent with the 

allocation scheme established in the 

Consolidated HMS FMP. The amount of 

prior-year underharvest allowed to be 

carried forward to 2007 through 2010 

was sufficient to provide the Longline 

category enough quota to operate after 

the required accounting for BFT dead 

discards. 

Since dead discard estimates for 2010 

are not yet available, the 2009 estimate 

of 160 mt is used as a proxy. Estimates 

of dead discards from other gear types 

and fishing sectors that do not use the 

pelagic longline vessel logbook are 

unavailable at this time and thus are not 

included in this calculation. Use of the 

2009 estimate as a proxy is appropriate 

because it is the best available and most 

complete information NMFS currently 

has regarding dead discards. In 

accordance with the 2010 ICCAT 

recommendation, the United States 

must subtract 160 mt from its baseline 

allocation. 

It is important to note that the ICCAT 

recommendation to limit the carrying 

forward of underharvest to 10 percent of 

a party’s total allocation, combined with 

the level of dead discards in recent 

years, makes using the method 

employed in 2007 through 2010 

impracticable for 2011 onward. The 

amount of underharvest that the United 

States may carry forward to 2011 (94.9 

mt) is insufficient to cover dead 

discards (160 mt). Deducting the dead 

discards from the Longline category 

(with a baseline subquota of less than 75 

mt) would result in a subquota of 0 mt 

for the Longline category in 2011 and 

the need for reduction of the directed 

fishing category subquotas and the 

Reserve to make up the difference (i.e., 

about 85 mt). The Longline category 

baseline quota allocation (currently 8.1 

percent of the baseline annual U.S. BFT 

quota) may need to be revisited in the 

future, although adjustments to the 

FMP-based allocation scheme would 

require an amendment to the 

Consolidated HMS FMP. 

To establish the 2011 quota 

specifications, NMFS would subtract 

the dead discard estimate of 160 mt 

from the U.S. baseline quota of 923.7 

and add the 94.9 mt of underharvest 

allowed to be carried forward, for an 

adjusted total of 858.6 mt. NMFS then 

would apply the allocation scheme 

established in the Consolidated HMS 

FMP to the adjusted total (as shown in 

the final column of the table below) and 

described here. Thus, in accordance 

with the ICCAT Recommendation 10– 

03, the Consolidated HMS FMP 

percentage shares for each of the 

domestic categories, and regulations 

regarding annual adjustments at 

§ 635.27(a)(10), NMFS proposes 

domestic category quotas for the 2011 

fishing year as follows: General 

category—404.4 mt; Harpoon category— 

33.5 mt; Purse Seine category—159.7 

mt; Angling category—169.1 mt; 

Longline category—69.5 mt; and Trap 

category—0.9 mt. The amount allocated 

to the Reserve category for inseason 

adjustments, scientific research 

collection, potential overharvest in any 

category except the Purse Seine 

category, and potential quota transfers 

would be 21.5 mt. 

The proposed General category quota 

of 404.4 mt would be divided into the 

time period allocations established in 

the Consolidated HMS FMP. Thus, 21.4 

mt (5.3 percent) would be allocated to 

the General Category for the period 

beginning January 1, 2011, and ending 

January 31, 2011; 202.2 mt (50 percent) 

for the period beginning June 1, 2011, 

and ending August 31, 2011; 107.2 mt 

(26.5 percent) for the period beginning 

September 1, 2011, and ending 

September 30, 2011; 52.6 mt (13 

percent) for the period beginning 

October 1, 2011, and ending November 

30, 2011; and 21 mt (5.2 percent) for the 

period beginning December 1, 2011, and 

ending December 31, 2011. 

The Angling category quota of 169.1 

mt would be further subdivided, 

pursuant to the area subquota 

allocations established in the 

Consolidated HMS FMP, as follows: 

School BFT—94.9 mt, with 36.5 mt to 

the northern area (north of 39°18′ N. 

latitude), 40.8 mt to the southern area 

(south of 39°18′ N. latitude), plus 17.6 

mt held in reserve; large school/small 

medium BFT—70.4 mt, with 33.2 mt to 

the northern area and 37.2 mt to the 

southern area; and large medium/giant 

BFT—3.9 mt, with 1.3 mt to the 

northern area and 2.6 mt to the southern 

area. 

The Longline category would be 

subdivided in accordance with the 

North/South allocation percentages (i.e., 

no more than 60 percent to the south of 

31° N. latitude) in the Consolidated 

HMS FMP. Thus, the proposed Longline 

category quota of 69.5 mt would be 

subdivided as follows: 27.8 mt to 

pelagic longline vessels landing BFT 

north of 31° N. latitude, and 41.7 mt to 

pelagic longline vessels landing BFT 

south of 31° N. latitude. NMFS would 

account for landings under the 25-mt 

NED allocation separately from other 

Longline category landings. 


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13586 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 49 / Monday, March 14, 2011 / Proposed Rules 

PROPOSED ATLANTIC BLUEFIN TUNA QUOTAS AND QUOTA SPECIFICATIONS (IN METRIC TONS) FOR THE 2011 FISHING

YEAR

[January 1–December 31, 2011] 

Category (% share of baseline quota) 

Baseline allocation for 2011 and 

2012 (per 2010 ICCAT recommendation and consolidated HMS FMP allocations) 

2011 Quota specifications 

Dead discard deduction 

(2009 

proxy) 

2010 

underharvest to 

carry forward 2011 

2011 fishing year quota 

Total (100) .......................................... 923.7 ¥160.0 +94.9 858.6 

Angling (19.7) ..................................... 182.0 169.1 

SUBQUOTAS: SUBQUOTAS: 

School 94.9 School 94.9 

Reserve 17.6 Reserve 17.6 

North 36.5 North 36.5 

South 40.8 South 40.8 

LS/SM 82.9 LS/SM 70.4 

North 39.1 North 33.2 

South 43.8 South 37.2 

Trophy 4.2 Trophy 3.9 

North 1.4 North 1.3 

South 2.8 South 2.6 

General (47.1) .................................... SUBQUOTAS: SUBQUOTAS: 

Jan 23.1 Jan 21.4 

Jun–Aug 217.6 Jun–Aug 202.2 

Sept 115.3 Sept 107.2 

Oct–Nov 56.6 Oct–Nov 52.6 

Dec 22.6 Dec 21.0 

Harpoon (3.9) ..................................... 36.0 33.5 

Purse Seine (18.6) ............................. 171.8 159.7 

Longline (8.1) ..................................... 74.8 69.5 

SUBQUOTAS: SUBQUOTAS: 

North (-NED) 29.9 North (-NED) 27.8 

NED 25.0* NED 25.0* 

South 44.9 South 41.7 

Trap (0.1) ............................................ 0.9 0.9 

Reserve (2.5) ...................................... 23.1 21.5 

* 25 mt to account for bycatch of BFT in pelagic longline fisheries in the NED. Not included in totals at top of table. 

Reinstatement of NED Target Catch 

Requirements 

NMFS has implemented a series of 

management measures designed to 

regulate the incidental catch of BFT in 

non-directed Atlantic fisheries. Target 

catch requirements for the retention of 

BFT have been in effect for the pelagic 

longline fishery since 1981 (46 FR 8012, 

January 26, 1981) and are currently as 

follows: One large medium or giant BFT 

(i.e., measuring 73 inches or greater) per 

vessel per trip may be landed, provided 

that at least 2,000 lb of species other 

than BFT are legally caught, retained, 

and offloaded from the same trip and 

are recorded on the dealer weighout slip 

as sold; two large medium or giant BFT 

may be landed incidentally to at least 

6,000 lb of species other than BFT; and 

three large medium or giant BFT may be 

landed incidentally to at least 30,000 lb 

of species other than BFT (68 FR 32414, 

May 30, 2003). 

Pursuant to a 2001 Biological 

Opinion, NMFS closed the NED in July 

2002 to HMS-permitted pelagic longline 

vessels and conducted a research 

experiment in this area on various 

pelagic longline gear modifications to 

reduce sea turtle bycatch and bycatch 

mortality in the pelagic longline fishery 

(67 FR 45393, July 9, 2002). The NED is 

the Atlantic Ocean area bounded by 

straight lines connecting the following 

coordinates in the order stated: 35°00′ 

N. lat., 60°00′ W. long.; 55°00′ N. lat., 

60°00′ W. long.; 55°00′ N. lat., 20°00′ W. 

long.; 35°00′ N. lat., 20°00′ W. long.; 

35°00′ N. lat., 60°00′ W. long. This 

fishing ground covers virtually the 

entire span of the western north 

Atlantic, as far east as the Azores and 

the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. 

The regulations were adjusted to 

allow vessels to fish in the NED if they 

met specific gear requirements and 

practiced safe handling and release of 

sea turtles during the research 

experiment. Beginning in November 

2003, these vessels were allowed to 

retain all commercial-sized (large 

medium and giant) BFT taken incidental 

to fishing for other species while in that 

area, up to the 25-mt NED allocation 

with no attendant target catch 

requirement (68 FR 56788, October 2, 

2003). However, after the research 

experiment was completed and the NED 

reopened, NMFS did not reinstate the 

target catch requirements. Under the 

current regulations, it is only once the 

25-mt allocation is met that the target 

catch requirements apply in the NED. 

From 2004 until 2009, NED landings 

were less than the available quota for 

that area (25 mt), despite the lack of 


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NED target catch requirements. In 2009, 

the 25-mt NED allocation was met 

during the fishing year, while northern 

area longline activity was ongoing. As a 

result, the bluefin tuna target catch 

requirements specified for the longline 

category became applicable in the NED 

from October 20–December 31, 2009 (74 

FR 53671, October 20, 2009). 

NMFS proposes to reinstate target 

catch requirements for pelagic longline 

vessels fishing in the NED. This action 

would effectively remove the exemption 

from target catch requirements that has 

applied in the NED since November 

2003. NMFS would remove the 

provision that allows unlimited 

retention of commercial-sized BFT 

taken incidental to fishing for other 

species in the NED up to the amount 

allocated for the NED (currently 25 mt). 

Instead, the same target catch 

requirements (described in the first 

paragraph of this section) would apply 

in all areas (i.e., both inside and outside 

of the NED). 

Reinstating the target catch 

requirements in the NED would result 

in the same target catch requirements 

applying to all Longline category 

participants regardless of where they 

fish. Over the last several years, many 

individuals and environmental 

organizations have expressed concern 

that the lack of target catch 

requirements in the NED provides 

economic incentive to increase fishing 

effort to retain BFT in what is intended 

to be an incidental fishery. This action 

would help NMFS align BFT catch 

(landings and discards) with available 

quotas. In 2009, approximately 51 mt of 

BFT were landed from the NED, and 

total landings were 131 mt, 31 percent 

greater than the total 100 mt (landings 

quota) available for the Longline 

category. Constraining Longline 

category BFT landings to its quota 

serves to allow the fleet to continue to 

participate in their directed fisheries 

(e.g., Atlantic yellowfin tuna (YFT) and 

swordfish) year-round with less risk of 

fishery interruption due to insufficient 

BFT quota availability. Further, it would 

reduce the need for BFT quota 

reallocation from directed fisheries or 

the Reserve to cover excess pelagic 

longline BFT landings. To address 

similar issues, as well as to increase the 

survival of spawning BFT, NMFS 

published a proposed rule to require 

weak hook use in the Gulf of Mexico 

pelagic longline fishery (76 FR 2313, 

January 13, 2011), and final rulemaking 

is forthcoming. Both of these efforts 

regarding the pelagic longline fishery 

are consistent with the agency’s efforts 

to address bycatch issues and manage 

BFT catch and landings within available 

quotas. 

Atlantic Tunas Possession at Sea and 

Landing Form 

The sole criterion for determining the 

size and/or size class of whole or round 

(head on) Atlantic tunas is a curved fork 

length (CFL) measurement, which is the 

length of a fish measured from the tip 

of the upper jaw to the fork of the tail 

along the contour of the body in a line 

that runs along the top of the pectoral 

fin and the top of the caudal keel. 

When the head of an Atlantic tuna is 

removed, pectoral fin curved fork length 

(PFCFL) is the legal means of measuring 

the fish. PFCFL is the length of a fish 

measured from the dorsal insertion of 

the pectoral fin to the fork of the tail 

measured along the contour of the body 

in a line that runs along the top of the 

pectoral fin and the top of the caudal 

keel. The fork of the tail must be 

attached to the fish to attain proper CFL 

and PFCFL measurements. For a BFT 

with the head removed, the CFL is 

determined by multiplying the PFCFL 

by a conversion factor of 1.35. The 

resulting CFL is the sole criterion for 

determining the size class of a BFT with 

the head removed. For a bigeye or 

yellowfin tuna, NMFS prohibits the 

removal of the head if the remaining 

portion would be less than 27 inches 

from the fork of the tail to the forward 

edge of the cut. 

The regulations regarding possession 

at sea and landing specify that managed 

Atlantic tunas landed in an Atlantic 

coastal port must be maintained through 

offloading either in round form or 

eviscerated with the head and fins 

removed, provided one pectoral fin and 

the tail remain attached. NMFS has 

received requests from commercial 

Atlantic tuna fisheries participants in 

the last few years, including via the 

HMS Advisory Panel, to allow removal 

of Atlantic tuna tails at sea to make fish 

storage more efficient. NMFS proposes 

to clarify the regulations regarding 

Atlantic tunas possession at sea and 

landing to specify that as long as the 

fork of the tail remains intact, the upper 

and lower lobes of the tail may be 

removed (as shown in the figure below). 

This would balance the need for 

maintaining a standardized method of 

measuring Atlantic tunas with the 

request to allow Atlantic tunas to be 

stored at sea in a more efficient manner. 

This rulemaking will not affect the 

measurement methodology or 

requirements for species other than 

Atlantic tunas. 


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Atlantic Tunas Transfer at Sea 

Currently, the regulations regarding 

transfer at sea specify that, with a 

specific exception for owners and 

operators of a vessel for which a Purse 

Seine category Atlantic Tunas category 

permit has been issued, persons may not 

transfer an Atlantic tuna in the Atlantic 

Ocean, regardless of where the fish was 

harvested. Following a recent NOAA 

Administrative Law Judge decision 

involving the transfer of a BFT at sea [In 

the Matter of Brant McMullan & Roger 

A. Gales, Docket No. SE0900591FM 

(December 7, 2010)], NMFS has decided 

to clarify the intent of the Atlantic tunas 

transfer-at-sea regulations and 

prohibitions. NMFS proposes to add a 

sentence to the regulatory text regarding 

transfer at sea of Atlantic tunas that 

would read: ‘‘Notwithstanding the 

definition of ‘‘harvest’’ at § 600.10, for 

the purposes of this part, transfer 

includes, but is not limited to, moving 

or attempting to move an Atlantic tuna 

that is on fishing gear in the water from 

one vessel to another vessel.’’ In the 

future, NMFS may make similar 

clarifications regarding transfer at sea 

for other Atlantic highly migratory 

species via separate actions pertaining 

to those species. 

Request for Comments 

NMFS solicits comments on this 

proposed rule through April 14, 2011. 

See instructions in ADDRESSES section 

above. 

The public hearings will be physically 

accessible to people with disabilities. 

Requests for sign language 

interpretation or other auxiliary aids 

should be directed to Sarah McLaughlin 

at (978) 281–9279, at least 7 days prior 

to the hearing date. 

Classification 

Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act, the NMFS 

Assistant Administrator has determined 

that the proposed rule is consistent with 

the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP, the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act, ATCA, and 

other applicable law, subject to further 

consideration after public comment. 

This proposed rule has been 

determined to be not significant for 

purposes of Executive Order 12866. 

An IRFA was prepared, as required by 

section 603 of the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act. The IRFA describes the economic 

impact this proposed rule, if adopted, 

would have on small entities. A 

description of the action, why it is being 

considered, and the legal basis for this 

action are contained in the preamble to 

this proposed rule. A summary of the 

analysis follows. A copy of this analysis 

is available from NMFS (see 

ADDRESSES). 

In compliance with section 603(b)(1) 

of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, the 

purpose of this proposed rulemaking is, 

consistent with the 2006 Consolidated 

HMS FMP objectives, the MagnusonStevens Act, and other applicable law, 

to analyze the impacts of the 

alternatives for implementing and 

allocating the ICCAT-recommended 

U.S. quota for 2011 and 2012; adjusting 

the 2011 U.S. quota and subquotas to 

account for BFT dead discards and 

unharvested 2010 quota allowed by 

ICCAT to be carried forward to 2011; 

reinstating pelagic longline target catch 

requirements for retaining BFT in the 

Northeast Distant Gear Restricted Area; 

amending the Atlantic tunas possession 

at sea and landing regulations to allow 

removal of tail lobes; and clarifying the 

transfer at sea regulations for Atlantic 

tunas. 

In compliance with section 603(b)(2) 

of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, the 

objectives of this proposed rulemaking 

are to implement ICCAT 

recommendations, including accounting 

for BFT dead discards and underharvest 

of the 2010 adjusted quota in the 2011 

quota specifications, implement 

uniform target catch requirements for 

Longline category participants 

regardless of where they fish, and clarify 

the regulations concerning Atlantic 

tunas possession at sea and landing and 

Atlantic tunas transfer at sea. 

Section 603(b)(3) requires Agencies to 

provide an estimate of the number of 

small entities to which the rule would 

apply. The proposed quota action would 

apply to all participants in the Atlantic 

BFT fisheries, all of which are 

considered small entities, because they 

either had average annual receipts less 

than $4.0 million for fish-harvesting, 

average annual receipts less than $6.5 

million for charter/party boats, 100 or 

fewer employees for wholesale dealers, 

or 500 or fewer employees for seafood 

processors. These are the Small 


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Business Administration (SBA) size 

standards for defining a small versus 

large business entity in this industry. 

This action would apply to all 

participants in the Atlantic BFT fishery, 

all of which are considered small 

entities. As shown in Table 5 of the 

IRFA, there are over 32,000 vessels that 

held an Atlantic HMS Charter/ 

Headboat, Atlantic HMS Angling, or an 

Atlantic tunas permit as of October 

2010. These permitted vessels consist of 

commercial, recreational, and charter 

vessels as well as headboats. 

Reinstatement of target catch 

requirements in the NED would affect 

those Longline category permitted 

vessels that fish in the NED. As shown 

in Table 9 of the IRFA, over the last 5 

years, an annual total ranging from 6 to 

10 vessels have reported trips in the 

NED and an annual total ranging from 

4 to 8 vessels have landed BFT from the 

NED. However, to the extent that this 

action could avoid the need for fishery 

interruption due to insufficient BFT 

quota availability, it could affect all 248 

Longline category permitted vessels. 

Clarification of the Atlantic tunas 

landing form and transfer at sea 

regulations would be informative to 

owners and operators of Atlantic tunas 

permitted vessels and Atlantic HMS 

permitted vessels fishing for tunas, 

although material impacts are not 

expected to occur from the related 

changes in this action. 

Under section 603(b)(4) of the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act, agencies are 

required to describe any new reporting, 

recordkeeping and other compliance 

requirements. There are no new 

reporting or recordkeeping requirements 

in any of the alternatives considered for 

this action. 

Under section 603(b)(5) of the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act, agencies 

must identify, to the extent practicable, 

relevant Federal rules which duplicate, 

overlap, or conflict with the proposed 

rule. Fishermen, dealers, and managers 

in these fisheries must comply with a 

number of international agreements, 

domestic laws, and other FMPs. These 

include, but are not limited to, the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act, the Atlantic 

Tunas Convention Act, the High Seas 

Fishing Compliance Act, the Marine 

Mammal Protection Act, the Endangered 

Species Act, the National 

Environmental Policy Act, the 

Paperwork Reduction Act, and the 

Coastal Zone Management Act. This 

proposed rule has also been determined 

not to duplicate, overlap, or conflict 

with any other Federal rules. 

Under section 603(c) of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act, agencies are required to 

describe any alternatives to the 

proposed rule which accomplish the 

stated objectives and which minimize 

any significant economic impacts. These 

impacts are discussed below and in the 

EA. Additionally, the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 603(c)(1)–(4)) 

lists four general categories of 

significant alternatives that would assist 

an agency in the development of 

significant alternatives. These categories 

of alternatives are: (1) Establishment of 

differing compliance or reporting 

requirements or timetables that take into 

account the resources available to small 

entities; (2) clarification, consolidation, 

or simplification of compliance and 

reporting requirements under the rule 

for such small entities; (3) use of 

performance rather than design 

standards; and, (4) exemptions from 

coverage of the rule for small entities. 

In order to meet the objectives of this 

proposed rule, consistent with 

Magnuson-Stevens Act and the 

Endangered Species Act (ESA), NMFS 

cannot exempt small entities or change 

the reporting requirements only for 

small entities because all the entities 

affected are considered small entities. 

Thus, there are no alternatives 

discussed that fall under the first and 

fourth categories described above. 

NMFS does not know of any 

performance or design standards that 

would satisfy the aforementioned 

objectives of this rulemaking while, 

concurrently, complying with the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act. Thus, there are 

no alternatives considered under the 

third category. As described below, 

NMFS analyzed several different 

alternatives in this proposed rulemaking 

and provides rationale for identifying 

the preferred alternative to achieve the 

desired objective. The alternatives 

considered and analyzed are described 

below. The IRFA assumes that each 

vessel within a category will have 

similar catch and gross revenues to 

show the relative impact of the 

proposed action on vessels. 

NMFS has estimated the average 

impact that the alternative to establish 

the 2011 and 2012 BFT quota for all 

domestic fishing categories would have 

on individual categories and the vessels 

within those categories. As mentioned 

above, the 2010 ICCAT recommendation 

reduced the U.S. baseline BFT quota for 

2011 and 2012 to 923.7 mt and provides 

25 mt for incidental catch of BFT related 

to directed longline fisheries in the 

NED. This action would distribute the 

baseline quota of 923.7 mt to the 

domestic fishing categories based on the 

allocation percentages established in the 

Consolidated HMS FMP. 

In 2010, the annual gross revenues 

from the commercial BFT fishery were 

approximately $8.9 million. As of 

October 2010, there were 8,311 vessels 

permitted to land and sell BFT under 

four commercial BFT quota categories 

(including charter/headboat vessels). 

The commercial categories and their 

2010 gross revenues are General ($7.8 

million), Harpoon ($202,643), Purse 

Seine ($0), and Longline ($878,908). 

For the allocation of BFT quota among 

domestic fishing categories, NMFS 

analyzed a no action alternative and 

Alternative A2 (preferred alternative), 

which would implement the 2010 

ICCAT recommendation. NMFS 

considered a third alternative (A3) that 

would have allocated the 2010 ICCAT 

recommendation in a manner other than 

that designated in the Consolidated 

HMS FMP. Alternative A3 would result 

in a de facto quota reallocation among 

categories, and an FMP amendment 

would be necessary for its 

implementation. Preparation of an FMP 

amendment is not possible in the brief 

period of time between receipt of the 

ICCAT recommendation, which 

occurred in late November 2010, and 

the 2011 fishing year, the bulk of which 

begins in June. Therefore, Alternative 

A3 was not analyzed. But, if an FMP 

amendment was feasible, positive 

economic impacts would be expected to 

result on average for vessels in permit 

categories that would receive a greater 

share than established in the FMP, and 

negative economic impacts would be 

expected to result on average for vessels 

in permit categories that would receive 

a lesser share than established in the 

FMP. Impacts per vessel would depend 

on the temporal and spatial availability 

of BFT to participants. 

As noted above, Alternative A2 would 

implement the 2010 ICCAT 

recommendation in accordance with the 

Consolidated HMS FMP and consistent 

with ATCA, under which the United 

States is obligated to implement ICCATapproved quota recommendations, as 

necessary and appropriate. The 

preferred alternative would implement 

this quota and have slightly positive 

impacts for fishermen. The no action 

alternative would keep the quota at pre2010 ICCAT recommendation levels 

(approximately 29 mt more) and would 

not be consistent with the purpose and 

need for this action, the Consolidated 

HMS FMP, and ATCA. The economic 

impacts to the United States and to local 

economies would be similar in 

distribution and scale to 2010 (e.g., 

annual commercial gross revenues of 

approximately $8.9 million, as 

described above), or recent prior years, 

and would provide fishermen additional 

fishing opportunities, subject to the 

availability of BFT to the fishery, in the 


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short term. In the long term, however, 

as stock growth is hindered, negative 

impacts would result. 

It is difficult to estimate average 

potential ex-vessel revenues to 

commercial participants, largely 

because revenues depend heavily on the 

availability of large medium and giant 

BFT to the fishery. Section 6 of the EA/ 

RIR/IRFA describes potential revenue 

losses per commercial quota category 

based on each category’s proposed base 

quota reduction and price-per-pound 

information from 2010 (i.e., $206,251 for 

the General category, $13,944 for the 

Harpoon category, $25,150 for the 

Longline category, and $1,093 for the 

Trap category); although the Purse Seine 

category had no BFT landings in 2010, 

potential revenue losses of $69,639 were 

estimated. As described in Section 4 of 

the EA/RIR/IRFA, because the directed 

commercial categories have 

underharvested their subquotas in 

recent years, particularly 2004–2008, 

the potential decreases in ex-vessel 

revenues above overestimate the 

probable economic impacts to those 

categories relative to recent conditions. 

Additionally, there has been substantial 

interannual variability in ex-vessel 

revenues per category in recent years 

due to recent changes in BFT 

availability and other factors. Generally, 

the interannual differences in ex-vessel 

revenues per category have been larger 

than the potential impacts described 

above. 

Data on net revenues of individual 

fishermen are lacking, so the economic 

impact of the alternatives is averaged 

across each category. This is an 

appropriate approach for BFT fisheries, 

in particular because available landings 

data (weight and ex-vessel value of the 

fish in price-per-pound) allow NMFS to 

calculate the gross revenue earned by a 

fishery participant on a successful trip. 

The available data do not, however, 

allow NMFS to calculate the effort and 

cost associated with each successful trip 

(e.g., the cost of gas, bait, ice, etc.), so 

net revenue for each participant cannot 

be calculated. As a result, NMFS 

analyzes the average impact of the 

proposed alternatives among all 

participants in each category. 

Success rates vary widely across 

participants in each category (due to 

extent of vessel effort and availability of 

commercial-sized BFT to participants 

where they fish) but for the sake of 

estimating potential revenue loss per 

vessel, category-wide revenue losses can 

be divided by the number of permitted 

vessels in each category. Because HMS 

Charter/Headboat vessels may fish 

commercially under the General 

category quota and retention limits, 

Charter/Headboat permitted vessels are 

considered along with General category 

vessels when estimating potential 

General category ex-vessel revenue 

changes. Potential ex-vessel revenue 

losses are estimated as follows: General 

category (including Charter/Headboat 

vessels): $26; Harpoon category: $480; 

Longline category (incidental): $101; 

Trap category (incidental): $182; and 

Purse Seine category: $13,928. Section 6 

of the EA/RIR/IRFA describes potential 

revenue losses per commercial quota 

category based on each category not 

having access to quota that would be 

available through the carrying forward 

of 2010 underharvest, were it not for the 

ICCAT recommendation that limits the 

amount that may be carried forward to 

10 percent of a Contracting Party’s total 

quota beginning effective for 2011. 

Potential ex-vessel revenue losses 

resulting from this change are estimated 

as follows: General category (including 

Charter/Headboat vessels): $107; 

Harpoon category: $4,808; Longline 

category (incidental): $1,014; Trap 

category (incidental): $519; and Purse 

Seine category: $139,278. These values 

likely overestimate potential revenue 

losses for vessels that actively fish and 

are successful in landing at least one 

BFT. 

The proposed reinstatement of target 

catch requirements for pelagic longline 

vessels in the NED could, as described 

in Section 6.6.2 of the IRFA, result in a 

potential loss of $341,228. If this 

reduction is calculated for the universe 

of vessels participating in the NED over 

the last 5 years (range of 6–10 vessels), 

it would represent average potential exvessel reductions of $34,123–$56,871 

per vessel. If the reduction is calculated 

across Longline category vessels, it 

would be $1,376 per vessel. In Section 

6.6.2 of the IRFA, acknowledging that 

the 2009 number of BFT taken in the 

NED in 2009 may have been anomalous, 

NMFS also provided a figure for 

potential revenue loss of $42,408. This 

would represent average potential exvessel reductions of $4,241–$7,068 per 

vessel. If the reduction is calculated 

across Longline category vessels, it 

would be $171 per vessel. 

However, the preferred alternative is 

expected to result in the most positive 

short and long-term socio-economic 

impacts for the majority of BFT fishery 

participants, including Longline 

category participants, as it would 

increase the likelihood that the Longline 

category quota will be available through 

the end of the year, without 

interruption, and decrease the potential 

need for reallocation from directed 

quota categories or quota reductions in 

subsequent years to cover Longline 

category excesses. 

The other considered alternative was 

a no action alternative (maintaining the 

de facto exemption from target catch 

requirements for pelagic longline 

vessels fishing in the NED). The no 

action alternative risks exceeding the 

available Longline category quota, 

particularly in years where availability 

of commercial-sized BFT is high in the 

NED during directed pelagic longline 

activity for target species. 

The modifications to the regulations 

concerning Atlantic tunas possession 

and landing form and Atlantic tunas 

transfer at sea are intended to facilitate 

Atlantic tunas storage and provide 

clarification, respectively. While these 

changes would apply to all vessels 

holding Atlantic tunas, HMS Charter/ 

Headboat, and HMS Angling category 

permits (totaling approximately 33,000 

vessels), they are not expected to have 

significant economic impacts. 

Therefore, NMFS has not analyzed 

alternatives beyond the preferred 

alternatives and no action. Specific 

estimates of economic impacts of these 

preferred alternatives are not 

quantifiable. 

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 635 

Fisheries, Fishing, Fishing vessels, 

Foreign relations, Imports, Penalties, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Treaties. 

Dated: March 9, 2011. 

Samuel D. Rauch III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator, for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

For the reasons set out in the 

preamble, 50 CFR part 635 is proposed 

to be amended as follows: 

PART 635—ATLANTIC HIGHLY 

MIGRATORY SPECIES 

1. The authority citation for part 635 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq.; 16 U.S.C. 

1801 et seq. 

§ 635.23 [Amended] 

2. In § 635.23, remove paragraph 

(f)(3). 

3. In § 635.27, paragraphs (a) 

introductory text, (a)(1)(i), (a)(2), (a)(3), 

(a)(4)(i), (a)(5), (a)(7)(i), and (a)(7)(ii) are 

revised to read as follows: 

§ 635.27 Quotas. 

(a) BFT. Consistent with ICCAT 

recommendations, and with paragraph 

(a)(10)(iv) of this section, NMFS may 

subtract the most recent, complete, and 

available estimate of dead discards from 

the annual U.S. BFT quota, and make 


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the remainder available to be retained, 

possessed, or landed by persons and 

vessels subject to U.S. jurisdiction. The 

remaining baseline annual U.S. BFT 

quota will be allocated among the 

General, Angling, Harpoon, Purse Seine, 

Longline, Trap, and Reserve categories. 

BFT may be taken by persons aboard 

vessels issued Atlantic Tunas permits, 

HMS Angling permits, or HMS Charter/ 

Headboat permits. The baseline annual 

U.S. BFT quota is 923.7 mt, not 

including an additional annual 25 mt 

allocation provided in paragraph (a)(3) 

of this section. The baseline annual U.S. 

BFT quota is divided among the 

categories as follows: General—47.1 

percent (435.1 mt); Angling—19.7 

percent (182.0 mt), which includes the 

school BFT held in reserve as described 

under paragraph (a)(7)(ii) of this section; 

Harpoon—3.9 percent (36.0 mt); Purse 

Seine—18.6 percent (171.8 mt); 

Longline—8.1 percent (74.8 mt), which 

does not include the additional annual 

25 mt allocation provided in paragraph 

(a)(3) of this section; and Trap—0.1 

percent (0.9 mt). The remaining 2.5 

percent (23.1 mt) of the baseline annual 

U.S. BFT quota will be held in reserve 

for inseason or annual adjustments 

based on the criteria in paragraph (a)(8) 

of this section. NMFS may apportion a 

quota allocated to any category to 

specified fishing periods or to 

geographic areas and will make annual 

adjustments to quotas, as specified in 

paragraph (a)(10) of this section. BFT 

quotas are specified in whole weight. 

(1) * * * 

(i) Catches from vessels for which 

General category Atlantic Tunas permits 

have been issued and certain catches 

from vessels for which an HMS Charter/ 

Headboat permit has been issued are 

counted against the General category 

quota in accordance with § 635.23(c)(3). 

The amount of large medium and giant 

BFT that may be caught, retained, 

possessed, landed, or sold under the 

General category quota is 47.1 percent 

(435.1 mt) of the baseline annual U.S. 

BFT quota, and is apportioned as 

follows: 

(A) January 1 through January 31—5.3 

percent (23.1 mt); 

(B) June 1 through August 31—50 

percent (217.6 mt); 

(C) September 1 through September 

30—26.5 percent (115.3 mt); 

(D) October 1 through November 30— 

13 percent (56.6 mt); and 

(E) December 1 through December 

31—5.2 percent (22.6 mt). 

* * * * * 

(2) Angling category quota. In 

accordance with the framework 

procedures of the Consolidated HMS 

FMP, prior to each fishing year, or as 

early as feasible, NMFS will establish 

the Angling category daily retention 

limits. The total amount of BFT that 

may be caught, retained, possessed, and 

landed by anglers aboard vessels for 

which an HMS Angling permit or an 

HMS Charter/Headboat permit has been 

issued is 19.7 percent (182 mt) of the 

baseline annual U.S. BFT quota. No 

more than 2.3 percent (4.2 mt) of the 

annual Angling category quota may be 

large medium or giant BFT. In addition, 

over each 2-consecutive-year period 

(starting in 2011, inclusive), no more 

than 10 percent of the annual U.S. BFT 

quota, inclusive of the allocation 

specified in paragraph (a)(3) of this 

section, may be school BFT. The 

Angling category quota includes the 

amount of school BFT held in reserve 

under paragraph (a)(7)(ii) of this section. 

The size class subquotas for BFT are 

further subdivided as follows: 

(i) After adjustment for the school 

BFT quota held in reserve (under 

paragraph (a)(7)(ii) of this section), 52.8 

percent (40.8 mt) of the school BFT 

Angling category quota may be caught, 

retained, possessed, or landed south of 

39°18′ N. lat. The remaining school BFT 

Angling category quota (36.5 mt) may be 

caught, retained, possessed or landed 

north of 39°18′ N. lat. 

(ii) An amount equal to 52.8 percent 

(43.8 mt) of the large school/small 

medium BFT Angling category quota 

may be caught, retained, possessed, or 

landed south of 39°18′ N. lat. The 

remaining large school/small medium 

BFT Angling category quota (39.1 mt) 

may be caught, retained, possessed or 

landed north of 39°18′ N. lat. 

(iii) An amount equal to 66.7 percent 

(2.8 mt) of the large medium and giant 

BFT Angling category quota may be 

caught, retained, possessed, or landed 

south of 39°18′ N. lat. The remaining 

large medium and giant BFT Angling 

category quota (1.4 mt) may be caught, 

retained, possessed or landed north of 

39°18′ N. lat. 

(3) Longline category quota. The total 

amount of large medium and giant BFT 

that may be caught incidentally and 

retained, possessed, or landed by 

vessels that possess Longline category 

Atlantic Tunas permits is 8.1 percent 

(74.8 mt) of the baseline annual U.S. 

BFT quota. No more than 60.0 percent 

(44.9 mt) of the Longline category quota 

may be allocated for landing in the area 

south of 31°00′ N. lat. In addition, 25 mt 

shall be allocated for incidental catch by 

pelagic longline vessels fishing in the 

Northeast Distant gear restricted area. 

(4) * * * 

(i) The total amount of large medium 

and giant BFT that may be caught, 

retained, possessed, or landed by 

vessels that possess Purse Seine 

category Atlantic Tunas permits is 18.6 

percent (171.8 mt) of the baseline 

annual U.S. BFT quota. The directed 

purse seine fishery for BFT commences 

on July 15 of each year unless NMFS 

takes action to delay the season start 

date. Based on cumulative and projected 

landings in other commercial fishing 

categories, and the potential for gear 

conflicts on the fishing grounds or 

market impacts due to oversupply, 

NMFS may delay the BFT purse seine 

season start date from July 15 to no later 

than August 15 by filing an adjustment 

with the Office of the Federal Register 

prior to July 1. The Purse Seine category 

fishery closes on December 31 of each 

year. 

* * * * * 

(5) Harpoon category quota. The total 

amount of large medium and giant BFT 

that may be caught, retained, possessed, 

landed, or sold by vessels that possess 

Harpoon category Atlantic Tunas 

permits is 3.9 percent (36.0 mt) of the 

baseline annual U.S. BFT quota. The 

Harpoon category fishery commences on 

June 1 of each year, and closes on 

November 15 of each year. 

* * * * * 

(7) * * * 

(i) The total amount of BFT that is 

held in reserve for inseason or annual 

adjustments and fishery-independent 

research using quotas or subquotas is 

2.5 percent (23.1 mt) of the baseline 

annual U.S. BFT quota. Consistent with 

paragraph (a)(8) of this section, NMFS 

may allocate any portion of this reserve 

for inseason or annual adjustments to 

any category quota in the fishery. 

(ii) The total amount of school BFT 

that is held in reserve for inseason or 

annual adjustments and fisheryindependent research is 18.5 percent 

(17.6 mt) of the total school BFT 

Angling category quota as described 

under paragraph (a)(2) of this section. 

This amount is in addition to the 

amounts specified in paragraph (a)(7)(i) 

of this section. Consistent with 

paragraph (a)(8) of this section, NMFS 

may allocate any portion of the school 

BFT Angling category quota held in 

reserve for inseason or annual 

adjustments to the Angling category. 

* * * * * 

4. In § 635.29, paragraph (a) is revised 

to read as follows: 

§ 635.29 Transfer at sea. 

(a) Persons may not transfer an 

Atlantic tuna, blue marlin, white 

marlin, roundscale spearfish, or 

swordfish at sea in the Atlantic Ocean, 

regardless of where the fish was 


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13592 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 49 / Monday, March 14, 2011 / Proposed Rules 

harvested. Notwithstanding the 

definition of ‘‘harvest’’ at § 600.10, for 

the purposes of this part, transfer 

includes, but is not limited to, moving 

or attempting to move an Atlantic tuna 

that is on fishing gear in the water from 

one vessel to another vessel. However, 

an owner or operator of a vessel for 

which a Purse Seine category Atlantic 

Tunas category permit has been issued 

under § 635.4 may transfer large 

medium and giant BFT at sea from the 

net of the catching vessel to another 

vessel for which a Purse Seine category 

Atlantic Tunas permit has been issued, 

provided the amount transferred does 

not cause the receiving vessel to exceed 

its currently authorized vessel 

allocation, including incidental catch 

limits. 

* * * * * 

5. In § 635.30, paragraph (a) is revised 

to read as follows: 

§ 635.30 Possession at sea and landing. 

(a) Atlantic tunas. Persons that own or 

operate a fishing vessel that possesses 

an Atlantic tuna in the Atlantic Ocean 

or that lands an Atlantic tuna in an 

Atlantic coastal port must maintain 

such Atlantic tuna through offloading 

either in round form or eviscerated with 

the head and fins removed, provided 

one pectoral fin and the tail remain 

attached. The upper and lower lobes of 

the tuna tail may be removed for storage 

purposes as long as the fork of the tail 

remains intact. 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2011–5858 Filed 3–11–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 660 

RIN 0648–BA35 

Fisheries Off West Coast States; 

Highly Migratory Species Fisheries; 

Amendment 2 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of availability of an 

amendment to a fishery management 

plan; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the 

Pacific Fishery Management Council 

(Council) has submitted Amendment 2 

to the Fishery Management Plan for U.S. 

West Coast Fisheries for Highly 

Migratory Species (HMS FMP) for 

Secretarial review. Amendment 2 would 

modify the current suite of management 

unit species, establish a new category of 

ecosystem component species, modify 

the process for revising numerical 

estimates of maximum sustainable yield 

and optimal yield, and specify status 

determination criteria so that 

overfishing and overfished 

determinations can be made for all 

management unit species. 

DATES: Comments on Amendment 2 

must be received on or before May 13, 

2011. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on the NOA identified by ‘‘RIN 0648– 

BA35’’, by any of the following methods: 

• Federal e-Rulemaking portal: 

http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Mail: Rodney R. McInnis, Regional 

Administrator, Southwest Region, 

NMFS, 501 West Ocean Boulevard, 

Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802. 

• Fax: (562) 980–4047. 

Instructions: All comments received 

are part of the public record and 

generally will be posted to http:// 

www.regulations.gov without change. 

All personal identifying information (for 

example, name and address) voluntarily 

submitted by the commenter may be 

publicly accessible. Do not submit 

confidential business information or 

otherwise sensitive or protected 

information. NMFS will accept 

anonymous comments (if submitting 

comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking 

portal, enter ‘‘N/A’’ in the relevant 

required fields if you wish to remain 

anonymous). Attachments to electronic 

comments will be accepted in Microsoft 

Word or Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe 

PDF file formats only. Copies of the 

draft EA and RIR prepared for this 

proposed rule are available at http:// 

swr.nmfs.noaa.gov/ or may be obtained 

from Rodney R. McInnis (see 

ADDRESSES). 

Copies of Amendment 2, which 

includes an Environmental Assessment/ 

Regulatory Impact Review, are available 

from Donald O. McIssac, Executive 

Director, Pacific Fishery Management 

Council, 7700 NE Ambassador Place, 

Suite 200, Portland, Oregon 97220– 

1384. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Craig Heberer, Sustainable Fisheries 

Division, NMFS, at 760–431–9440, ext. 

303 or Kit Dahl, Pacific Fishery 

Management Council, at 503–820–2422. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(MSA), 18 U.S.C. 1801 et seq., requires 

each regional fishery management 

council to submit any amendment to an 

FMP to NMFS for review and approval, 

disapproval, or partial approval. The 

MSA also requires that NMFS, upon 

receiving an amendment to an FMP, 

immediately publish notification in the 

Federal Register that the amendment is 

available for public review and 

comment. NMFS will consider the 

public comments received during the 

public comment period in determining 

whether to approve, disapprove, or 

partially approve Amendment 2. 

Amendment 2 would revise the HMS 

FMP to ensure it is consistent with 

advisory guidelines published at 50 CFR 

600.310. The guidelines describe fishery 

management approaches to meet the 

objectives of National Standard 1 (NS1) 

of the MSA, Section 301. The 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management 

Reauthorization Act of 2006 (MSRA) 

amended the MSA to include new 

requirements for annual catch limits 

(ACLs) and accountability measures 

(AMs) and other provisions regarding 

preventing and ending overfishing and 

rebuilding fisheries. NMFS revised NS1 

Guidelines in response to these changes 

in the MSA. The NS1 Guidelines were 

published in the Federal Register on 

January 16, 2009. The Guidelines are 

intended to meet the objectives of NS1 

by providing guidance on: 

1. Specifying maximum sustainable 

yield (MSY) and optimal yield (OY); 

2. Specifying status determination 

criteria (SDC) so that overfishing and 

overfished determinations can be made 

for stocks and stock complexes that are 

part of a fishery; 

3. Preventing overfishing and 

achieving OY, incorporation of 

scientific and management uncertainty 

in control rules, and adaptive 

management using ACLs and measures 

to ensure accountability (AM); and 

4. Rebuilding stocks and stock 

complexes. 

The revisions to the NS1 guidelines 

also dictate that fisheries undergoing 

overfishing have ACLs and AMs in 

place to end overfishing by 2010, and all 

fisheries to have ACLs and AMs in place 

to prevent or end overfishing by 2011, 

and beyond. However, a stock or stock 

complex may not require an ACL and 

AMs if it qualifies for an MSRA-defined 

exception. The most important of these 

with respect to highly migratory species 

is the so-called ‘‘international 

exception’’ described at 

§ 660.310(h)(2)(ii) for stocks managed 

under an international agreement to 

which the United States is a party. The 

NS1 Guidelines also have other 

provisions related to classifying stocks 

in the FMP. 


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