Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 243 / Thursday, December 17, 2020 / Rules and Regulations 81837 

Species 1

Citation(s) for listing 

determination(s) 

Critical 

habitat ESA rules 

Common name Scientific name Description of listed entity 

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1Species includes taxonomic species, subspecies, distinct population segments (DPSs) (for a policy statement, see 61 FR 4722, February 7, 1996), and 

evolutionarily significant units (ESUs) (for a policy statement, see 56 FR 58612, November 20, 1991). 

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[FR Doc. 2020–26287 Filed 12–16–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 635 

[Docket No. 180117042–8884–02; RTID 

0648–XA672] 

Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; 

Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Fisheries 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; closure. 

SUMMARY: NMFS closes the Atlantic 

bluefin tuna (BFT) General category 

fishery for the December subquota 

period, and thus for the remainder of 

2020. The intent of this closure is to 

prevent further overharvest of the 

adjusted December subquota, and the 

overall adjusted General category quota. 

DATES: Effective 11:30 p.m., local time, 

December 14, 2020, through December 

31, 2020. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Sarah McLaughlin, 978–281–9260, 

Nicholas Velseboer 978–675–2168, or 

Larry Redd, 301–427–8503. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Regulations implemented under the 

authority of the Atlantic Tunas 

Convention Act (ATCA; 16 U.S.C. 971 et 

seq.) and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act; 16 U.S.C. 1801 

et seq.) governing the harvest of BFT by 

persons and vessels subject to U.S. 

jurisdiction are found at 50 CFR part 

635. Section 635.27 subdivides the U.S. 

BFT quota recommended by the 

International Commission for the 

Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) 

among the various domestic fishing 

categories, per the allocations 

established in the 2006 Consolidated 

Highly Migratory Species Fishery 

Management Plan (2006 Consolidated 

HMS FMP) (71 FR 58058, October 2, 

2006) and amendments, and in 

accordance with implementing 

regulations. 

Under § 635.28(a)(1), NMFS files a 

closure notice with the Office of the 

Federal Register for publication when a 

BFT quota (or subquota) is reached or is 

projected to be reached. Retaining, 

possessing, or landing BFT under that 

quota category is prohibited on and after 

the effective date and time of a closure 

notice for that category, for the 

remainder of the fishing year, until the 

opening of the subsequent quota period 

or until such date as specified. 

The baseline General category quota is 

555.7 mt. See § 635.27(a). Each of the 

General category time periods (January, 

June through August, September, 

October through November, and 

December) is allocated a ‘‘subquota’’ or 

portion of the annual General category 

quota. The baseline subquotas for each 

time period are as follows: 29.5 mt for 

January; 277.9 mt for June through 

August; 147.3 mt for September; 72.2 mt 

for October through November; and 28.9 

mt for December. 

Closure of the December 2020 General 

Category Fishery 

NMFS has determined that the 

General category December subquota of 

28.9 mt has been reached and exceeded 

(i.e., 32.7 mt have been landed as of 

December 14, 2020), as has the overall 

adjusted General category quota of 846.5 

mt, and that the fishery should be 

closed. Through this action, we are 

closing the General category BFT fishery 

effective 11:30 p.m., December 14, 2020, 

through December 31, 2020. Therefore, 

retaining, possessing, or landing large 

medium or giant BFT by persons aboard 

vessels permitted in the Atlantic tunas 

General category and HMS Charter/ 

Headboat category (while fishing 

commercially) must cease at 11:30 p.m. 

local time on December 14, 2020. The 

General category will reopen 

automatically on January 1, 2021, for the 

January 2021 subquota period. This 

action applies to those vessels permitted 

in the General category, as well as to 

those HMS Charter/Headboat permitted 

vessels with a commercial sale 

endorsement when fishing 

commercially for BFT, and is taken 

consistent with the regulations at 

§ 635.28(a)(1). The intent of this closure 

is to prevent further overharvest of the 

adjusted December subquota, and the 

adjusted 2020 General category quota. 

Fishermen may catch and release (or 

tag and release) BFT of all sizes, subject 

to the requirements of the catch-andrelease and tag-and-release programs at 

§ 635.26. All BFT that are released must 

be handled in a manner that will 

maximize their survival, and without 

removing the fish from the water, 

consistent with requirements at 

§ 635.21(a)(1). For additional 

information on safe handling, see the 

‘‘Careful Catch and Release’’ brochure 

available at https:// 

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/resource/ 

outreach-and-education/careful-catchand-release-brochure/. 

Monitoring and Reporting 

Dealers are required to submit 

landings reports within 24 hours of a 

dealer receiving BFT. Late reporting by 

dealers compromises NMFS’ ability to 

timely implement actions such as quota 

and retention limit adjustment, as well 

as closures, and may result in 

enforcement actions. Additionally, and 

separate from the dealer reporting 

requirement, General and HMS Charter/ 

Headboat category vessel owners are 

required to report the catch of all BFT 

retained or discarded dead within 24 

hours of the landing(s) or end of each 

trip, by accessing hmspermits.noaa.gov, 

using the HMS Catch Reporting app, or 

calling (888) 872–8862 (Monday 

through Friday from 8 a.m. until 4:30 

p.m.). 

NMFS will need to account for 2020 

landings and dead discards within the 

adjusted U.S. quota, consistent with 

ICCAT recommendations, and 

anticipates having sufficient quota to do 

that based on anticipated underharvest 

due to landings of some quota categories 

being substantially less than the 

available quotas for those categories.’’ 

Could add ‘‘(e.g., the Purse Seine, Trap, 

and Longline categories). 

Classification 

NMFS issues this action pursuant to 

section 305(d) of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act. This action is taken pursuant to 

regulations at 50 CFR part 635, which 

were issued pursuant to section 304(c) 

of the Magnuson-Stevens Act and the 

Atlantic Tunas Convention Act, and is 

81838 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 243 / Thursday, December 17, 2020 / Rules and Regulations 

exempt from review under Executive 

Order 12866. 

The Assistant Administrator for 

NMFS finds that pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 

553(b)(B), there is good cause to waive 

prior notice of, and an opportunity for 

public comment on, for the following 

reasons: The regulations implementing 

the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP and 

amendments provide for inseason 

retention limit adjustments and fishery 

closures 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. This fishery is 

currently underway, and delaying this 

action would be contrary to the public 

interest as it could result in BFT 

landings exceeding the adjusted 

December 2020 General category quota 

and the adjusted 2020 General category 

quota. For all of the above reasons, there 

is good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(d) to 

waive the 30-day delay in effectiveness. 

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

et seq. 

Dated: December 14, 2020. 

Jennifer M. Wallace, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2020–27794 Filed 12–14–20; 4:15 pm] 

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