Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 218 / Tuesday, November 14, 2023 / Rules and Regulations 77903 

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. 

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, erianna.hammond@

noaa.gov, 301–427–8503; or Larry Redd, 

Jr., larry.redd@noaa.gov, 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 § 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 § 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 § 635.27(a)(7). 

Additionally, under § 635.27(a)(8), 

NMFS has the authority to transfer 

quota among fishing categories or 

subcategories after considering the 

determination criteria provided under 

§ 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 § 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 (§ 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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77904 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 218 / Tuesday, November 14, 2023 / Rules and Regulations 

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 (§ 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 commercialsized 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 (§ 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 (§ 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 

(§ 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 § 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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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 218 / Tuesday, November 14, 2023 / Rules and Regulations 77905 

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 


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