81032 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 194 / Monday, October 7, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

based forms to complete administrative 

functions for the duration of the 

catastrophic conditions. The RA must 

determine that catastrophic conditions 

exist, specify the duration of the 

catastrophic conditions, and specify 

which participants or geographic areas 

are deemed affected. 

Hurricane Helene made landfall in the 

U.S. in Taylor County, Florida, in the 

Gulf as a Category 4 hurricane on 

September 26, 2024. Strong winds and 

flooding from this hurricane impacted 

communities along coastal Florida in 

the Gulf and coastal Georgia in the 

South Atlantic. This resulted in power 

outages and damage to homes, 

businesses, and infrastructure. As a 

result, the RA has determined that 

catastrophic conditions exist in the Gulf 

for the Florida counties of Jefferson, 

Taylor, Dixie, Levy, Citrus, Hernando, 

Pasco, and Pinellas. For the South 

Atlantic, the RA has determined that 

catastrophic conditions also exist for 

Georgia counties of Chatham, Bryan, 

Liberty, McIntosh, Glynn, and Camden. 

Through this temporary rule, the RA 

is authorizing Federal dealers, SRHS 

program participants, and South 

Atlantic Federal for-hire operators to 

delay electronic reporting to NMFS and 

IFQ dealers in the affected area to use 

paper-based forms, from October 2, 

2024, through November 1, 2024. NMFS 

will provide additional notification to 

affected dealers via NOAA Weather 

Radio, Fishery Bulletins, and other 

appropriate means. NMFS will continue 

to monitor and re-evaluate the areas and 

duration of the catastrophic conditions, 

as necessary. 

Dealers may delay electronic 

reporting of trip tickets to NMFS during 

catastrophic conditions. Dealers are to 

report all landings to NMFS as soon as 

possible. Assistance for Federal dealers 

in affected area is available from the 

NMFS Fisheries Monitoring Branch at 

1–305–361–4581. 

SRHS program participants may delay 

electronic reporting of logbooks to 

NMFS during catastrophic conditions. 

SRHS participants are to report all 

logbooks to NMFS as soon as possible. 

South Atlantic Federal for-hire 

operators may delay electronic reporting 

of logbooks and ‘‘Did Not Fish’’ reports 

to NMFS during catastrophic 

conditions. South Atlantic Federal forhire operators are to report all landings 

or Did Not Fish reports to NMFS as soon 

as possible. Assistance for Federal forhire operators in the affected area is 

available from the NMFS Southeast ForHire Integrated Electronic Reporting 

Program at 1–833–707–1632, Monday 

through Friday, between 8 a.m. and 4:30 

p.m., Eastern Time. The electronic 

systems for submitting information to 

NMFS will continue to be available to 

all Federal for-hire operators, and forhire operators are encouraged to 

continue using these systems, if 

accessible. 

NMFS previously provided Federal 

IFQ dealers with the necessary paper 

forms and instructions for submission in 

the event of catastrophic conditions. 

Paper forms are also available from the 

RA upon request. The electronic 

systems for submitting information to 

NMFS will continue to be available to 

all dealers, and dealers in the affected 

area are encouraged to continue using 

these systems, if accessible. The 

administrative program functions 

available to IFQ participants in the area 

affected by catastrophic conditions will 

be limited under the paper-based 

system. There will be no mechanism for 

transfers of IFQ shares or allocation 

under the paper-based system in effect 

during catastrophic conditions. 

Assistance in complying with the 

requirements of the paper-based system 

will be available via the NMFS Catch 

Share Support line, 1–866–425–7627 

Monday through Friday, between 8 a.m. 

and 4:30 p.m., Eastern Time. 

Classification 

NMFS issues this action pursuant to 

section 305(d) of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act. This action is consistent with the 

regulations in 50 CFR 622.5(c)(1)(iii), 

622.21(a)(3)(iii) (2020), 622.22(a)(3)(iii) 

(2020), 622.26(b)(3), 622.176(b)(3), 

622.271(b)(3), and 622.374(b)(3), which 

were issued pursuant to section 304(b) 

of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and is 

exempt from review under Executive 

Order 12866. 

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), there 

is good cause to waive prior notice and 

an opportunity for public comment on 

this action, as notice and comment are 

unnecessary and contrary to the public 

interest. Such procedures are 

unnecessary because the final rules 

implementing the Gulf IFQ programs, 

the Gulf and South Atlantic Federal 

dealer reporting requirements, and Gulf 

and South Atlantic for-hire vessel 

reporting requirements, and the SRHS 

reporting requirements have already 

been subject to notice and public 

comment. These rules authorize the RA 

to determine when catastrophic 

conditions exist, and which participants 

or geographic areas are deemed affected 

by catastrophic conditions. The final 

rules also authorize the RA to provide 

timely notice to affected participants via 

publication of notification in the 

Federal Register, NOAA Weather Radio, 

Fishery Bulletins, and other appropriate 

means. All that remains is to notify the 

public that catastrophic conditions 

exist, that Federal dealers and may use 

paper forms, and that Federal dealers, 

South Atlantic for-hire permit holders, 

and SRHS participants may submit 

delayed reports. Such procedures are 

also contrary to the public interest 

because of the need to immediately 

implement this action because affected 

dealers continue to receive these species 

in the affected area and fishermen 

continue to operate, and need a means 

of completing their landing transactions 

and logbook reports. With the power 

outages and damages to infrastructure 

that have occurred in the affected area 

due to Hurricane Helene, numerous 

businesses are unable to complete 

landings transactions, fishing reports, 

and dealer reports electronically. In 

order to continue with their businesses, 

IFQ dealers need to be aware they can 

report using the paper forms, and 

Federal dealers, South Atlantic for-hire 

permit holders, and SRHS participants 

need to be aware that they can delay 

reporting. 

For the aforementioned reasons, there 

is good cause to waive the 30-day delay 

in the effectiveness of this action under 

5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3). 

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

Dated: October 1, 2024. 

Karen H. Abrams, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2024–23072 Filed 10–2–24; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 635 

[Docket No. 220919–0193; RTID 0648– 

XE331] 

Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; 

Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Fisheries; 

General Category October Through 

November Quota Transfer 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; quota transfer. 

SUMMARY: NMFS is transferring 100 

metric tons (mt) of Atlantic bluefin tuna 

(BFT) quota from the Reserve category 

to the General category October through 

November 2024 time period. With this 

transfer, the adjusted General category 

October through November time period 

subquota is 192.4 mt and the Reserve 


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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 194 / Monday, October 7, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 81033 

category quota is 61.5 mt. This action is 

intended to provide further harvest 

opportunities for General category 

fishermen, based on consideration of the 

regulatory determination criteria 

regarding inseason adjustments and 

applies to Atlantic Tunas General 

category (commercial) permitted vessels 

and Atlantic Highly Migratory Species 

(HMS) Charter/Headboat permitted 

vessels with a commercial sale 

endorsement when fishing 

commercially for BFT. 

DATES: Effective October 2, 2024, 

through November 30, 2024. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Larry Redd, Jr., (larry.redd@noaa.gov) 

and Ann Williamson (ann.williamson@

noaa.gov) by email or by phone at 301– 

427–8503. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Atlantic 

BFT fisheries are managed under the 

2006 Consolidated HMS Fishery 

Management Plan (FMP) and its 

amendments, pursuant to the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

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

et seq.) and consistent with the Atlantic 

Tunas Convention Act (ATCA; 16 U.S.C. 

971 et seq.). HMS implementing 

regulations are at 50 CFR part 635. 

Section 635.27(a) divides the U.S. BFT 

quota, established 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 at 16 U.S.C. 1854(g)(1)(D) 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 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 

October to November time period is 92.4 

mt. To date, NMFS has published two 

actions that adjusted the Reserve 

category quota (89 FR 58074, July 17, 

2024; 89 FR 77029, September 20, 

2024). The current adjusted Reserve 

category quota is 161.5 mt. 

Transfer From the Reserve Category to 

the October Through November 2024 

Subquota 

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; the consideration of the 

determination criteria can be found 

below after this section. 

As stated above, the baseline October 

through November time period subquota 

and adjusted Reserve quota are 92.4 mt 

and 161.5 mt, respectively. At this time 

after considering the relevant 

determination criteria (see below), 

NMFS is transferring 100 mt from the 

Reserve category to the General category 

October through November time period. 

This transfer will result in an adjusted 

October through November time period 

subquota of 192.4 mt (92.4 mt + 100 mt 

= 192.4 mt) and an adjusted Reserve 

category quota of 61.5 mt (161.5 

mt¥100 mt = 61.5 mt). 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. The General 

category fishery will remain open until 

November 30, 2024, or until the 

adjusted General category quota is 

reached, whichever comes first. 

Consideration of the Relevant 

Determination Criteria 

NMFS has considered all of the 

relevant determination criteria and their 

applicability to this inseason quota 

transfer (§ 635.27(a)(7)). These criteria 

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 BFT dealers continue to 

provide NMFS 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 considered the catches of the 

General category quota to date and the 

likelihood of closure of the General 

category if no adjustment is made 

(§ 635.27(a)(7)(ii)), as well as daily 

landing trends and the availability of 

BFT on fishing grounds 

(§ 635.27(a)(7)(ix)). The General category 

October through November time period 

has recently opened and based on 

projected daily landings rates, without a 

quota transfer at this time, NMFS would 

likely need to close the General category 

fishery shortly and participants would 

have to stop BFT fishing activities 

despite commercial-sized BFT 

remaining available in the areas where 

General category permitted vessels 

operate. This quota transfer would 

provide 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 to harvest the additional 

amount of BFT quota transferred 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. NMFS may adjust each 

time period’s subquota based on 

overharvest or underharvest in the prior 

time period and may transfer subquota 

from one time period to another time 

period. By allowing for the current 

quota transfer, NMFS anticipates that 

the General category quota would be 

used before the end of the fishing year. 

Thus, this quota transfer would allow 

General category fishermen to take 

advantage of the availability of BFT on 

the fishing grounds and provide a 

reasonable opportunity to harvest the 

available U.S. BFT quota. 

NMFS also considered the estimated 

amounts by which quotas for other gear 

categories of the fishery might be 

exceeded (§ 635.27(a)(7)(iv)) and the 

ability to account for all 2024 landings 

and dead discards (§ 635.27(a)(7)(xi)). In 

the last 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 carry 

over the allowable 134.1 mt of 

underharvest from 2023 to 2024 (89 FR 

77029, September 20, 2024). NMFS 

anticipates having sufficient quota to 

account for landings and dead discards 

within the adjusted U.S. quota, 

consistent with ICCAT 

recommendations. 


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81034 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 194 / Monday, October 7, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

NMFS also considered the effects of 

the adjustment on BFT rebuilding and 

overfishing, and the effects of the 

transfer on accomplishing the objectives 

of the FMP (§ 635.27(a)(7)(v) and (vi)). 

This quota transfer would be consistent 

with established quotas and subquotas, 

which are implemented consistent with 

ICCAT recommendations (established in 

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 such as rebuilding and avoiding 

overfishing, and effects on the stock. 

This quota transfer in line with the 

established management measures and 

stock status determinations. It is also 

important that NMFS limit landings to 

the quota both to adhere to the FMP 

quota allocations and to ensure that 

landings are as consistent as possible 

with the pattern of fishing mortality 

(e.g., fish caught at each age) that was 

assumed in the latest stock assessment, 

and this quota transfer is consistent 

with those objectives. Another principal 

consideration is the objective of 

providing opportunities to harvest the 

available General category quota 

without exceeding the annual quota. 

This consideration is based on the 

objectives of the 2006 Consolidated 

HMS FMP and its amendments, 

including achieving optimum yield on a 

continuing basis and allowing all permit 

categories a reasonable opportunity to 

harvest available BFT quota allocations 

(related to § 635.27(a)(7)(x)). 

Monitoring and Reporting 

NMFS will continue to monitor the 

BFT fishery closely. Per 

§ 635.5(b)(2)(i)(A), 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 per 

§ 635.5(a)(4) 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://

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 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 (16 U.S.C. 1885(d)) and regulations 

at 50 CFR part 635 and this action is 

exempt from review under Executive 

Order 12866. 

The Assistant Administrator for 

NMFS (AA) finds that pursuant to 5 

U.S.C. 553(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 the public 

interest for the following reasons. 

Specifically, the regulations 

implementing the 2006 Consolidated 

HMS FMP and amendments provide for 

inseason adjustments and quota 

transfers 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 to the General 

category for the remainder of 2024 is 

impracticable and contrary to the public 

interest as the General category fishery 

is currently underway. Based on 

General category catch rates, a delay in 

this action would likely result in closure 

of the General category fishery when the 

baseline quota is met, with attendant 

administrative costs and costs to the 

fishery. NMFS could not have proposed 

this action earlier, as it needed to 

consider updated landings data in 

deciding whether to transfer a portion of 

the Reserve category quota to the 

General category quota. A delay in 

implementing this quota transfer would 

preclude the fishery from harvesting 

BFT that are currently available on the 

fishing grounds and that might 

otherwise become unavailable during a 

delay. This action does not raise 

conservation and management concerns 

and would support effective 

management of the BFT fishery. 

Transferring quota from the Reserve 

category to the General category October 

through November time period does not 

affect the overall ICCAT-allocated U.S. 

BFT quota, and available data show the 

adjustment would have a minimal risk 

of exceeding the overall 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: October 2, 2024. 

Karen H. Abrams, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2024–23129 Filed 10–2–24; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 679 

[Docket No. 240227–0061] 

RTID 0648–XE359 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone Off Alaska; Pacific Cod by 

Catcher Vessels Using Trawl Gear in 

the Central Regulatory Area of the Gulf 

of Alaska 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; modification of 

a closure; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS is opening directed 

fishing for Pacific cod by catcher vessels 

using trawl gear in the Central 

Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska 

(GOA). This action is necessary to fully 

use the 2024 total allowable catch of 

Pacific cod allocated to catcher vessels 

using trawl gear in the Central 

Regulatory Area of the GOA. 

DATES: Effective 1200 hours, Alaska 

local time (A.l.t.), October 4, 2024, 

through 2400 hours, A.l.t., December 31, 

2024. Comments must be received at the 

following address no later than 4:30 

p.m., A.l.t., October 22, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on this document, identified by docket 

number NOAA–NMFS–2023–0133, by 

any of the following methods: 

Electronic Submission: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to 

https://www.regulations.gov and enter 

NOAA–NMFS–2023–0133 in the Search 

box. Click on the ‘‘Comment’’ icon, 

complete the required fields, and enter 

or attach your comments. 


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