[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 194 (Monday, October 7, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 81032-81034]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-23129]


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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.

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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

[[Page 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., (<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#7f131e0d0d06510d1a1b1b3f11101e1e51181009"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="4f232e3d3d36613d2a2b2b0f21202e2e61282039">[email protected]</span></a>) 
and Ann Williamson (<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#11707f7f3f66787d7d78707c627e7f517f7e70703f767e67"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e1808f8fcf96888d8d88808c928e8fa18f8e8080cf868e97">[email protected]</span></a>) 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 Sec.  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 Sec.  635.27(a)(8), NMFS has the authority to transfer quota 
among fishing categories or subcategories after considering the 
determination criteria provided under Sec.  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 (Sec.  
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 (Sec.  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 (Sec.  635.27(a)(7)(ii)), as well as daily landing trends and 
the availability of BFT on fishing grounds (Sec.  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 (Sec.  
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 (Sec.  
635.27(a)(7)(iv)) and the ability to account for all 2024 landings and 
dead discards (Sec.  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.

[[Page 81034]]

    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 (Sec.  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 Sec.  635.27(a)(7)(x)).

Monitoring and Reporting

    NMFS will continue to monitor the BFT fishery closely. Per Sec.  
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 Sec.  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


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