Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 208 / Monday, October 28, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 85453 

Closure of the October Through 

November 2024 BFT General Category 

Fishery 

To date, reported landings for the BFT 

General category October through 

November time period total 170.9 mt. 

Based on these landings data, including 

average daily catch rates, as well as 

anticipated favorable fishing conditions 

in the coming days, NMFS has 

determined that the adjusted October 

through November time period subquota 

of 192.4 mt is projected to be reached 

and exceeded shortly. Therefore, 

retaining, possessing, or landing large 

medium or giant (i.e., measuring 73 

inches (185 cm) CFL or greater) BFT by 

persons aboard vessels permitted in the 

Atlantic Tunas General category and 

HMS Charter/Headboat permitted 

vessels (while fishing commercially) 

must cease at 11:30 p.m. local time on 

October 24, 2024. The BFT General 

category will automatically reopen 

December 1, 2024, for the December 

time period with a retention limit of one 

large medium or giant BFT per vessel 

per day/trip. This action applies to 

Atlantic Tunas General category 

(commercial) permitted vessels and 

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). 

Waiver for Remaining October Through 

November RFDs 

On May 31, 2024 (89 FR 47095), 

NMFS published a final rule that, 

among other things, implemented RFDs 

every Sunday, Tuesday, Friday, and 

Saturday from July 1 through November 

30, 2024. Since the fishery will be 

closed for the remainder of the October 

through November time period, NMFS 

has decided to waive the previouslyscheduled RFDs for the remainder of 

that time period. 

With the RFDs waived during a 

closure, consistent with § 635.23(a)(7), 

fishermen aboard General category 

permitted vessels and HMS Charter/ 

Headboat permitted vessels may tag and 

release BFT of all sizes, subject to the 

requirements of the catch-and-release 

and tag-and-release programs described 

at § 635.26(a). 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 

NMFS will continue to monitor the 

BFT fisheries 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, using the HMS 

Catch Reporting app, or calling 888– 

872–8862 (Monday through Friday from 

8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.). 

After the fishery reopens on December 

1, depending on the level of fishing 

effort and catch rates of BFT at that 

time, NMFS may determine that 

additional adjustments are necessary to 

ensure available subquotas are not 

exceeded or to enhance scientific data 

collection from, and fishing 

opportunities in, all geographic areas as 

specified under § 635.27(a)(7). 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. 1855(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), it is impracticable and 

contrary to the public interest to provide 

prior notice of, and an opportunity for 

public comment on this action, for the 

following reasons. Specifically, 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. Providing for prior 

notice and an opportunity to comment 

is impracticable and contrary to the 

public interest as this fishery is 

currently underway and, based on the 

most recent landings information, the 

available time period subquota is 

projected to be reached shortly. 

Delaying this action could result in BFT 

landings that exceed the October 

through November time period 

subquota, which may result in future 

potential quota reductions for other BFT 

categories, depending on the magnitude 

of a potential overharvest. Taking this 

action does not raise conservation and 

management concerns and would 

support effective management of the 

BFT fishery. 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 and closure criteria. 

For all of the above reasons, the AA 

also 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 23, 2024. 

Karen H. Abrams, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2024–25020 Filed 10–23–24; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 660 

[RTID 0648–XD487] 

Amendment 8 Revisions to Essential 

Fish Habitat in the Fishery 

Management Plan for U.S. West Coast 

Fisheries for Highly Migratory Species 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notification of agency decision. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces the 

approval of amendment 8 to the Fishery 

Management Plan (FMP) for the U.S. 

West Coast Highly Migratory Species 

(HMS). This amendment updates 

essential fish habitat (EFH) provisions 

in the existing HMS FMP. This 

amendment promotes the goals and 

objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act (MSA) which requires periodic 

review and revision of EFH components 

of FMPs as warranted based on available 

information. 

DATES: The amendment was approved 

on October 21, 2024. 


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85454 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 208 / Monday, October 28, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of the 

amendment may be obtained from 

https://www.regulations.gov or the West 

Coast Region website at https://

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/ 

amendment-8-revisions-essential-fishhabitat-fishery-management-plan-uswest-coast-highly. Additional 

documents can be found on the 

Council’s website at https://

www.pcouncil.org. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Nicole Nasby-Lucas at (858) 334–2826, 

nicole.nasby-lucas@noaa.gov, or Eric 

Chavez at (562) 980–4064, eric.chavez@

noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The MSA requires that each regional 

fishery management council submit any 

FMP amendment it prepares to NMFS 

for review and approval, disapproval, or 

partial approval by the Secretary (16 

U.S.C. 1854(a)). NMFS manages the 

HMS fisheries off the U.S. Pacific Coast 

under the HMS FMP. The Pacific 

Fishery Management Council (Council) 

prepared the FMP under the authority of 

the MSA, 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. 

Regulations governing U.S. fisheries and 

implementing the FMPs appear at 50 

CFR parts 600 and 660. 

The MSA mandates that each FMP 

describe and identify EFH for the 

fishery (16 U.S.C. 1853(7)). EFH is 

defined as ‘‘those waters and substrate 

necessary to fish for spawning, 

breeding, feeding or growth to maturity’’ 

(16 U.S.C. 1802(10)). Under this 

authority, NMFS and the Council have 

developed a comprehensive strategy to 

conserve EFH. This includes 

incorporating EFH into each of the 

Council’s FMPs, identifying fishing and 

non-fishing impacts and associated 

conservation recommendations, and 

other required EFH elements. EFH 

requirements and the process for 

periodic EFH reviews are described in 

the EFH regulations at 50 CFR 

600.815(a). EFH components for each 

management unit species (MUS) were 

included in appendix A to the Final 

Environmental Impact Statement when 

NMFS approved the HMS FMP in 2004 

and have not been reviewed since that 

time. 

This FMP amendment includes eight 

major components that (1) update the 

description and identification of EFH, 

(2) include new maps for each MUS in 

the HMS FMP, (3) update information 

on life history, (4) update information 

on fishing impacts, (5) update 

information on non-fishing impacts and 

conservation measures, (6) update text 

on habitat areas of particular concern 

(HAPCs), (7) update research and 

information needs, and (8) add a 

reference to Council’s Operating 

Procedure 22 as a description of the 

review and revision process. The 

revised FMP text and appendix F 

include supporting information and 

rationale for the modifications adopted 

by the Council. 

Further detail describing the 

amendments was provided in the Notice 

of Availability (NOA) for this action and 

is not repeated here. 

Procedural Aspects of the Amendment 

The Council submitted the 

amendments to the Secretary for review 

on June 28, 2024. On July 24, 2024, 

NMFS published the NOA for the 

amendment and requested public 

review and comment (87 FR 21603). 

Public comments were received 

pertaining to the HMS FMP amendment 

and are addressed below. 

The amendment does not add any 

new reporting requirements and does 

not change any regulatory requirements. 

Therefore, no proposed or final rule was 

prepared. This action only adds to or 

updates HMS EFH provisions in the 

HMS FMP. 

Comments and Responses 

NMFS received seven comments 

during the comment period on 

amendment 8 revisions to EFH in the 

HMS FMP, which ended on September 

23, 2024. Six comments were in support 

of the amendment, and two of those 

encouraged consideration of HAPCs. 

One of the comments was outside of the 

scope of this action. 

Comments 1–4: The commenters 

expressed support for the amendment as 

a fishery management tool for the 

protection of species, including the 

creation of new maps, advisories on 

fishing impact, and recognition of needs 

for additional research. 

Response: NMFS thanks the 

commenters for the support of this 

amendment. NMFS agrees that the 

updated maps will help achieve the 

overall EFH objectives of supporting a 

sustainable fishery and the managed 

species’ contribution to a healthy 

ecosystem. NMFS agrees that it is 

important to identify any potential 

adverse effects on EFH from fishing 

activities, including lost fishing gear 

and discharge of processing waste, and 

whether any additional measures are 

needed to address those adverse effects. 

NMFS also agrees that additional 

research is needed to improve our 

understanding of fish habitats, the 

functions they provide, and adverse 

effects from both fishing and nonfishing activities. 

Comments 5–6: The commenters 

expressed support for the amendment 

and reaffirmed the importance of 

updating information, identifying 

fishing and non-fishing impacts, and 

considering HAPCs. One commenter 

was concerned about the risk of 

delaying protective measures for 

vulnerable areas, such as shark 

nurseries and migratory corridors. 

Response: NMFS thanks the 

commenters for the support of this 

amendment. NMFS agrees that updating 

species information is important 

particularly since newer information is 

based on current fishery-independent 

information that was not available when 

the original EFH descriptions were 

adopted. NMFS agrees that it is 

important to identify potential adverse 

effects on EFH from fishing and nonfishing activities that may adversely 

affect HMS EFH along with any 

appropriate conservation measures. 

NMFS also agrees with the importance 

of HAPCs, although none were proposed 

at this time. Available data do not point 

to a focused pupping ground for sharks 

and available electronic tagging data 

across species reveals no specific 

migratory pathway within the U.S. 

Exclusive Economic Zone. However, we 

recommend additional research to 

collect more information that could 

inform consideration of HAPCs in the 

future. 

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

Dated: October 21, 2024. 

Samuel D. Rauch III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2024–24869 Filed 10–25–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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