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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 223 (Tuesday, November 19, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 91275-91276]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-26946]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 635

[Docket No. 220919-0193; RTID 0648-XE450]

Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Atlantic Bluefin Tuna 
Fisheries; General Category December 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 59.5 metric tons (mt) of Atlantic bluefin 
tuna (BFT) quota from the Reserve category to the General category for 
the remainder of the 2024 fishing year. With this transfer, the 
adjusted General category December time period subquota is 76 mt and 
the Reserve category quota is 2 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: The quota transfer is effective December 1, 2024, through 
December 31, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anna Quintrell 
([email protected]) or Larry Redd, Jr. ([email protected]) 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.). ATCA 
is the implementing statute for binding recommendations of the 
International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas. 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 December time period is 37.0 mt. To date, NMFS has published 
one action that adjusted the December time period quota (89 FR 3361, 
January 18, 2024) and three actions that adjusted the Reserve category 
quota (89 FR 58074, July 17, 2024; 89 FR 77029, September 20, 2024; 89 
FR 81032, October 7, 2024). The current adjusted December time period 
quota is 16.5 mt and the Reserve category quota is 61.5 mt.

Transfer From the Reserve Category to the December 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 adjusted December time period subquota and 
adjusted Reserve quota are 16.5 mt and 61.5 mt, respectively. At this 
time, after considering the relevant determination criteria (see 
below), NMFS is transferring 59.5 mt from the Reserve category to the 
General category December time period. This transfer will result in an 
adjusted December time period subquota of 76 mt (16.5 mt + 59.5 mt = 76 
mt) and an adjusted Reserve category quota of 2 mt (61.5 mt-59.5 mt = 2 
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. These quotas will be in effect when the 
fishery automatically opens on December 1, 2024.

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 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 (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 is currently closed and 
the December time period has not yet opened. However, without a quota 
transfer 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 begins. 
Once the fishery is closed, participants would have to stop BFT fishing 
activities while commercial-sized BFT remain available in the areas 
where General category permitted vessels operate. A quota transfer 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 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

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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)). Preliminary landings across all 
categories are below the available U.S. quota and are similar to 
landing estimates calculated at this time in recent past years. 
Additionally, in the last several years, the 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.
    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 is 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 overall U.S. 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. 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), 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. 
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 December 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: November 14, 2024.
Karen H. Abrams,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-26946 Filed 11-14-24; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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