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the migratory nature of this species, and 

the regional variations in the BFT 

fishery. Under § 635.23(a)(4), NMFS 

may increase or decrease the daily 

retention limit of large medium and 

giant BFT over a range of zero to a 

maximum of three per vessel based on 

consideration of the criteria provided 

under § 635.27(a)(8), which include: the 

usefulness of information obtained from 

catches in the particular category for 

biological sampling and monitoring of 

the status of the stock; the catches of the 

particular category quota to date and the 

likelihood of closure of that segment of 

the fishery if no adjustment is made; the 

projected ability of the vessels fishing 

under the particular category quota to 

harvest the additional amount of BFT 

before the end of the fishing year; the 

estimated amounts by which quotas for 

other gear categories of the fishery might 

be exceeded; effects of the adjustment 

on BFT rebuilding and overfishing; 

effects of the adjustment on 

accomplishing the objectives of the 

fishery management plan; variations in 

seasonal distribution, abundance, or 

migration patterns of BFT; effects of 

catch rates in one area precluding 

vessels in another area from having a 

reasonable opportunity to harvest a 

portion of the category’s quota; and a 

review of dealer reports, daily landing 

trends, and the availability of the BFT 

on the fishing grounds. 

Affording prior notice and 

opportunity for public comment to 

implement these retention limits is 

impracticable as it would preclude 

NMFS from acting promptly to allow 

harvest of BFT that are available on the 

fishing grounds. Analysis of available 

data shows that the General category 

BFT retention limits may be increased 

with minimal risks of exceeding the 

ICCAT-allocated quota. 

Delays in increasing these retention 

limits would adversely affect those 

General and Charter/Headboat category 

vessels that would otherwise have an 

opportunity to harvest more than the 

default retention limit of one BFT per 

day and may exacerbate the problem of 

low catch rates and quota rollovers. 

Limited opportunities to harvest the 

respective quotas may have negative 

social and economic impacts for U.S. 

fishermen who depend upon catching 

the available quota within the time 

periods designated in the Consolidated 

HMS FMP. Adjustment of the retention 

limit needs to be effective June 1, 2010, 

to minimize any unnecessary disruption 

in fishing patterns and for the impacted 

sectors to benefit from the adjustments 

so as to not preclude fishing 

opportunities for fishermen who have 

access to the fishery only during this 

time period. 

Therefore, the AA finds good cause 

under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) to waive prior 

notice and the opportunity for public 

comment. For all of the above reasons, 

and because this action relieves a 

restriction (i.e., the default General 

category retention limit is one fish per 

vessel/trip whereas this action increases 

that limit and allows retention of 

additional fish), there is also good cause 

under 5 U.S.C. 553(d) to waive the 30– 

day delay in effectiveness. 

This action is being taken under 50 

CFR 635.23(a)(4) and (b)(3), and is 

exempt from review under Executive 

Order 12866. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq. and 1801 

et seq. 

Dated: May 26, 2010. 

Emily H. Menashes, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2010–13204 Filed 5–27–10; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 635 

[Docket No. 100317152–0176–01] 

RIN 0648–AY77 

Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; 

2010 Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Quota 

Specifications 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: NMFS is establishing Atlantic 

bluefin tuna (BFT) quota specifications 

for 2010. This action is necessary to 

implement recommendations of the 

International Commission for the 

Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), 

as required by the Atlantic Tunas 

Convention Act (ATCA), and to achieve 

domestic management objectives under 

the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act). 

DATES: Effective July 2, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: Supporting documents, 

including the Supplemental 

Environmental Assessment, Regulatory 

Impact Review, and Final Regulatory 

Flexibility Analysis, are available from 

Sarah McLaughlin, Highly Migratory 

Species (HMS) Management Division, 

Office of Sustainable Fisheries (F/SF1), 

NMFS, 55 Great Republic Drive, 

Gloucester, MA 01930. These 

documents are also available from the 

HMS Management Division website at 

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/ or 

at the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: 

http://www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Sarah McLaughlin, 978–281–9260. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Atlantic 

tunas are managed under the dual 

authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Act 

and ATCA. ATCA authorizes the 

Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) to 

promulgate regulations, as may be 

necessary and appropriate, to 

implement ICCAT recommendations. 

The authority to issue regulations under 

the Magnuson-Stevens Act and ATCA 

has been delegated from the Secretary to 

the Assistant Administrator for 

Fisheries, NOAA (AA). 

Background 

Background information about the 

need for the 2010 BFT quota 

specifications was provided in the 

preamble to the proposed rule (74 FR 

63095, December 2, 2009), and is not 

repeated here. 

Changes from the Proposed Rule 

Consistent with NMFS’ 

implementation of the 2009 BFT Quota 

Specifications, NMFS establishes the 

2010 U.S. baseline quota at the ICCATrecommended level and carries over the 

full amount of available BFT 

underharvest allowed by ICCAT from 

2009 to 2010, and distributes that 

underharvest to: (1) provide the 

Longline category sufficient quota to 

operate during 2010 after the required 

accounting for BFT dead discards; (2) 

maintain up to 15 percent of the 2010 

U.S. quota in Reserve for potential 

transfer to other ICCAT contracting 

parties and other domestic management 

objectives, if warranted; and (3) provide 

the non-Longline quota categories a 

share of the remainder of the 

underharvest consistent with the 

allocation scheme established in the 

2006 Consolidated Atlantic Highly 

Migratory Species Fishery Management 

Plan (Consolidated HMS FMP). 

When NMFS prepared the proposed 

rule, landings information was 

incomplete, and NMFS anticipated the 

full amount of 2009 underharvest 

allowed under the 2008 ICCAT 

recommendation for the western 

Atlantic bluefin tuna stock (ICCAT 

Recommendation 08–04), i.e., 50 

percent of the U.S. quota, or 488.7 mt, 

would be available and carried forward 

to 2010. NMFS indicated that 

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adjustments to the quota specifications 

based on actual underharvest would be 

made in the final rule. Complete 

information on 2009 landings is now 

available, and it indicates a total 2009 

underharvest of 388.6 mt. Thus, in this 

final action, NMFS carries forward 

388.6 mt of 2009 underharvest to 2010, 

for a total adjusted 2010 BFT quota of 

1,168.2 mt. 

Consistent with the proposed rule, 

NMFS is applying 170.7 mt of the total 

underharvest to the pelagic longline 

fishery in anticipation of both landings 

and projected discards. This is intended 

to allow the fishery to operate for the 

entire 2010 fishing year, i.e., to avoid 

potential closure of the pelagic longline 

fishery prior to the end of the year while 

the fleet is conducting directed 

operations for swordfish and other 

Atlantic tunas. NMFS is placing 46.5 mt 

of 2009 underharvest in the Reserve and 

is distributing the remainder of the 

quota carryover (171.4 mt) to the 

Angling, General, Harpoon, Purse Seine, 

and Trap categories, consistent with the 

allocation percentage shares in the 

Consolidated HMS FMP. The amount 

NMFS is placing in the Reserve is 100.1 

mt less than was proposed. This change 

allows NMFS to maintain the proposed 

amounts of underharvest to be allocated 

to the Longline fishery and to the 

directed fishing categories for 2010, as 

well as their respective adjusted quotas. 

Because the Reserve is not a specific 

fishing category, but rather serves as a 

pool from which NMFS may allocate 

quota for inseason or annual 

adjustments to any category quota in the 

BFT fishery, the smaller amount of 

Reserve in this final rule would have no 

direct impact on any particular fishing 

category. 

As described in the Comments and 

Responses section below, following 

requests for information regarding the 

start date of the Harpoon category 

fishery, NMFS clarifies in the regulatory 

text of this action the dates on which 

the Harpoon category commences and 

the Purse Seine fishery closes, 

consistent with existing NMFS guidance 

and publications, including the 

Consolidated HMS FMP. 

2010 Final Quota Specifications 

In accordance with ICCAT 

Recommendation 08–04, the 

Consolidated HMS FMP percentage 

shares for each of the domestic 

categories, and regulations regarding 

annual adjustments at § 635.27(a)(10), 

NMFS establishes final 2010 quota 

specifications as follows (as shown in 

the table below): General category - 

538.9 mt; Harpoon category - 44.6 mt; 

Purse Seine category - 212.8 mt; Angling 

category - 225.4 mt; Longline category - 

75 mt; and Trap category - 1.1 mt. A 

total of 70.3 mt (46.5 mt of 2009 

underharvest plus the Consolidated 

HMS FMP quota share of 23.8 mt) 

would be allocated to the Reserve 

category for inseason adjustments, 

scientific research collection, potential 

overharvest in any category except the 

Purse Seine category, and potential 

quota transfers. 

The General category quota of 538.9 

mt is subdivided as follows: 28.6 mt for 

the period beginning January 1, 2010, 

and ending January 31, 2010; 269.4 mt 

for the period beginning June 1, 2010, 

and ending August 31, 2010; 142.8 mt 

for the period beginning September 1, 

2010, and ending September 30, 2010; 

70.1 mt for the period beginning 

October 1, 2010, and ending November 

30, 2010; and 28 mt for the period 

beginning December 1, 2010, and 

ending December 31, 2010. 

The Angling category quota of 225.4 

mt is subdivided as follows: School BFT 

- 97.7 mt, with 37.6 mt to the northern 

area (north of 39°18’ N. latitude), 42.1 

mt to the southern area (south of 39°18’ 

N. latitude), plus 18.1 mt held in 

reserve; large school/small medium BFT 

- 122.5 mt, with 57.8 mt to the northern 

area and 64.7 mt to the southern area; 

and large medium/giant BFT - 5.2 mt, 

with 1.7 mt to the northern area and 3.5 

mt to the southern area. 

The 25–mt Northeast Distant gear 

restricted area (NED) set-aside quota is 

in addition to the overall incidental 

longline quota, to be subdivided in 

accordance with the North/South 

allocation percentages (i.e., no more 

than 60 percent to the south of 31° N. 

latitude). NMFS accounts for landings 

under the 25–mt NED allocation 

separately from other Longline category 

landings. Thus, the Longline category 

quota of 75 mt is subdivided as follows: 

30 mt to pelagic longline vessels landing 

BFT north of 31° N. latitude, and 45 mt 

to pelagic longline vessels landing BFT 

south of 31° N. latitude. 

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Comments and Responses 

Below, NMFS summarizes and 

responds to all comments made 

specifically on the proposed quota 

specifications. In addition, NMFS 

received comments on issues that were 

not considered part of this rulemaking, 

as described below. 

A. BFT Quotas 

Comment 1: A few commenters 

support a total closure of the BFT 

fishery, or substantial cuts to the U.S. 

BFT quota, and stricter domestic 

management measures for the 

sustainability of the stock. One stated 

that the BFT stock is a natural resource 

belonging to all, not only those who 

profit from its use. 

Response: These specifications are 

promulgated in accordance with ICCAT 

Recommendation 08–04, domestic 

legislation, such as the MagnusonStevens Act, ATCA, and their 

implementing regulations, and the 

Consolidated HMS FMP. In 

Recommendation 08–04, ICCAT 

adopted a western Atlantic BFT Total 

Allowable Catch (TAC) of 1,800 mt for 

the U.S. fisheries for 2010, based on 

scientific advice and projections that, at 

these harvest levels, the stock would 

rebuild by the end of the rebuilding 

period under the low recruitment 

scenario. NMFS is required under the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act to provide U.S. 

fishing vessels with a reasonable 

opportunity to harvest the ICCATrecommended quota. Further, no 

regulation promulgated under ATCA 

may have the effect of increasing or 

decreasing any allocation or quota of 

fish to which the United States agreed 

pursuant to an ICCAT recommendation. 

NMFS allocates the U.S. quota to ensure 

that available fishing opportunities are 

distributed over as wide a range as 

possible with regard to time of year, 

geographic area, and type of 

participation while maintaining 

consistency with measures taken to 

rebuild the BFT fishery. 

Comment 2: One commenter is 

concerned that the fishery for BFT 

measuring less than 73 inches is 

insufficiently regulated and monitored. 

The commenter suggested that NMFS 

enforce a hard Angling category quota, 

or stop the recreational BFT fishery on 

September 1, to prevent Angling 

category quota excesses. 

Response: To monitor the recreational 

BFT fishery, NMFS depends primarily 

on the Large Pelagics Survey (LPS) for 

landings estimation, and uses 

information from catch card reporting in 

North Carolina and Maryland as well as 

the Automated Landings Reporting 

System to verify or supplement landings 

estimates. The LPS is specifically 

designed to collect information on 

recreational fishing directed at large 

pelagic species, including tunas. This 

specialized survey allows for higher 

levels of sampling of fishing trips 

targeting BFT and other HMS, which 

ultimately improves estimates of total 

catch and effort. NMFS considers the 

BFT estimates produced by the LPS, in 

combination with the landings reports 

collected via the other programs 

described above, to constitute the best 

information available with regard to 

recreational BFT landings. 

Although NMFS also may adjust 

recreational effort controls inseason 

based on the best information available, 

landings data generally are not available 

until the end of the calendar year. Using 

the data sets above along with 

retrospective analysis, NMFS is able to 

estimate approximate landings 

following the end of the year, and make 

adjustments to recreational daily 

retention limits for the upcoming year to 

maintain overall landings within the 

ICCAT-recommended quotas. 

Comment 3: A representative from a 

commercial handgear organization 

states that the General category BFT 

allocation scheme, which allocates 89.5 

percent of the General category quota to 

the summer and fall fishery, which 

traditionally take place in New England, 

is inequitable and violates National 

Standard 4 of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act (i.e., it discriminates against 

residents of different states). The 

industry group seeks reallocation 

generally, and requests that NMFS 

allocate quota from the 2010 adjusted 

Reserve to the January and December 

2010 subquotas. 

Response: The current General 

category quota allocation scheme was 

established in the 2006 Consolidated 

HMS FMP. During the development of 

the previous HMS FMP, in 1999, the 

emergence of a General category BFT 

fishery in the southern Atlantic region 

was extensively discussed by the HMS 

Advisory Panel (AP) and the public. At 

the time, the majority of General 

category fishing activity took place in 

the summer and fall off the New 

England and Mid-Atlantic coasts. 

However, the HMS AP did not agree on 

how the HMS FMP should address the 

scope of a southern area late season 

General category BFT fishery. In the 

early 2000s, NMFS performed a number 

of inseason quota transfers of BFT, 

consistent with the transfer criteria 

established in the 1999 HMS FMP, 

which allowed the General category 

BFT fishery to extend into the winter 

months (i.e., late November - 

December). In 2002, NMFS received a 

Petition for Rulemaking from the North 

Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries to 

formalize this winter fishery and extend 

fishing opportunities for the General 

category into January (67 FR 69502, 

November 18, 2002). On December 24, 

2003, NMFS extended the General 

category end date from December 31 to 

January 31 (68 FR 74504) to address 

some of the concerns raised in the 

Petition, as well as to increase fishing 

opportunities and optimum yield for the 

fishery overall. In 2006, NMFS modified 

the General category time period 

subquotas to allow for a formalized 

winter fishery via the Consolidated 

HMS FMP (71 FR 58058, October 2, 

2006). These subquotas remain in effect. 

However, in November 2009, NMFS 

published a proposed rule that, if 

finalized, could, among other things, 

allow the General category season to 

remain open past January 31 until the 

entire subquota is utilized (74 FR 57128, 

November 4, 2009). This proposed 

action was initiated with the intent to 

more thoroughly utilize available U.S. 

BFT quota and, in particular, extend 

fishing opportunities beyond the end of 

January, if quota is still available. The 

comment period for this proposed rule 

was extended through March 31, 2010. 

Comment 4: A representative from a 

commercial handgear organization 

objects to the allocation of underharvest 

carried forward from 2009 to the 

Longline category, and would prefer 

allocation of this underharvest to the 

directed fishing categories that use liverelease methods and do not result in 

discards. 

Response: NMFS is applying 170.7 mt 

of the 2009 underharvest to the Longline 

category quota to provide the Longline 

category sufficient quota to operate 

during the entire 2010 fishing year, after 

the required accounting for BFT dead 

discards. The regulations regarding 

determination criteria and annual 

adjustment of the BFT quota at 

§§ 635.27(a)(8) and 635.27(a)(10) allow 

NMFS to transfer quotas among 

categories based on several criteria 

(such as a review of landing trends, the 

projected ability of the vessels fishing 

under a particular category quota to 

harvest the additional amount of BFT 

before the end of the fishing year, the 

estimated amounts by which quotas for 

other categories might be exceeded, the 

effects of the adjustment on 

accomplishing the objectives of the 

fishery management plan, etc.). These 

regulations provide NMFS the flexibility 

to apply the underharvest to the overall 

quota for the following fishing year, and 

distribute the underharvest as needed, 

provided that the total of the adjusted 

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category quotas and the Reserve is 

consistent with the ICCAT 

recommendation. 

Distribution of the available 

underharvest solely to the directed 

fishing categories potentially could 

result in a closure of the pelagic 

longline fishery prior to the end of the 

year, while the longline fleet is 

conducting directed operations for 

swordfish and other Atlantic tunas. 

NMFS acknowledges that high landings 

and discards are a growing issue for the 

pelagic longline fleet given the limited 

quota for incidental retention of BFT, 

and continues to work with 

stakeholders and the HMS AP to more 

fully understand the scope of the 

problem and possible solutions. 

Comment 5: A BFT dealer asks if 

NMFS can transfer quota from the Purse 

Seine category, which has not made full 

use of its quota in recent years, to the 

Longline category for 2010. 

Response: As described in the 

response to Comment 4, NMFS may 

conduct annual adjustments or year-end 

quota transfers among any of the 

categories based on the determination 

criteria listed in the BFT quota 

regulations. 

Comment 6: A representative of the 

longline industry opposes the BFT 

longline dead discard methodology in 

place since the 2006 ICCAT Annual 

Meeting, and is concerned about the 

potential for BFT quota shortages in the 

near term, combined with potential 

increased longline interactions with 

BFT as the stock recovers. 

Response: The United States applies 

the ICCAT Standing Committee on 

Research and Statistics (SCRS) approved 

methodology to calculate dead discards. 

The United States must report dead 

discard estimates to ICCAT annually, 

and account for this mortality as part of 

the domestic specification calculation 

process. Changes to the approved 

method would require consideration 

and approval by the SCRS prior to U.S. 

implementation. As described in the 

response to Comment 4, NMFS will 

continue to seek solutions to the issue 

of BFT bycatch in the pelagic longline 

fishery. 

Comment 7: A commercial handgear 

fisherman requests that NMFS manage 

the BFT fishery based on what the 

science shows to be available to the U.S 

fishery, i.e., allow greater access to 

small medium BFT, because they have 

moved to grounds off New England. 

Response: The current quota 

allocation scheme and minimum sizes 

are as established in the 2006 

Consolidated HMS FMP. Increased 

availability of small medium BFT 

(measuring 59 to less than 73 inches) 

has presented increased fishing 

opportunities for recreational fishery 

participants at this time. However, there 

is little certainty that this availability 

will continue for the long-term. 

Furthermore, changes to the commercial 

minimum size need to be carefully 

considered in the context of impacts to 

the stock and rebuilding program, as 

well as the socio-economic impacts for 

the commercial and recreational BFT 

fisheries. In addition, because the 

United States landed its 2009 base 

quota, and because ICCAT 

Recommendation 08–04 limits the 

amount of quota that can be carried 

forward to 10 percent starting in 2011, 

providing additional access to small 

medium BFT potentially could result in 

U.S. overharvest and U.S. noncompliance with the ICCAT 

Recommendation. 

B. Other Issues 

1) Extension of the General and 

Harpoon Category Seasons 

Some of the Gloucester public hearing 

participants sought clarification of the 

Harpoon category fishery start date, and 

some requested that NMFS allow 

General and Harpoon category fishing to 

commence May 1 rather than June 1, 

particularly given recent underharvests 

of those categories. 

2) ICCAT Negotiations 

A few industry representatives 

request that the U.S. delegation to 

ICCAT renegotiate the amount that 

western Atlantic ICCAT contracting 

parties may carry forward to the next 

year (from 10 percent to at least 25 

percent), as U.S. landings are variable 

from year to year and may increase as 

a result of eastern Atlantic and 

Mediterranean TAC reductions and 

mixing. 

Response to Comments on Other 

Issues: The suggestions listed above are 

beyond the scope of the rulemaking and 

NEPA analysis for this action. However, 

in the regulatory text of this action, 

NMFS clarifies that the Harpoon 

category fishery commences June 1 each 

year. NMFS also clarifies that the Purse 

Seine fishery closes on December 31 of 

each year. This information has been 

presented in numerous HMS 

documents, including the Consolidated 

HMS FMP, the annual Commercial 

Compliance Guides, and the annual 

Atlantic Tunas Regulations brochures, 

but addressing it in the regulatory text 

will provide needed clarity within the 

fishery that is the subject of this rule. 

In considering any change to the 

ICCAT recommendation on allowed 

carryforward of underharvest, NMFS 

must consider carefully the potential 

effects on the stock rebuilding, 

particularly when they result in 

potential total catches that are greater 

than the scientifically recommended 

TAC. 

Classification 

NMFS publishes this final rule under 

the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act and ATCA. The Assistant 

Administrator for Fisheries (AA) has 

determined that the regulations 

contained in this final rule are necessary 

to implement the recommendations of 

ICCAT, and to manage the domestic 

Atlantic HMS fisheries, and are 

consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act and its National Standards. 

This final rule been determined to be 

not significant for purposes of Executive 

Order 12866. 

In compliance with Section 604 of the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), a Final 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (FRFA) 

was prepared for this rule. The FRFA 

revises the Initial Regulatory Flexibility 

Analysis (IRFA), and analyzes the 

anticipated economic impacts of the 

preferred actions and any significant 

alternatives that could minimize 

economic impacts on small entities. 

Each of the statutory requirements of 

Section 604 of the RFA has been 

addressed and a summary of the FRFA 

is below. The full FRFA and analysis of 

economic and ecological impacts are 

available from NMFS (see ADDRESSES). 

Section 604(a)(1) of the RFA requires 

the Agency to state the objective of and 

need for the rule. The objective of this 

rule is to establish 2010 BFT quotas. 

This action is needed specifically to 

implement the 2008 ICCAT BFT 

recommendation for 2010. The action is 

also necessary and appropriate pursuant 

to ATCA, and to achieve domestic 

management objectives under the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act, including 

rebuilding stocks and ending 

overfishing. Because BFT quotas and 

allocations are codified in the HMS 

regulations at § 635.27, a regulatory 

amendment is required to modify the 

baseline U.S. quota from 1,009.9 mt 

(recommended for 2009) to 952.4 mt 

(recommended for 2010), and the 

allocations (in mt) to the General, 

Angling, Harpoon, Purse Seine, 

Longline, Trap, and Reserve categories, 

per the percentage allocation shares set 

forth in the Consolidated HMS FMP. 

Section 604(a)(2) of the RFA requires 

the Agency to summarize significant 

issues raised by public comments in 

response to the IRFA, a summary of the 

Agency’s assessment of such issues, and 

a statement of any changes made as a 

result of the comments. NMFS did not 

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receive any comments specifically on 

the IRFA. 

Section 604(a)(3) of the RFA requires 

the Agency to describe and provide an 

estimate of the number of small entities 

to which the rule will apply. The final 

action could directly affect the 

approximately 34,000 vessels that held 

a 2009 Atlantic HMS Charter/Headboat, 

Atlantic HMS Angling, or an Atlantic 

tunas permit and will hold one again in 

2010. These permitted vessels consist of 

commercial, recreational, and charter 

vessels as well as headboats. Of these, 

8,318 permit holders (the combined 

number of commercial category permit 

holders, including charter/headboat 

vessels) are considered small business 

entities according to the Small Business 

Administration’s standard for defining a 

small entity. 

Section 604(a)(4) of the RFA requires 

the Agency to describe the projected 

reporting, recordkeeping, and other 

compliance requirements of the final 

rule, including an estimate of the classes 

of small entities which would be subject 

to the requirements of the report or 

record. None of the alternatives 

considered for this final rule would 

result in additional reporting, 

recordkeeping, and compliance 

requirements. 

Section 604(a)(5) of the RFA requires 

the Agency to describe the steps taken 

to minimize the significant economic 

impact on small entities consistent with 

the stated objectives of applicable 

statutes. Additionally, section 603(c)(1)- 

(4) of the RFA lists four general 

categories of ‘‘significant’’ alternatives 

that would assist an agency in the 

development of alternatives. These 

categories of alternatives are: (1) 

establishment of differing compliance or 

reporting requirements or timetables 

that take into account the resources 

available to small entities; (2) 

clarification, consolidation, or 

simplification of compliance and 

reporting requirements under the rule 

for such small entities; (3) use of 

performance rather than design 

standards; and (4) exemptions from 

coverage of the rule for small entities. 

In order to meet the objectives of this 

final rule, consistent with the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act, NMFS cannot 

exempt small entities or change the 

reporting requirements only for small 

entities, because all of the affected 

businesses (commercial vessel permit 

holders) are considered small entities. 

Thus, there are no alternatives 

discussed that fall under the first and 

fourth categories described above. In 

addition, none of the alternatives 

considered would result in an increase 

or decrease of reporting requirements 

for small entities (category two above). 

NMFS does not know of any 

performance or design standards that 

would satisfy the aforementioned 

objectives of this rulemaking, while 

concurrently complying with the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act. 

As described below, NMFS analyzed 

two alternatives in this final rulemaking 

and justified its selection of the 

preferred alternative to achieve the 

desired objective. Specifically, NMFS 

analyzed a no-action alternative, and a 

preferred alternative that would 

implement the 2008 ICCAT 

recommendation. 

NMFS has estimated the average 

impact that the preferred alternative to 

establish the 2010 BFT quota for all 

domestic fishing categories would have 

on individual permit categories and the 

vessels within those categories. As 

mentioned above, the 2008 ICCAT 

recommendation reduces the U.S. BFT 

quota for 2010 to 977.4 mt. This quota 

allocation includes 25 mt to account for 

incidental catch of BFT related to 

directed longline fisheries in the NED. 

This action would distribute the 

adjusted (baseline) quota of 952.4 mt to 

the domestic fishing categories based on 

the allocation percentages established in 

the Consolidated HMS FMP. 

In 2009, the annual gross revenues 

from the commercial BFT fishery were 

approximately $6.9 million. As 

described above, 8,318 vessels are 

permitted to land and sell BFT under 

four commercial BFT quota categories 

(including charter/headboat vessels). 

The commercial categories and their 

2009 gross revenues are General 

($5,040,772), Harpoon ($498,877), Purse 

Seine ($149,934), and Longline 

($1,247,600). The FRFA assumes that 

each vessel within a category would 

have similar catch and gross revenues, 

to show the relative impact of the 

proposed action on vessels. 

In its analysis of alternatives, NMFS 

found that implementation of the 

preferred alternative would be in 

accordance with the Consolidated HMS 

FMP and consistent with ATCA, under 

which the United States is obligated to 

implement ICCAT-approved quota 

recommendations as necessary and 

appropriate. The preferred alternative 

would implement this quota, and have 

slightly positive impacts for fishermen 

in the long-run as the stock rebuilds. 

The no-action alternative would keep 

the quota at the 2009 levels 

(approximately 58 mt more), and would 

be inconsistent with the purpose and 

need for this action as well as the 

Consolidated HMS FMP. It would retain 

economic impacts to the United States 

and to local economies at a distribution 

and scale similar to 2009, or recent prior 

years, and would provide fishermen 

additional fishing opportunities, subject 

to the availability of BFT to the fishery, 

in the short term. In the long term, 

however, as stock rebuilding is delayed, 

negative impacts would result. 

It is difficult to estimate average 

potential ex-vessel revenues to 

commercial participants, largely 

because revenues depend heavily on the 

availability of large medium and giant 

BFT to the fishery. Section 4 of the 

Supplemental Environmental 

Assessment, Regulatory Impact Review, 

and Final Regulatory Flexibility 

Analysis describes potential revenue 

losses per commercial quota category, 

based on each category’s proposed base 

quota reduction and price-per-pound 

information from 2009. This was found 

to be $454,059 for the General category, 

$27,888 for the Harpoon category, 

$46,420 for the Longline category, $0 for 

the Trap category, and $139,278 for the 

Purse Seine category. Because the 

directed commercial categories have 

underharvested their subquotas in 

recent years, the potential decreases in 

ex-vessel revenues above overestimate 

the probable economic impacts to those 

categories relative to recent conditions. 

Additionally, there has been substantial 

interannual variability in ex-vessel 

revenues per category in recent years 

due to recent changes in BFT 

availability and other factors. Generally, 

the interannual differences in ex-vessel 

revenues per category have been larger 

than the potential impacts described 

above. 

Data on net revenues of individual 

fishermen are lacking, so the economic 

impact of the alternatives is averaged 

across each category. NMFS considers 

this a reasonable approach for BFT 

fisheries, in particular because available 

landings data (weight and ex-vessel 

value of the fish in price/pound) allow 

NMFS to calculate the gross revenue 

earned by a fishery participant on a 

successful trip. The available data do 

not, however, allow NMFS to calculate 

the effort and cost associated with each 

successful trip (e.g., the cost of gas, bait, 

ice, etc.), so net revenue for each 

participant cannot be calculated. As a 

result, NMFS analyzes the average 

impact of the proposed alternatives 

among all participants in each category. 

Success rates vary widely across 

participants in each category (due to 

extent of vessel effort and availability of 

commercial-sized BFT to participants 

where they fish), but for the sake of 

estimating potential revenue loss per 

vessel, category-wide revenue losses can 

be divided by the number of permitted 

vessels in each category. Because HMS 

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Charter/Headboat vessels may fish 

commercially under the General 

category quota and retention limits, 

Charter/Headboat permitted vessels are 

considered along with General category 

vessels when estimating potential 

General category ex-vessel revenue 

changes. Potential ex-vessel revenue 

losses have been estimated as follows: 

General category (including Charter/ 

Headboat vessels): $57; Harpoon 

category: $1,213; Longline category 

(incidental): $171; Trap category 

(incidental): $0; and Purse Seine 

category: $46,426. These values likely 

overestimate potential revenue losses 

for vessels that actively fish and are 

successful in landing at least one BFT. 

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 635 

Fisheries, Fishing, Fishing vessels, 

Foreign relations, Imports, Penalties, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Treaties. 

Dated: May 26, 2010. 

Eric C. Schwaab, 

Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

■ For the reasons set out in the 

preamble, 50 CFR part 635 is amended 

as follows: 

PART 635–ATLANTIC HIGHLY 

MIGRATORY SPECIES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 635 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq.; 16 U.S.C. 

1801 et seq. 

■ 2. In § 635.27, paragraphs (a) 

introductory text, (a)(1)(i), (a)(2), (a)(3), 

(a)(4)(i), (a)(5), (a)(7)(i), and (a)(7)(ii) are 

revised to read as follows: 

§ 635.27 Quotas. 

(a) BFT. Consistent with ICCAT 

recommendations, and with paragraph 

(a)(10)(iv) of this section, NMFS may 

subtract the most recent, complete, and 

available estimate of dead discards from 

the annual U.S. BFT quota, and make 

the remainder available to be retained, 

possessed, or landed by persons and 

vessels subject to U.S. jurisdiction. The 

remaining baseline annual U.S. BFT 

quota will be allocated among the 

General, Angling, Harpoon, Purse Seine, 

Longline, Trap, and Reserve categories. 

BFT may be taken by persons aboard 

vessels issued Atlantic Tunas permits, 

HMS Angling permits, or HMS Charter/ 

Headboat permits. The baseline annual 

U.S. BFT quota is 952.4 mt, not 

including an additional annual 25 mt 

allocation provided in paragraph (a)(3) 

of this section. The baseline annual U.S. 

BFT quota is divided among the 

categories as follows: General - 47.1 

percent (448.6 mt); Angling - 19.7 

percent (187.6 mt), which includes the 

school BFT held in reserve as described 

under paragraph (a)(7)(ii) of this section; 

Harpoon - 3.9 percent (37.1 mt); Purse 

Seine - 18.6 percent (177.2 mt); Longline 

- 8.1 percent (77.1 mt), which does not 

include the additional annual 25 mt 

allocation provided in paragraph (a)(3) 

of this section; and Trap - 0.1 percent 

(1.0 mt). The remaining 2.5 percent 

(23.8 mt) of the baseline annual U.S. 

BFT quota will be held in reserve for 

inseason or annual adjustments based 

on the criteria in paragraph (a)(8) of this 

section. NMFS may apportion a quota 

allocated to any category to specified 

fishing periods or to geographic areas 

and will make annual adjustments to 

quotas, as specified in paragraph (a)(10) 

of this section. BFT quotas are specified 

in whole weight. 

(1) * * * 

(i) Catches from vessels for which 

General category Atlantic Tunas permits 

have been issued, and certain catches 

from vessels for which an HMS Charter/ 

Headboat permit has been issued, are 

counted against the General category 

quota in accordance with § 635.23(c)(3). 

The amount of large medium and giant 

BFT that may be caught, retained, 

possessed, landed, or sold under the 

General category quota is 47.1 percent 

(448.6 mt) of the baseline annual U.S. 

BFT quota, and is apportioned as 

follows: 

(A) January 1 through January 31 - 5.3 

percent (23.8 mt); 

(B) June 1 through August 31 - 50 

percent (224.3 mt); 

(C) September 1 through September 

30 - 26.5 percent (118.9 mt); 

(D) October 1 through November 30 - 

13 percent (58.3 mt); and 

(E) December 1 through December 31 

- 5.2 percent (23.3 mt). 

* * * * * 

(2) Angling category quota. In 

accordance with the framework 

procedures of the Consolidated HMS 

FMP, prior to each fishing year, or as 

early as feasible, NMFS will establish 

the Angling category daily retention 

limits. The total amount of BFT that 

may be caught, retained, possessed, and 

landed by anglers aboard vessels for 

which an HMS Angling permit or an 

HMS Charter/Headboat permit has been 

issued is 19.7 percent (187.6 mt) of the 

baseline annual U.S. BFT quota. No 

more than 2.3 percent (4.3 mt) of the 

annual Angling category quota may be 

large medium or giant BFT. In addition, 

over each 2–consecutive-year period 

(starting in 2009, inclusive), no more 

than 10 percent of the annual U.S. BFT 

quota, inclusive of the allocation 

specified in paragraph (a)(3) of this 

section, may be school BFT. The 

Angling category quota includes the 

amount of school BFT held in reserve 

under paragraph (a)(7)(ii) of this section. 

The size class subquotas for BFT are 

further subdivided as follows: 

(i) After adjustment for the school 

BFT quota held in reserve (under 

paragraph (a)(7)(ii) of this section), 52.8 

percent (42.1 mt) of the school BFT 

Angling category quota may be caught, 

retained, possessed, or landed south of 

39°18’ N. lat. The remaining school BFT 

Angling category quota (37.6 mt) may be 

caught, retained, possessed or landed 

north of 39°18’ N. lat. 

(ii) An amount equal to 52.8 percent 

(45.2 mt) of the large school/small 

medium BFT Angling category quota 

may be caught, retained, possessed, or 

landed south of 39°18’ N. lat. The 

remaining large school/small medium 

BFT Angling category quota (40.4 mt) 

may be caught, retained, possessed or 

landed north of 39°18’ N. lat. 

(iii) An amount equal to 66.7 percent 

(2.9 mt) of the large medium and giant 

BFT Angling category quota may be 

caught, retained, possessed, or landed 

south of 39°18’ N. lat. The remaining 

large medium and giant BFT Angling 

category quota (1.4 mt) may be caught, 

retained, possessed or landed north of 

39°18’ N. lat. 

(3) Longline category quota. The total 

amount of large medium and giant BFT 

that may be caught incidentally and 

retained, possessed, or landed by 

vessels that possess Longline category 

Atlantic Tunas permits is 8.1 percent 

(77.1 mt) of the baseline annual U.S. 

BFT quota. No more than 60.0 percent 

(46.2 mt) of the Longline category quota 

may be allocated for landing in the area 

south of 31°00’ N. lat. In addition, 25 mt 

shall be allocated for incidental catch by 

pelagic longline vessels fishing in the 

Northeast Distant gear restricted area as 

specified at § 635.23(f)(3). 

(4) * * * 

(i) The total amount of large medium 

and giant BFT that may be caught, 

retained, possessed, or landed by 

vessels that possess Purse Seine 

category Atlantic Tunas permits is 18.6 

percent (177.2 mt) of the baseline 

annual U.S. BFT quota. The directed 

purse seine fishery for BFT commences 

on July 15 of each year, unless NMFS 

takes action to delay the season start 

date. Based on cumulative and projected 

landings in other commercial fishing 

categories, and the potential for gear 

conflicts on the fishing grounds or 

market impacts due to oversupply, 

NMFS may delay the BFT purse seine 

season start date from July 15 to no later 

than August 15 by filing an adjustment 

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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 105 / Wednesday, June 2, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 30739 

with the Office of the Federal Register 

prior to July 1. The Purse Seine category 

fishery closes on December 31 of each 

year. 

* * * * * 

(5) Harpoon category quota. The total 

amount of large medium and giant BFT 

that may be caught, retained, possessed, 

landed, or sold by vessels that possess 

Harpoon category Atlantic Tunas 

permits is 3.9 percent (37.1 mt) of the 

baseline annual U.S. BFT quota. The 

Harpoon category fishery commences on 

June 1 of each year, and closes on 

November 15 of each year. 

* * * * * 

(7) * * * 

(i) The total amount of BFT that is 

held in reserve for inseason or annual 

adjustments and fishery-independent 

research using quotas or subquotas is 

2.5 percent (23.8 mt) of the baseline 

annual U.S. BFT quota. Consistent with 

paragraph (a)(8) of this section, NMFS 

may allocate any portion of this reserve 

for inseason or annual adjustments to 

any category quota in the fishery. 

(ii) The total amount of school BFT 

that is held in reserve for inseason or 

annual adjustments and fisheryindependent research is 18.5 percent 

(18.1 mt) of the total school BFT 

Angling category quota as described 

under paragraph (a)(2) of this section. 

This amount is in addition to the 

amounts specified in paragraph (a)(7)(i) 

of this section. Consistent with 

paragraph (a)(8) of this section, NMFS 

may allocate any portion of the school 

BFT Angling category quota held in 

reserve for inseason or annual 

adjustments to the Angling category. 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2010–13207 Filed 5–27–10; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 0908191244–91427–02] 

RIN 0648–XW47 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Summer Flounder Fishery; 

Quota Transfer 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; quota transfer. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the 

State of North Carolina is transferring a 

portion of its 2010 commercial summer 

flounder quota to the Commonwealth of 

Virginia. By this action, NMFS adjusts 

the quotas and announces the revised 

commercial quota for each state 

involved. 

DATES: Effective May 27, 2010 through 

December 31, 2010. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Sarah Heil, Fishery Management 

Specialist, 978–281–9257. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Regulations governing the summer 

flounder fishery are found at 50 CFR 

part 648. The regulations require annual 

specification of a commercial quota that 

is apportioned among the coastal states 

from North Carolina through Maine. The 

process to set the annual commercial 

quota and the percent allocated to each 

state are described in § 648.100. 

The final rule implementing 

Amendment 5 to the Summer Flounder, 

Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery 

Management Plan, which was published 

on December 17, 1993 (58 FR 65936), 

provided a mechanism for summer 

flounder quota to be transferred from 

one state to another. Two or more states, 

under mutual agreement and with the 

concurrence of the Administrator, 

Northeast Region, NMFS (Regional 

Administrator), can transfer or combine 

summer flounder commercial quota 

under § 648.100(d). The Regional 

Administrator is required to consider 

the criteria set forth in § 648.100(d)(3) in 

the evaluation of requests for quota 

transfers or combinations. 

North Carolina has agreed to transfer 

10,975 lb (4,978 kg) of its 2010 

commercial quota to Virginia. This 

transfer was prompted by summer 

flounder landings of a North Carolina 

vessel that was granted safe harbor in 

Virginia due to mechanical problems on 

April 9, 2010. The Regional 

Administrator has determined that the 

criteria set forth in § 648.100(d)(3) have 

been met. The revised quotas for 

calendar year 2010 are: North Carolina, 

3,371,527 lb (1,529,299 kg); and 

Virginia, 2,908,930 lb (1,319,468 kg). 

Classification 

This action is taken under 50 CFR 

part 648 and is exempt from review 

under Executive Order 12866. 

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

Dated: May 27, 2010. 

Carrie Selberg, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2010–13205 Filed 5–27–10; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

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