77942 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 248 / Monday, December 29, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 

2005 EA and FONSI, and no update is 

needed. If NMFS takes a management 

action, for example, through the 

development of a TRP, NMFS would 

first prepare an environmental 

document, as required under NEPA, 

specific to that action. 

This rule would not affect species 

listed as threatened or endangered 

under the Endangered Species Act 

(ESA) or their associated critical habitat. 

The impacts of numerous fisheries have 

been analyzed in various biological 

opinions, and this rule will not affect 

the conclusions of those opinions. The 

classification of fisheries on the LOF is 

not considered to be a management 

action that would adversely affect 

threatened or endangered species. If 

NMFS takes a management action, for 

example, through the development of a 

TRP, NMFS would consult under ESA 

section 7 on that action. 

This rule would have no adverse 

impacts on marine mammals and may 

have a positive impact on marine 

mammals by improving knowledge of 

marine mammals and the fisheries 

interacting with marine mammals 

through information collected from 

observer programs, stranding and 

sighting data, or take reduction teams. 

This rule would not affect the land or 

water uses or natural resources of the 

coastal zone, as specified under section 

307 of the Coastal Zone Management 

Act. 

References 

Allen, B.M. and R.P. Angliss, editors. 2014. 

Alaska Marine Mammal Stock 

Assessments, 2013. NOAA Tech. Memo. 

NMFS–AFSC–277. 294 p. 

Carretta, J.V., E. Oleson, D.W. Weller, A.R. 

Lang, K.A. Forney, J. Baker, B. Hanson, 

K Martien, M.M. Muto, M.S. Lowry, J. 

Barlow, D. Lynch, L. Carswell, R.L. 

Brownell Jr., D.K. Mattila, and M.C. Hill. 

2014. U.S. Pacific Marine Mammal Stock 

Assessments: 2013. NOAA Technical 

Memorandum NOAA–TM–NMFS– 

SWFSC–532. 406 p. 

McCracken, M.L. 2010. Adjustments to false 

killer whale and short-finned pilot whale 

bycatch estimates. NMFS, Pacific Islands 

Fisheries Science Center Working paper 

WP–10–007. 23 p. 

NMFS. 2013. Biological Opinion on the 

continued management of the drift 

gillnet fishery under the Fishery 

Management Plan for U.S. West Coast 

Fisheries for Highly Migratory Species 

2012/03020:DDL, dated May 2, 2013, at 

10–11, n.7. 

Waring, G.T., E. Josephson, K. Maze-Foley, 

and P.E. Rosel, editors. 2014. U.S. 

Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Marine 

Mammal Stocks Assessments, 2013. 

NOAA Technical Memorandum NOAA– 

NE–228. 464 p. 

Dated: December 19, 2014. 

Samuel D. Rauch III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–30375 Filed 12–24–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 300 

[Docket No. 140710571–4977–02] 

RIN 0648–BE36 

International Fisheries; Western and 

Central Pacific Fisheries for Highly 

Migratory Species; Restrictions on the 

Use of Fish Aggregating Devices in 

Purse Seine Fisheries for 2015; 

Correction 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule; correction. 

SUMMARY: NMFS published in the 

Federal Register of December 2, 2014, 

with an effective date of January 1, 

2015, a final rule to establish 

restrictions on the use of fish 

aggregating devices (FADs) by U.S. 

purse seine vessels in the western and 

central Pacific Ocean (‘‘International 

Fisheries; Western and Central Pacific 

Fisheries for Highly Migratory Species; 

Restrictions on the Use of Fish 

Aggregating Devices in Purse Seine 

Fisheries for 2015’’). The final rule also 

included a requirement for the owners 

and operators of such vessels to submit 

‘‘daily FAD reports’’ to NMFS. As 

indicated in the December 2, 2014, final 

rule, some of the FAD restrictions are to 

go into effect only if NMFS publishes a 

notice in the Federal Register 

announcing that they are in effect. 

NMFS intended to make the 

requirement to submit daily FAD 

reports also contingent on issuance of a 

Federal Register notice, but 

inadvertently wrote the final rule such 

that the reporting requirement would go 

into effect on January 1, 2015, 

irrespective of issuance by NMFS of a 

Federal Register notice. This document 

corrects that error in the final rule by 

making the requirement to submit daily 

FAD reports contingent on NMFS 

issuing a Federal Register notice 

announcing that it is in effect. 

DATES: Effective January 1, 2015. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom 

Graham, NMFS Pacific Islands Regional 

Office, 808–725–5032. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS 

published in the Federal Register of 

December 2, 2014 (79 FR 71327), a final 

rule to establish restrictions on the use 

of fish aggregating devices by U.S. purse 

seine vessels in the western and central 

Pacific Ocean (WCPO) during 2015. 

Some of the FAD restrictions in the final 

rule, specifically the FAD prohibitions 

during January and February and the 

limit of 3,061 FAD sets with associated 

prohibitions, were made contingent on 

NMFS issuing a subsequent Federal 

Register notice announcing that those 

restrictions are in effect. NMFS would 

issue such a Federal Register notice 

only if it determined that the 

Commission for the Conservation and 

Management of Highly Migratory Fish 

Stocks in the Western and Central 

Pacific Ocean (Commission) adopted 

particular arrangements at its Eleventh 

Regular Session, which took place 

December 1–5, 2014. The Commission 

did not adopt such arrangements at that 

session. 

The final rule also included a 

requirement for vessel owners and 

operators to submit ‘‘daily FAD reports’’ 

to NMFS. The reports would be used by 

NMFS to estimate and project the 

number of sets on FADs with respect to 

the limit of 3,061 FAD sets. NMFS 

intended the daily FAD reporting 

requirement to be effective only if the 

limit of 3,061 FAD sets were put in 

effect. However, NMFS inadvertently 

wrote the final rule such that the daily 

FAD report requirement would go into 

effect on January 1, 2015, irrespective of 

the Commission decision or a 

subsequent Federal Register notice. 

This document corrects that error in the 

final rule by making the requirement to 

submit daily FAD reports contingent on 

NMFS issuing a Federal Register notice 

announcing that the reporting 

requirement is in effect. 

Classification 

This final rule has been determined to 

be not significant for the purposes of 

Executive Order 12866. 

NMFS has determined that good 

cause exists to waive public notice and 

comment under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) 

because it would be unnecessary and 

contrary to the public interest. It is 

unnecessary and contrary to the public 

interest because delaying this rule 

would only serve to place an 

unwarranted burden on the regulated 

community. If this correction to the 

final rule is not effective by January 1, 

2015, then owners and operators of U.S. 

purse seine vessels in the WCPO would 

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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 248 / Monday, December 29, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 77943 

be required to submit daily reports to 

NMFS that would not serve any useful 

purpose, which would be contrary to 

the public interest. 

Further, NMFS has determined that 

good cause exists to waive the 30-day 

delay in effectiveness of this rule under 

5 U.S.C. 553(d) because, as explained 

previously, this rule relieves a reporting 

requirement on the regulated 

community. 

Because prior notice and opportunity 

for public comment for this correction 

to the final rule under 5 U.S.C. 553 have 

been waived, and are not required by 

any other law, the analytical 

requirements of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq. are 

inapplicable. 

Correction 

Accordingly, the final rule, Federal 

Register Document Number 2014– 

28105, published on December 2, 2014, 

at 79 FR 71327, to be effective January 

1, 2015, is corrected as follows: 

On page 71330, in column 3, 

§ 300.218(g) is correctly added to read as 

follows: 

§ 300.218 Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

* * * * * 

(g) Daily FAD reports. If NMFS issues 

a notice in the Federal Register 

announcing that the requirement of this 

paragraph is in effect, the owner or 

operator of any fishing vessel of the 

United States equipped with purse seine 

gear must, within 24 hours of the end 

of each day that the vessel is at sea in 

the Convention Area, report to NMFS, 

in the format and manner directed by 

the Pacific Islands Regional 

Administrator, how many purse seine 

sets were made on FADs during that 

day. 

Dated: December 16, 2014. 

Samuel D. Rauch III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–30227 Filed 12–24–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 635 

[Docket No. 120328229–4949–02] 

RIN 0648–XD653 

Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; 

Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Fisheries 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; inseason 

General category bluefin tuna quota 

transfer and retention limit adjustment. 

SUMMARY: NMFS is transferring 21 

metric tons (mt) of Atlantic bluefin tuna 

(BFT) quota from the General category 

December 2015 subquota period to the 

January 2015 subquota period (from 

January 1 through March 31, 2015, or 

until the available subquota for this 

period is reached, whichever comes 

first). NMFS also is adjusting the 

Atlantic tunas General category BFT 

daily retention limit for the January 

2015 subquota period to three large 

medium or giant BFT from the default 

retention limit of one. This action is 

based on consideration of the regulatory 

determination criteria regarding 

inseason adjustments and applies to 

Atlantic tunas General category 

(commercial) permitted vessels and 

Highly Migratory Species (HMS) 

Charter/Headboat category permitted 

vessels when fishing commercially for 

BFT. 

DATES: The quota transfer is effective 

January 1, 2015. The General category 

retention limit adjustment is effective 

January 1, 2015, through March 31, 

2015. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Sarah McLaughlin or Brad McHale, 

978–281–9260. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Regulations implemented under the 

authority of the Atlantic Tunas 

Convention Act (ATCA; 16 U.S.C. 971 et 

seq.) and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

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

et seq.) governing the harvest of BFT by 

persons and vessels subject to U.S. 

jurisdiction are found at 50 CFR part 

635. Section 635.27 divides the U.S. 

BFT quota recommended by the 

International Commission for the 

Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) 

among the various domestic fishing 

categories, per the allocations 

established in the 2006 Consolidated 

Highly Migratory Species Fishery 

Management Plan (2006 Consolidated 

HMS FMP) (71 FR 58058, October 2, 

2006), as amended by the recently 

published Amendment 7 to the 2006 

Consolidated HMS FMP (Amendment 7) 

(79 FR 71510, December 2, 2014,) and 

in accordance with implementing 

regulations. NMFS is required under 

ATCA to provide U.S. fishing vessels 

with a reasonable opportunity to harvest 

the ICCAT-recommended quota. 

Inseason Transfer to the General 

Category 

The 2010 ICCAT recommendation 

regarding western BFT management 

resulted in baseline U.S. quotas for 2011 

and for 2012 of 923.7 mt (not including 

the separate 25 mt that ICCAT allocated 

to the United States to account for 

bycatch of BFT in pelagic longline 

fisheries in the Northeast Distant Gear 

Restricted Area). The allocation formula 

applied in the 2011 BFT quota rule (76 

FR 39019, July 5, 2011) resulted in a 

codified quota of 435.1 mt for the 

General category fishery (a commercial 

tunas fishery in which handgear is 

used), which was then further divided 

according to the time-period allocations 

established in the 2006 Consolidated 

HMS FMP. The General category quota 

and time period subquotas as codified 

were not modified for 2012, 2013, or 

2014. Although the 2014 ICCAT 

recommendation regarding western BFT 

management would result in an increase 

to the baseline U.S. BFT quota and 

subquotas for 2015, domestic 

implementation of that recommendation 

will take place in a separate rulemaking, 

likely in mid-2015. 

Among other things, Amendment 7 

revised the allocations to all quota 

categories, effective January 1, 2015. As 

a result, based on the currently codified 

quota of 923.7 mt, the General category 

quota is 403 mt. See § 635.27(a). Each of 

the General category time periods 

(January, June through August, 

September, October through November, 

and December) is allocated a portion of 

the annual General category quota. 

Although it is called the ‘‘January’’ 

subquota, the regulations allow the 

General category fishery under this 

quota to continue until the subquota is 

reached or March 31, whichever comes 

first. Based on the General category 

quota of 403 mt, the subquotas for each 

time period are as follows: 21.4 mt for 

January; 201.5 mt for June through 

August; 106.8 mt for September; 52.4 mt 

for October through November; and 21 

mt for December. Any unused General 

category quota rolls forward within the 

fishing year, which coincides with the 

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