52700 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 218 / Tuesday, November 14, 2017 / Proposed Rules 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 300 

[Docket No. 170815763–7999–01] 

RIN 0648–BH13 

International Fisheries; Pacific Tuna 

Fisheries; Fishing Restrictions for 

Tropical Tuna in the Eastern Pacific 

Ocean for 2018 to 2020 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS proposes regulations 

under the Tuna Conventions Act to 

implement provisions included in 

Resolution C–17–02 (Conservation 

Measures for Tropical Tunas in the 

Eastern Pacific Ocean During 2018– 

2020), which was adopted at the 92nd 

Meeting of the Inter-American Tropical 

Tuna Commission (IATTC or 

Commission) in July 2017. This 

proposed rule would implement the C– 

17–02 management measures for 

tropical tuna (i.e., bigeye tuna (Thunnus 

obesus), yellowfin tuna (Thunnus 

albacares), and skipjack tuna 

(Katsuwonus pelamis)) for 2018 to 2020 

in the eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO). The 

proposed rule would impose on purse 

seine vessels of class sizes 4–6 (carrying 

capacity greater than 182 metric tons 

(mt)) fishing for tropical tuna in the 

EPO: A 72-day closure, a 31-day area 

closure, and a requirement that—with 

some exceptions—all tropical tuna be 

retained and landed. In addition, this 

proposed rule would revise the 

restrictions for force majeure, establish 

a bigeye tuna catch limit of 750 mt for 

U.S. longline vessels greater than 24 

meters (m) in overall length, and 

regulate the use of fish aggregating 

devices (FADs). This proposed rule is 

necessary for the conservation of 

tropical tuna stocks in the EPO and for 

the United States to satisfy its 

obligations as a member of the IATTC. 

DATES: Comments on the proposed rule 

and supporting documents must be 

submitted in writing by December 14, 

2017. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on this document, identified by NOAA– 

NMFS–2017–0129, by any of the 

following methods: 

• Electronic Submission: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/

#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2017- 

0129, click the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon, 

complete the required fields, and enter 

or attach your comments. 

• Mail: Submit written comments to 

Rachael Wadsworth, NMFS West Coast 

Region Long Beach Office, 501 W. 

Ocean Blvd., Suite 4200, Long Beach, 

CA 90802. Include the identifier 

‘‘NOAA–NMFS–2017–0129’’ in the 

comments. 

Instructions: Comments must be 

submitted by one of the above methods 

to ensure they are received, 

documented, and considered by NMFS. 

Comments sent by any other method, to 

any other address or individual, or 

received after the end of the comment 

period, may not be considered. All 

comments received are a part of the 

public record and will generally be 

posted for public viewing on 

www.regulations.gov without change. 

All personal identifying information 

(e.g., name, address, etc.) submitted 

voluntarily by the sender will be 

publicly accessible. Do not submit 

confidential business information, or 

otherwise sensitive or protected 

information. NMFS will accept 

anonymous comments (enter ‘‘N/A’’ in 

the required fields if you wish to remain 

anonymous). Copies of the draft 

Regulatory Impact Review and other 

supporting documents are available via 

the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov, docket NOAA– 

NMFS–2017–0129, or by contacting the 

Regional Administrator, Barry A. Thom, 

NMFS West Coast Region, 1201 NE 

Lloyd Boulevard, Suite 1100, Portland, 

OR 97232–1274, or 

RegionalAdministrator.WCRHMS@

noaa.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Rachael Wadsworth, NMFS at 562–980– 

4036. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background on the IATTC 

The United States is a member of the 

IATTC, which was established under 

the 1949 Convention for the 

Establishment of an Inter-American 

Tropical Tuna Commission. In 2003, the 

IATTC adopted the Convention for the 

Strengthening of the IATTC Established 

by the 1949 Convention between the 

United States of America and the 

Republic of Costa Rica (Antigua 

Convention). The Antigua Convention 

entered into force in 2010. The United 

States acceded to the Antigua 

Convention on February 24, 2016. The 

full text of the Antigua Convention is 

available at: https://www.iattc.org/

PDFFiles2/Antigua_Convention_Jun_

2003.pdf. 

The IATTC consists of 21 member 

nations and five cooperating nonmember nations. It facilitates scientific 

research into, as well as the 

conservation and management of, tuna 

and tuna-like species in the IATTC 

Convention Area. The IATTC 

Convention Area is defined as waters of 

the EPO within the area bounded by the 

west coast of the Americas and by 50° 

N. latitude, 150° W. longitude, and 50° 

S. latitude. The IATTC maintains a 

scientific research and fishery 

monitoring program and regularly 

assesses the status of tuna, sharks, and 

billfish stocks in the IATTC Convention 

Area to determine appropriate catch 

limits and other measures deemed 

necessary to promote sustainable 

fisheries and prevent the 

overexploitation of these stocks. 

International Obligations of the United 

States Under the Antigua Convention 

As a Party to the Antigua Convention 

and a member of the IATTC, the United 

States is legally bound to implement 

decisions of the IATTC. The Tuna 

Conventions Act (16 U.S.C. 951 et seq.) 

directs the Secretary of Commerce, in 

consultation with the Secretary of State 

and, with respect to enforcement 

measures, the U.S. Coast Guard, to 

promulgate such regulations as may be 

necessary to carry out the United States’ 

obligations under the Antigua 

Convention, including 

recommendations and decisions 

adopted by the IATTC. The authority of 

the Secretary of Commerce to 

promulgate such regulations has been 

delegated to NMFS. 

IATTC Resolution on Tropical Tuna 

Conservation for 2018 to 2020 

The IATTC adopted Resolution C–17– 

02 (Conservation Measures for Tropical 

Tunas in the Eastern Pacific Ocean 

During 2018–2020 and Amendment to 

Resolution C–17–02) by consensus at its 

92nd meeting in July 2017, in Mexico 

City, Mexico. Resolution C–17–02 

includes provisions to revise Resolution 

C–17–01 for 2017, and also includes 

provisions for management measures for 

tropical tuna for 2018 to 2020. NMFS 

implemented 2017-specific measures in 

a separate rulemaking that published on 

September 29, 2017 (82 FR 45514). This 

proposed rule focuses on the tuna 

conservation measures for 2018 to 2020. 

The intent of this Resolution is to 

manage fishing activities for tropical 

tuna stocks in the EPO and to address 

the recent increases in the purse seine 

fishing capacity in the IATTC 

Convention Area, which has the 


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potential to reduce production from 

tuna resources in the future if 

regulations are not implemented. 

Resolution C–17–02 includes provisions 

for purse seine and longline vessels 

fishing for tropical tunas in the IATTC 

Convention Area that apply from 2018 

to 2020 and are described in more detail 

in the following paragraphs. 

Resolution C–17–02 includes three 

provisions that were in effect for 2017 

and that apply to purse seine vessels of 

class sizes 4–6 fishing for tropical tuna 

in the EPO. First, the Resolution C–17– 

02 maintains the requirement that each 

vessel must cease fishing for 72 days 

during one of the following two periods: 

July 29 to October 8, or from November 

9 to January 19 of the following year. 

Second, the Resolution maintains the 

closure for purse seine vessels within 

the area of 96° and 110° W. and between 

4° N. and 3° S. from 0000 hours on 

October 9 to 2400 hours on November 

8. And third, the Resolution maintains 

the requirement that all tropical tuna be 

retained on board and landed, except 

fish considered unfit for human 

consumption for reasons other than size, 

as well as an exception on the final set 

of a trip, when there may be insufficient 

well space remaining to accommodate 

all the tuna caught in that set. 

Resolution C–17–02 also revises 

provisions related to purse seine vessels 

requesting an exemption due to force 

majeure. The Commission previously 

defined force majeure in Resolutions C– 

13–01 and C–17–01 as a purse seine 

vessel that is disabled by mechanical 

and/or structural failure, fire and 

explosions. Resolution C–17–02 

narrows the definition to situations 

where a vessel is disabled in the course 

of ‘‘fishing operations.’’ The revised 

definition would exclude situations 

where a vessel was rendered inoperable 

while not at sea, e.g., fire in a shipyard, 

and situations where a vessel was in 

transit for purposes other than fishing 

operations. For situations where the 

Commission has approved an 

exemption due to force majeure, 

Resolution C–17–02 changes the 

number of days the purse seine vessel 

would need to observe the 72-day 

closure period from 30 days, as was in 

C–17–01, to 40 days. The reduced 

closure period could either be observed 

in the year the force majeure event 

occurred, or if the vessel already 

observed a 72-day closure period in the 

year the event occurred, the vessel 

could observe the reduced closure 

period the following year. The proposed 

action would also require that all class 

4–6 purse seine vessels granted an 

exemption due to force majeure carry an 

observer. 

Resolution C–17–02 removes two 

measures for 2018 to 2020 that were in 

effect for 2017. The provisions for 2018 

to 2020 do not include the exception for 

allowing a purse seine vessel with a 

dolphin mortality limit to fish for 10 

days during the closure period. The 

Commission had adopted this exception 

as a new measure for only 2017. In 

addition, Resolution C–17–02 removes a 

long standing provision that allowed 

purse seine vessels of class size 4 (i.e., 

vessels with a carrying capacity between 

182 and 272 mt) to make a single fishing 

trip of up to 30 days during the closure 

period, provided that any such vessel 

carries an observer. 

Resolution C–17–02 also increases the 

U.S. annual catch limit for bigeye tuna 

in the IATTC Convention Area from 500 

mt to 750 mt for longline vessels greater 

than 24 m in overall length. In addition, 

Resolution C–17–02 regulates for the 

first time the practice of IATTC 

members and cooperating non-members 

(CPCs) transferring longline catch limits 

for bigeye tuna. The previous IATTC 

resolutions on tropical tuna did not 

address transfers of longline catch. A 

few IATTC members reportedly 

transferred portions of their catch limits 

to other IATTC members, but there were 

no formal procedures for such transfers 

in the resolutions. The Commission 

adopted provisions to regulate any 

transfer to improve transparency and to 

increase the information collected about 

such transfers. Resolution C–17–02 

specifies that no more than 30 percent 

of a CPCs catch limit may be transferred. 

Furthermore, a transfer may not be 

made retroactively to cover an overage 

of a catch limit for bigeye tuna and may 

not be retransferred to any other CPC. 

Ten days in advance of any transfer, 

both CPCs involved in a transfer must 

notify the IATTC (either separately or 

jointly). All notifications of a transfer of 

any catch limit must specify the tonnage 

to be transferred and the year in which 

the transfer will occur. Each CPC that 

receives a transfer would be responsible 

for management of the transferred catch 

limit, including monitoring and 

monthly reporting of catch. 

Resolution C–17–02 also includes 

several new provisions on purse seine 

vessels fishing with FADs in the IATTC 

Convention Area. NMFS interprets the 

Resolution as differentiating between 

‘‘active FADs’’—defined as a FAD that 

it is deployed at sea, starts transmitting 

its location, and is being tracked by the 

vessel—and non-active FADs that do 

not have equipment capable of 

transmitting their location. As explained 

herein, the Resolution includes 

requirements that apply solely to active 

FADs (i.e., active FAD limits per vessel 

and monthly reporting), and 

requirements that apply to both active 

and non-active FADs (e.g., deployment 

restrictions, removal restrictions, and 

materials to reduce entanglements). For 

long-term planning purposes, NMFS is 

seeking public comment on whether the 

industry needs the flexibility to 

continue deploying non-active FADs in 

the IATTC Convention Area or whether 

NMFS should prohibit the deployment 

of non-active FADs to facilitate 

monitoring of, and reporting on, FADs 

that have tracking equipment. The 

Resolution specifies that an active FAD 

may be activated only while it is 

onboard a purse seine vessel. The 

Resolution limits the number of active 

FADs that each purse seine vessel may 

have at any one time in the IATTC 

Convention Area: Class 6 vessels (1,200 

cubic meters well volume and greater) 

may have up to 450 FADs; class 6 

vessels (less than 1,200 cubic meters), 

up to 300 FADs; class 4–5 vessels, up to 

120 FADs; class 1–3 vessels, up to 70 

FADs. 

To ensure compliance with the active 

FAD limits, the Resolution requires 

reporting on active FADs for each vessel 

in the IATTC Convention Area. The 

Resolution instructs the IATTC 

scientific staff and IATTC Permanent 

Working Group on FADs to develop, at 

the latest by November 30, 2017, 

guidance on the reporting of active FAD 

data in accordance with the Resolution. 

Vessel owners and operators must 

ensure that daily information on all 

active FADs in the IATTC Convention 

Area is recorded and the information 

must be reported at monthly intervals to 

the IATTC. To ensure confidentiality on 

any location information, these reports 

may be submitted with a time delay of 

at least 60 days but no later than 90 

days. 

The Resolution also includes 

restrictions on all FAD deployments and 

recovery in the IATTC Convention Area. 

The Resolution provides that purse 

seine vessels of class size 4–6 must 

ensure that FADs are not deployed 

during a period of 15 days prior to the 

start of the selected 72-day closure 

period. In addition, the Resolution 

provides that class 6 purse seine vessels 

(greater than 363 mt carrying capacity) 

must recover (i.e., meaning remove from 

the water), within 15 days prior to the 

start of the selected closure period, a 

number of FADs equal to the number of 

FADs set upon during that same period. 

In addition, the Resolution imposes 

design standards for all FADs to reduce 

the entanglement of marine life, e.g., 

sharks and turtles, with FADs. 

Specifically vessel owners and operators 

are required to ensure that, as of January 


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1, 2019, all FADs are designed and 

deployed based on the principles set out 

in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Annex II in 

Resolution C–16–01 (Amendment of 

Resolution C–15–03 on the Collection 

and Analyses of Data on FishAggregating Devices). These paragraphs 

describe materials that can be used for 

both the surface and subsurface 

structure of the FAD. 

Proposed Regulations—Tuna 

Conservation Measures for 2018 to 2020 

This proposed rule would implement 

the provisions of Resolution C–17–02 as 

described above. These proposed 

regulations would apply to U.S. 

commercial fishing vessels that are used 

to fish for tropical tuna stocks in the 

IATTC Convention Area. These 

proposed regulations would apply from 

2018 to 2020. Per Resolution C–17–02, 

the proposed regulations would 

maintain three existing U.S. regulations 

for purse seine vessels, revise several 

existing regulations for both purse seine 

and longline vessels, and add several 

new regulations on transferring longline 

catch limits and FAD management. The 

proposed new regulations are further 

described below. 

As described previously, there are 

several new provisions on transfers of 

bigeye catch limits for longline vessels. 

NMFS and U.S. Department of State 

would be responsible for arranging any 

transfers of a bigeye tuna catch limit for 

the United States with another IATTC 

CPC. Currently, the IATTC CPCs with 

which the United States could conduct 

a transfer, per paragraph 16 of 

Resolution C–17–02, include China, 

Japan, South Korea, and Chinese Taipei. 

NMFS would ensure that the total catch 

limit transferred either to the United 

States or from the United States would 

not exceed 30 percent of the catch limit 

designated to those CPCs or the United 

States by the IATTC. In addition, these 

transfers would not be allowed to be 

made to retroactively cover an overage 

of a U.S. catch limit for bigeye tuna. The 

United States would not be allowed to 

retransfer any of the transferred catch 

limit it receives from another CPC to 

another CPC. 

Per requirements of the Resolution, 

NMFS will notify the IATTC of the 

transfer 10 days in advance, either 

separately or with the other CPC 

transferring catch. The notification 

would specify the tonnage to be 

transferred and the year in which the 

transfer would occur. NMFS will be 

responsible for the management of the 

transferred catch limit, including 

monitoring and monthly reporting of 

catch. 

If the United States engages in a 

transfer of a bigeye tuna catch limit with 

another IATTC member, NMFS would 

publish a notice in the Federal Register 

announcing the new catch limit that is 

available to U.S. commercial fishing 

vessels that are over 24 meters in overall 

length. All restrictions described in 50 

CFR 300.25 paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(3) 

through (a)(4) would continue to apply. 

In addition, the proposed regulations 

include several new restrictions on 

FADs in the IATTC Convention Area. 

The proposed regulations define the 

term ‘‘Active FAD’’ as a fish aggregating 

device that is equipped with gear 

capable of tracking location, such as 

radio or satellite buoys. An Active FAD 

would be considered active unless/until 

the tracking equipment is removed and 

the vessel owner or operator notifies 

NMFS Highly Migratory Species (HMS) 

Branch that this vessel is no longer 

active (i.e., deactivated). With respect to 

limits on the number of Active FADs, all 

class 6 U.S. purse seine vessels on the 

IATTC Regional Vessel Register have a 

well volume of 1,200 m3 or more. 

Therefore, these U.S. purse seine vessels 

would have a limit of 450 active FADs 

per vessel at any one time. 

The proposed regulations would also 

require reporting on Active FADs in the 

IATTC Convention Area. U.S. vessels 

owners and operators would be required 

to maintain daily information on all 

Active FADs for each vessel in the 

IATTC Convention Area and report this 

information monthly to the address 

specified by NMFS HMS Branch. NMFS 

will distribute any guidance or 

templates developed by the IATTC FAD 

Working Group prior to the effective 

date of the final rule. These reports 

would be required to be submitted no 

later than 90 days after the month 

covered by the report. For example, 

reports covering the month of January 

2018 could be submitted on or before 

May 1, 2018. 

The proposed regulations also clarify 

that the reporting on FAD interactions, 

which is already required by regulations 

at 50 CFR 300.25(i), must be submitted 

within 30 days of each landing or 

transshipment of tuna or tuna-like 

species. 

In addition, the proposed regulations 

include restrictions on FAD 

deployments and removals in the 

IATTC Convention Area. The proposed 

regulations specify that U.S. vessel 

owners, operators, and crew of purse 

seine vessels of class size 4–6 must 

ensure that FADs are not deployed 

during a period of 15 days prior to the 

start of the 72-day closure period 

selected by the vessel per 50 CFR 

300.25(e)(1). In addition, the proposed 

regulations specify that U.S. vessel 

owners, operators, and crew of purse 

seine vessels of class size 6 (greater than 

363 mt carrying capacity) must recover 

(i.e., remove from the water) a number 

of FADs equal to the number of FADs 

set upon by the vessel during the 15 

days prior to the start of the closure 

period selected by the vessel per 50 CFR 

300.25(e)(1). 

As described previously, Resolution 

C–17–02 includes broadly worded 

restrictions on the use of entangling 

material on FADs. In order to establish 

clear standards for FAD designs that 

meet the requirements of Resolution C– 

17–02, NMFS proposes to provide two 

options to meet the Resolution 

restrictions by following guidance 

developed by the International Seafood 

Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) in 

2015 (available at: https://issfoundation.org/knowledge-tools/guidesbest-practices/non-entangling-fads/ 

download-info/issf-guide-for-nonentangling-fads/). According to the ISSF 

Guide for Non-Entangling FADs (ISSF 

Guide), there are materials that range 

from highest risk of entanglement to 

lowest risk (i.e., ‘‘Biodegradable and 

Non-Entangling FADs’’). This range of 

options is illustrated in Figure 1. 


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The proposed regulations would 

require that, no later than January 1, 

2019, all FADs onboard or deployed by 

U.S. purse seine vessel owners and 

operators in the IATTC Convention Area 

are consistent with either the ‘‘Lower 

Entanglement Risk FADs’’ or ‘‘NonEntangling FADs’’ as described in the 

ISSF Guide (i.e., the two diagrams in the 

middle of Figure 1). For clarification, 

the diagrams in Figure 1 show bamboo 

rafts and bamboo hanging materials, 

which are not specific material 

requirements in the proposed 

regulations. As shown in the ISSF Guide 

(diagram farthest to the left in Figure 1), 

the ‘‘Highest Entanglement Risk FADs’’ 

include the use of large mesh netting 

(i.e., greater than 7 centimeters (cm) or 

2.5 inches (in)) that covers the raft and/ 

or is hanging below the raft. Therefore, 

the use of these materials would be 

prohibited on FADs that are deployed 

on or after January 1, 2019, in the 

IATTC Convention Area. The diagram 

on the far right in Figure 1 uses 

biodegradable materials, and would be a 

permissible sub-alternative to the ‘‘NonEntangling FADs’’ option. 

The proposed regulations provide two 

options for vessel owners and operators 

and identifies materials that are 

acceptable in both the surface 

component of the FAD (e.g., raft) and 

subsurface component of the FAD (e.g., 

hanging material). If FADs are 

constructed in a manner consistent with 

either of these two options, this would 

meet the requirements of the proposed 

regulations. 

To meet the requirements of the NonEntangling FADs (see diagram third 

from left in Figure 1), the FAD would be 

required to be free from netting, and the 

raft would either not be covered at all 

or only covered with shade cloth or 

canvas. The subsurface structure would 

be made with ropes, canvas, or nylon 

sheets. Although biodegradable material 

is not required under Resolution C–17– 

02 or these proposed regulations, this 

option is presented for the purposes of 

discussion and to solicit public 

feedback. To meet the requirements of 

the Non-Entangling FAD plus the 

biodegradable option for a FAD (see 

diagram furthest to the right in Figure 

1), the FAD would be constructed in the 

same manner as the previously 

described Non-Entangling FAD and the 

material would only include 

biodegradable materials. NMFS is 

considering definitions for 

biodegradable, but examples of 

biodegradable materials could include 

non-plastic and non-metal materials, as 

well as natural materials such as 

bamboo, palm leaves, coconut fiber or 

sisal fiber. 

Alternatively, the ‘‘Lower 

Entanglement Risk FADs’’ (see diagram 

second from the left in Figure 1) would 

require that if netting is used for either 

the surface or subsurface components 

that only small mesh would be used 

(i.e., 7 cm/2.5 in or less stretched mesh). 

If the raft is covered and small mesh 

netting is used, it must be tightly 

wrapped around the raft to avoid loose 

hanging netting. Any other covering 

must be comprised of shade cloth or 

canvas. Any small mesh netting used in 

the subsurface structure must be tightly 

tied into bundles (‘‘sausages’’), or 

formed into a panel that is weighted so 

as to keep it taut. 

In addition, NMFS is soliciting the 

public for information on additional 

materials or configurations that have 

been demonstrated to reduce or avoid 

entanglements when used in FAD 

construction. Taking into account 

enforceability, NMFS will evaluate this 

input and consider including it in the 

final rule. NMFS acknowledges that 

additional materials may be recognized 

in the future that are effective at 

reducing or avoiding entanglement. 

Therefore, NMFS will update these 

regulations as appropriate. 


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52704 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 218 / Tuesday, November 14, 2017 / Proposed Rules 

Classification 

After consultation with the 

Department of State and Homeland 

Security, the NMFS Assistant 

Administrator has determined that this 

proposed rule is consistent with the 

Tuna Conventions Act of 1950, as 

amended, and other applicable laws, 

subject to further consideration after 

public comment. 

This proposed rule has been 

determined to be not significant for 

purposes of Executive Order 12866. 

NMFS is amending the supporting 

statement for the West Coast Region 

Pacific Tuna Fisheries Logbook and Fish 

Aggregating Device Form, Office of 

Management and Business (OMB) 

Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) 

requirements (OMB Control No. 0648– 

0148) to include the data collection 

requirements for FADs as described in 

the preamble. NMFS estimates that the 

public reporting burden for this 

collection of information will average 3 

minutes per form, including time for 

reviewing instructions, searching 

existing data sources, gathering and 

maintaining the data needed, and 

completing and reviewing the collection 

of information. NMFS requests any 

comments on the addition of the FAD 

data collection form to the PRA package, 

including whether the paperwork would 

unnecessarily burden any vessel owners 

and operators. Public comment is 

sought regarding: Whether this 

proposed collection of information is 

necessary for the proper performance of 

the functions of the agency, including 

whether the information shall have 

practical utility; the accuracy of the 

burden estimate; ways to enhance the 

quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information to be collected; and ways to 

minimize the burden of the collection of 

information, including through the use 

of automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology. 

Send comments on these or any other 

aspects of the collection of information 

to the ADDRESSES above, and by email to 

OIRA_Submission@omb.eop.gov, or fax 

to (202) 395–5806. 

Notwithstanding any other provision 

of the law, no person is required to 

respond to, nor shall any person be 

subject to a penalty for failure to comply 

with, a collection of information subject 

to the requirements of the PRA, unless 

that collection of information displays a 

currently valid OMB Control Number. 

All currently approved NOAA 

collections of information may be 

viewed at: http://www.cio.noaa.gov/ 

services_programs/prasubs.html. 

Pursuant to the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act, 5 U.S.C. 605(b), the Chief Counsel 

for Regulation of the Department of 

Commerce certified to the Chief Counsel 

for Advocacy of the Small Business 

Administration that this proposed rule, 

if adopted, would not have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. The rationale 

for the certification is provided in the 

following paragraphs. 

As described in the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section, the proposed 

regulations would implement IATTC 

Resolution C–17–02, which would 

establish regulations for U.S. 

commercial fishing vessels fishing for 

tropical tuna in the IATTC Convention 

Area as detailed above. The objectives of 

the proposed action are: (1) To manage 

U.S. fishing activities for tropical tuna 

in the EPO for the benefit of maximizing 

harvests while avoiding overfishing, and 

(2) fulfilling the international 

obligations of the United States as a 

member of the IATTC. 

The absence of the proposed rule 

action would allow U.S. fisheries to 

target tropical tuna stocks in the IATTC 

Convention Area without restrictions 

(except for existing permit 

requirements). This may contribute to 

overfishing conditions of tuna 

resources. Managing stocks at or above 

levels able to produce maximum 

sustainable yield is intended to benefit 

both the stocks and the fisheries in the 

EPO by allowing the production of the 

stocks to be maintained at levels where 

the largest catch can be taken overtime. 

Alternatively, the implementation of 

Resolution C–17–02 will result in the 

sharing of sustainable benefits from 

Pacific tuna fishery resources among the 

IATTC CPC countries. The entities 

directly affected by the actions of this 

proposed rule are: (1) U.S. purse seine 

vessels that fish for tuna or tuna-like 

species in the IATTC Convention Area, 

and (2) U.S. longline vessels greater 

than 24 meters in overall length that 

catch bigeye tuna in the IATTC 

Convention Area. 

The United States Small Business 

Administration (SBA) defines a ‘‘small 

business’’ (or ‘‘small entities’’) as one 

with annual revenue that meets or is 

below an established size standard. On 

December 29, 2015, NMFS issued a final 

rule establishing a small business size 

standard of $11 million in annual gross 

receipts for all businesses primarily 

engaged in the commercial fishing 

industry (NAICS 11411) for Regulatory 

Flexibility Act (RFA) compliance 

purposes only (80 FR 81194, December 

29, 2015). The $11 million standard 

became effective on July 1, 2016, and is 

to be used in place of the U.S. SBA 

current standards of $20.5 million, $5.5 

million, and $7.5 million for the finfish 

(NAICS 114111), shellfish (NAICS 

114112), and other marine fishing 

(NAICS 114119) sectors of the U.S. 

commercial fishing industry in all 

NMFS rules subject to the RFA after July 

1, 2016. Id. at 81194. The new standard 

results in fewer commercial finfish 

businesses being considered small. 

NMFS prepared analyses for this 

regulatory action in light of the new size 

standard. All of the entities directly 

regulated by this regulatory action are 

commercial finfish fishing businesses. 

Under the new size standards, the U.S. 

purse seine vessels this action applies to 

are considered large and small 

businesses. The longline vessels this 

action applies to are considered to be 

small businesses. 

There are two components to the U.S. 

tuna purse seine fishery in the EPO: (1) 

Large purse seine vessels of class size 6 

that typically have been based in the 

western and central Pacific Ocean 

(WCPO), and (2) coastal purse seine 

vessels with smaller fish hold volumes 

(size class 2–3; between 46–181 mt 

carrying capacity) that are based on the 

U.S. West Coast. Although Resolution 

C–17–02 and the proposed regulations 

include restrictions for class size 4–5 

(182–363 mt carrying capacity) purse 

seine vessels, there are no (nor have 

there been in the past ten years) any 

U.S. vessels of class sizes 4–5 registered 

to fish in the IATTC Convention Area. 

Therefore, the proposed regulations for 

class size 4–5 purse seine vessels are not 

expected to have any impact to U.S. 

vessel owners or operators. 

As of September 2017, there are 17 

class size 6 purse seine vessels 

registered to fish in the IATTC 

Convention Area. The number of U.S. 

size class 6 purse seine vessels on the 

IATTC Regional Vessel Register has 

increased substantially in the past two 

years due to previous uncertainty in the 

negotiations regarding the South Pacific 

Tuna Treaty and the interest expressed 

by vessel owners that typically fish in 

the WCPO in relocating to the EPO. 

From 2005 through 2014, three or fewer 

class 6 purse seine vessels fished in the 

Convention Area. In 2015 and 2016, 

fifteen and eighteen vessels fished in the 

Convention Area, respectively. 

The U.S. class size 6 purse seine 

vessels target skipjack tuna by fishing 

on floating objects and unassociated 

sets; they also catch and retain 

yellowfin and bigeye tuna. Since at least 

2005, the observer coverage rate on class 

size 6 vessels in the EPO has been 100 

percent. In addition, one U.S. class 6 

purse seine vessel has permission to fish 

on dolphins in 2017 and may be eligible 

to fish on dolphins in the future; but, 

this vessel could also fish on floating 


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objects and unassociated sets as it has 

done in the past. Previous to 2017, no 

U.S. purse seine vessel had fished on 

dolphins in over 10 years and NMFS 

does not yet have any catch data for this 

fishing activity. 

For large purse seine vessels that 

fished exclusively in the EPO in 2015 

and 2016, ex-vessel price information is 

not available to NMFS because these 

vessels did not land on the U.S. West 

Coast, and the cannery receipts are not 

available through the IATTC. However, 

estimates for large purse seine vessels 

based in the WCPO that fish in both the 

EPO and WCPO may be used as a proxy 

for U.S. large purse seine vessels. The 

number of these U.S. purse seine vessels 

is approximated by the number with 

Western and Central Pacific Fisheries 

Commission (WCPFC) Area 

Endorsements, which are the NMFSissued authorizations required for a 

vessel to fish commercially for highly 

migratory species (HMS) on the high 

seas in the WCPFC Convention Area. As 

of October 2017, the number of purse 

seine vessels with WCPFC Area 

Endorsements was 37. 

Based on (limited) financial 

information about the affected fishing 

fleets, and using individual vessels as 

proxies for individual businesses, 

NMFS believes that over half of the 

vessels in the purse seine fleet are small 

entities as defined by the RFA; that is, 

they are independently owned and 

operated and not dominant in their 

fields of operation, and have annual 

receipts of no more than $11 million. 

Within the purse seine fleet, analysis of 

average revenue, by vessel, for the three 

years of 2014–2016 reveals that average 

fleet revenue was $10,201,962; 22 

participating vessels qualified as small 

entities with their average of the most 

recent three years of vessel revenue for 

which data is available of less than $11 

million. 

As of September 2017, the IATTC 

Regional Vessel Register lists 158 U.S. 

longline vessels that have the option to 

fish in the IATTC Convention Area, 37 

of which are large-scale longline vessels 

(i.e., greater than 24 m in overall length). 

The majority of these longline vessels 

have Hawaii Longline Limited Access 

Permits (issued under 50 CFR 665.13). 

Under the Hawaii longline limited 

access program, no more than 164 

permits may be issued. The Hawaii 

longline fisheries include a tunatargeting (including bigeye tuna) deepset fishery and swordfish-targeting 

shallow set fishery. Since at least 2008, 

the observer coverage rates on shallowset and deep-set longline vessels in the 

EPO have been a minimum of 100 and 

20 percent, respectively. U.S. longline 

vessels fishing in the EPO have reached 

the 500 mt catch limit for bigeye tuna 

in 2013 to 2015 and in 2017. 

In addition, there are U.S. longline 

vessels based on the U.S. West Coast, 

some of which operate under the Pacific 

HMS permit and high seas permits. U.S. 

West Coast-based longline vessels 

operating under the Pacific HMS permit 

fish primarily in the EPO and are 

currently restricted to fishing with deepset longline gear outside of the U.S. 

West Coast EEZ. There have been fewer 

than three U.S. West Coast-based vessels 

operating under the HMS permit since 

2005; therefore, landings and ex-vessel 

revenue are confidential. However, the 

number of Hawaii-permitted longline 

vessels that have landed in U.S. West 

Coast ports has increased from one 

vessel in 2006 to 18 vessels in 2016. In 

2016, 928 mt of HMS (excluding striped 

marlin, pelagic thresher shark, and 

bigeye thresher shark) were landed into 

West Coast ports by Hawaii permitted 

longline vessels with total ex-vessel 

revenue of about $5.4 million. The 

average ex-vessel revenue for each 

vessel is approximately $302,222. This 

is well below the $11 million threshold 

for finfish harvesting businesses. 

Economic Impacts 

The proposed action is not expected 

to have a significant adverse economic 

impact on either the profitability of a 

substantial number of small entities or 

a disproportional economic effect on 

small entities relative to large entities. 

Under the new size standards, the 

entities impacted by the action related 

to purse seine vessels are considered 

large and small business, and the 

entities impacted by the action related 

to longline vessels are considered small 

business. However, disproportional 

economic effects between small and 

large businesses are not expected. 

Several proposed measures for 2018– 

2020 would maintain regulations that 

have been in place for years for tropical 

tuna management in the IATTC 

Convention Area; therefore, these 

actions are routine for the purse seine 

and longline fisheries. The proposed 

changes to the 2017 regulations include 

removing two regulations, revising two 

regulations, and adding several new 

regulations. These changes and the 

expected economic effects are discussed 

in more detail below. 

Exception for dolphin fishing vessels: 

This proposed action would remove the 

exception that allowed vessels with 

DMLs to fish for ten days during the 72- 

day closure period. The Commission 

had adopted this temporary exemption 

for 2017 to provide additional flexibility 

to the DML vessels based on 

negotiations at the July 2017 IATTC 

meeting. As described above, only one 

U.S. purse seine vessel has a DML for 

2017. It is currently unknown if the 

vessel will use this exemption in place 

for 2017. The exemption provided an 

optional additional economic benefit to 

DML vessels in 2017. Although 

removing this exemption may reduce 

the profitability of this particular vessel, 

the economic impacts are not expected 

to be substantial. Furthermore, the 

vessel would now be subject to the same 

restrictions as the other U.S. purse seine 

vessels that fish on FADs and 

unassociated sets and are subject to a 

72-day closure. Therefore, no 

disproportionate impacts between small 

and large businesses are expected. 

Exception for class 4 vessels: The 

proposed action to remove the 

regulation that allows purse seine 

vessels of class size 4 to make a single 

fishing trip of up to 30 days during the 

closure period is not expected to have 

any impact on U.S. purse seine vessels 

because there are no U.S. purse seine 

vessels of class size 4 registered to fish 

in the IATTC Convention Area. 

Force Majeure: The proposed action 

would narrow the definition of force 

majeure to situations where a vessel is 

disabled at sea (except while transiting 

between ports on a trip during which no 

fishing operations occur). The proposed 

action would change the number of days 

the vessel would need to observe the 72- 

day closure from 30 days, as was in 

Resolution C–17–01, to 40 days, and 

would allow a reduced closure period to 

be observed the year following the force 

majeure event. The proposed action 

would also require that all class 4–6 

purse seine vessels granted an 

exemption due to force majeure carry an 

observer. Because all class 6 U.S. purse 

seine vessels already carry observers 

under the requirements of the 

Agreement on the International Dolphin 

Conservation Program (AIDCP) and 

there are no class 4–5 U.S. purse seine 

vessels, this requirement will not 

impose additional restrictions on U.S. 

purse seine vessel owners or operators. 

The revised definition would exclude 

situations when something happened to 

the vessel while not at sea, e.g., if the 

vessel caught on fire in a shipyard. 

Since 2013, when the force majeure 

provisions first went into effect, the 

United States has requested force 

majeure exemptions three times, one of 

which was for a situation that would be 

excluded under the current definition. 

Because force majeure events are rare 

and unpredictable, it is difficult to 

speculate future situations where a U.S. 

vessel would need to request force 

majeure. However, based on the 


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previous types of force majeure 

requests, the economic impacts are 

expected to be minor or none. The 

economic effects from reducing the 

number of days the vessel would need 

to observe the closure and allowing 

more flexibility in the year in which to 

observe a reduced closure period would 

have a positive economic impact for 

vessels that are granted an exemption 

due to force majeure. Nonetheless, this 

proposed measure is expected to 

provide some relief to purse seiners that 

experience an unforeseen circumstance 

and would otherwise have fewer days in 

a calendar year in which to fish. 

Catch Limit: The proposed action 

maintains a bigeye tuna catch limit for 

longline vessels greater than 24 m in 

overall length; however, the proposed 

action included an increase from 500 to 

750 mt specifically for the United 

States. The total allocated catch limits 

for IATTC members specified in the 

Resolution is 55,131 mt. The increase in 

U.S. catch limit of 250 mt represents 

0.45 percent increase of the total catch 

limit. The IATTC staff estimated that 

this increase represents less than a 0.8 

percent increase in fishing mortality for 

the EPO stock of bigeye tuna, which is 

currently estimated to not be 

experiencing overfishing or to be 

overfished. This increase may allow for 

additional flexibility and fishing 

opportunity for the U.S. longline fleet. 

Longline bigeye tuna catch limits have 

been in place since 2009 (Resolution C– 

09–01), and extending and increasing 

the U.S. catch limit would likely 

increase the profitability of the fishery. 

The proposed action is not expected to 

require any additional compliance effort 

or expense by affected vessels. 

Transfer of catch limit: The proposed 

action also specifies the terms under 

which the U.S. could transfer (e.g., 

receive or provide) bigeye tuna catch 

limit for longline vessels greater than 24 

m. Although a few IATTC members 

reportedly transferred portions of their 

catch limits to other IATTC members in 

the past, there were no formal 

procedures for such transfers in the 

resolutions. To date, the United States 

has never engaged in transfers of bigeye 

tuna catch limits. The United States has 

no intention of providing any of its 

catch limit to another IATTC CPC. If 

there ever was a circumstance in the 

future where this would be considered 

(e.g., if the U.S. longline fleet was no 

longer in fishing in the IATTC 

Convention Area), NMFS would 

evaluate the economic impacts of doing 

this through a separate economic 

analysis. It is more likely, although 

there is no plan for doing so at this time, 

that NMFS would receive a transfer of 

catch limit from another CPC in 2018 to 

2020. If the United States did receive a 

transferred catch limit, it would be 

managed by NMFS the same way as the 

750 mt catch limit is proposed to be 

managed by publishing the temporary 

increase in the catch limit in the 

Federal Register and monitoring the 

catch through logbooks. An increased 

catch limit would result in an economic 

benefit to the fishery and increased 

profitability. Because all affected 

longline vessels are considered small 

business, no disproportionate impacts 

between small and large entities of 

longline vessels would occur. 

Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs): 

With respect to limits on Active FADs, 

all large U.S. purse seine vessels on the 

IATTC Regional Vessel Register have a 

well volume of 1,200 m3 or more. 

Therefore, a limit of 450 Active FADs 

per large U.S. purse seine vessel at any 

one time would apply. According to 

information compiled by IATTC 

scientific staff from 2013–2015, most 

purse seine vessels fishing in the IATTC 

Convention Area deploy 300 or less 

FADs within a year (https://

www.iattc.org/Meetings/Meetings2016/

Oct/Pdfs/_English/IATTC-90-INF-BAdd-1-Alternative-managementmeasures.pdf). Although it is unknown 

how many Active FADs each U.S. purse 

seine vessel maintains at any given 

time, according to discussions between 

NMFS and U.S. industry 

representatives, it is not more than 450 

FADs. Because this measure is not 

expected to reduce the number of Active 

FADs any U.S. purse seine vessel has in 

the water, this proposed rule is not 

expected to reduce the profitability of 

the fishery and no disproportionate 

impacts between small and large 

businesses are expected. In addition, 

although there is an additional reporting 

requirement for Active FADs, vessel 

operators are already expected to be 

collecting the necessary information and 

this is not expected to reduce 

profitability. 

As described previously, the proposed 

action would prohibit FAD deployment 

15 days in advance of the selected 

closure period. For those U.S. purse 

seine operators that typically deploy 

FADs before the closure period, this 

restriction could result in adjustments 

in fishing practices. For example, vessel 

operators that typically deploy FADs 

during that time period might choose to 

deploy more FADs at earlier dates 

before the closure or choose to deploy 

fewer FADs overall. In addition, the 

proposed action would require purse 

seine vessels to remove, within 15 days 

prior to the start of the selected closure 

period, a number of FADs equal to the 

number of FADs set upon by the vessel 

during that same period. Vessel 

operators that typically set on FADs 

fifteen days prior to the closure period 

may choose to adjust their fishing 

practices to not set on FADs, or to set 

on fewer FADs, within 15 days prior to 

the start of the selected closure period 

to avoid or reduce the number of FADs 

to remove. If vessel owners or operators 

make one set per day, they would need 

to remove 15 FADs to comply with this 

proposed regulation. For those vessel 

owners that remove FADs to comply 

with this regulation, it would be 

expected that they would pick up the 

FAD after making the set and there 

would be an additional time burden for 

vessel operators and crew to pull the 

FAD(s) out of the water. These proposed 

restrictions on FAD deployments and 

removals would not restrict the number 

of FADs in the water, but could change 

the amount of time vessel operators or 

crew engage in activities with FADs on 

the water. Thus, these measures are not 

expected to reduce the overall 

profitability of the fishery. Because all 

U.S. purse seine vessels fishing with 

FADs would be impacted in a similar 

manner, no disproportionate impacts 

between small and large businesses are 

expected. 

The proposed action includes a range 

of options to comply with the 

restrictions on entangling materials on 

FADs in the IATTC Convention Area. 

Although information compiled by ISSF 

showed that the majority of the U.S. 

purse seine fleet currently use materials 

on FADs that have a high risk of 

entanglement (e.g., hanging nets), 

according to discussions between 

industry representatives and NMFS, the 

purse seine fleet in the Pacific Ocean is 

in the process of transitioning to 

materials that do not have the highest 

risk of entanglement. This is a result of 

coordination between ISSF and U.S. 

industry and is expected to become 

effective in March 2018. Although there 

will likely be costs associated with this 

transition, which will vary depending 

on the materials available to the vessel 

and which materials the vessel uses, 

these measures are not expected to 

reduce the profitability of the fishery. 

Because all U.S. purse seine vessels 

fishing with FADs would be impacted 

in a similar manner, no disproportionate 

impacts between small and large 

businesses are expected. In addition, the 

effective date for this proposed action is 

January 1, 2019, which provides 

additional time for compliance with this 

measure. 

With these additional restrictions on 

FADs, U.S. purse seine vessels will 

continue to have the option to fish on 


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unassociated sets throughout the IATTC 

Convention Area. In addition, 

depending on the level of flexibility for 

FAD regulations in the WCPO, U.S. 

purse seine vessels could also fish in the 

Area of Overlap without the IATTC 

restrictions on FADs. However, the 

other regulations in the Area of Overlap 

still apply, such as carrying an IATTC 

and WCPFC approved observer and 

being listed on the IATTC Regional 

Vessel Register per NMFS regulations 

published in 50 CFR 300.21 (definition 

of the Convention Area). The current 

regulations for the Area of Overlap 

could also change in the future. 

In summary, the proposed action is 

not expected to substantially change the 

typical fishing practices of affected 

vessels. In addition, any impact to the 

income of U.S. vessels is expected to be 

minor. Therefore, NMFS has determined 

that the action is neither expected to 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities 

nor to have a disproportional economic 

impact on the small entities relative to 

the large entities. Given these 

conclusions, an Initial Regulatory 

Flexibility Analysis is not required and 

none has been prepared. 

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 300 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, 

Marine resources, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements, Treaties. 

Dated: November 8, 2017. 

Samuel D. Rauch III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

For the reasons set out in the 

preamble, 50 CFR part 300, subpart C, 

is proposed to be amended as follows: 

PART 300—INTERNATIONAL 

FISHERIES REGULATIONS 

■ 1. The authority citation for 50 CFR 

part 300, subpart C, continues to read as 

follows: 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 951 et seq. 

■ 2. In § 300.21, add a definition of 

‘‘Active FAD’’ in alphabetical order and 

revise the definition for ‘‘Force 

majeure’’ to read as follows: 

§ 300.21 Definitions. 

* * * * * 

Active FAD means, a fish aggregating 

device that is equipped with gear 

capable of tracking location, such as 

radio or satellite buoys. A FAD with this 

equipment shall be considered an 

Active FAD unless/until the equipment 

is removed and the vessel owner or 

operator notifies the HMS Branch that 

the FAD is no longer active (i.e., 

deactivated). 

* * * * * 

Force majeure means, for the purpose 

of § 300.25, a situation in which a vessel 

at sea, except while transiting between 

ports on a trip during which no fishing 

operations occur, is disabled by 

mechanical and/or structural failure, 

fire or explosion. 

* * * * * 

■ 3. In § 300.22, the section heading and 

the paragraph heading for paragraph (a) 

are revised, and paragraph (a)(3) is 

added to read as follows: 

§ 300.22 Recordkeeping and reporting 

requirements. 

(a) Logbooks and FAD data reporting. 

* * * * * 

(3) FAD data reporting for purse seine 

vessels. (i) Reporting on FAD 

interactions: U.S. vessel owners and 

operators must ensure that any 

interaction or activity with a FAD is 

reported using a standard format 

provided by the HMS Branch. The 

owner and operator shall ensure that the 

form is submitted within 30 days of 

each landing or transshipment of tuna 

or tuna-like species to the address 

specified by the HMS Branch. 

(ii) Reporting on active FADs: U.S. 

vessels owners and operators must 

record or maintain daily information on 

all Active FADs in the IATTC 

Convention Area in the format provided 

by the HMS Branch. The HMS Branch 

will distribute a template describing the 

information to report. This information 

must be reported for each calendar 

month for which Active FADs are 

deployed in the Convention Area, and 

submitted to the address specified by 

the HMS Branch. These reports must be 

submitted no later than 90 days after the 

month covered by the report. 

* * * * * 

■ 4. In § 300.24, revise paragraphs (m), 

(n), (ee), and (ff), and add paragraphs (ii) 

through (nn) to read as follows: 

§ 300.24 Prohibitions. 

* * * * * 

(m) Fail to stow gear as required in 

§ 300.25(a)(4)(iv) or (e)(6). 

(n) Use a fishing vessel of class size 

4–6 to fish with purse seine gear in the 

Convention Area in contravention of 

§ 300.25(e)(1), (e)(2), (e)(5) or (e)(6). 

* * * * * 

(ee) Fail to ensure characters of a 

unique code are marked indelibly on a 

FAD deployed or modified on or after 

January 1, 2017, in accordance with 

§ 300.28(a)(2). 

(ff) Fail to record or report data on 

FADs as required in § 300.22(a)(3). 

* * * * * 

(ii) Activate the transmission 

equipment attached to a FAD in a 

location other than on a purse seine 

vessel at sea as required in § 300.28(b). 

(jj) Fail to turn on the tracking 

equipment for an Active FAD before 

deploying at sea as required in 

§ 300.28(b). 

(kk) Have more Active FADs than 

specified in § 300.28(c) in the IATTC 

Convention Area at any one time. 

(ll) Deploy a FAD in the IATTC 

Convention Area during a period of 15 

days prior to the start of the selected 

closure period in contravention of 

§ 300.28(d)(1). 

(mm) Fail to remove from the water a 

number of FADs in the IATTC 

Convention Area equal to the number of 

FADs set upon by the vessel during the 

15 days prior to the start of the selected 

closure period as required in 

§ 300.28(d)(2). 

(nn) Deploy, or have onboard a vessel, 

a FAD in the IATTC Convention Area 

with non-authorized materials as 

required at § 300.28(e). 

■ 5. In § 300.25: 

■ a. Revise paragraphs (a)(1) and (2); 

■ b. Add paragraph (a)(5); 

■ c. Revise paragraphs (e)(1) through (3), 

and (e)(4)(ii); 

■ d. Add paragraphs (e)(4)(iii) and (iv); 

and 

■ e. Revise paragraphs (e)(5) and (6). 

The additions and revisions read as 

follows: 

§ 300.25 Fisheries management. 

(a) * * * 

(1) Fishing seasons for all tuna species 

begin on 0000 hours Coordinated 

Universal Time (UTC) January 1 and 

end either on 2400 hours UTC 

December 31 or when NMFS closes the 

fishery for a specific species. 

(2) For the calendar years 2018, 2019, 

2020, there is a limit of 750 metric tons 

of bigeye tuna that may be caught by 

longline gear in the Convention Area by 

U.S. commercial fishing vessels that are 

over 24 meters in overall length. The 

catch limit within a calendar year is 

subject to increase if the United States 

receives a transfer of catch limit from 

another IATTC member or cooperating 

non-member, per paragraph (a)(5) of this 

section. 

* * * * * 

(5) If the United States engages in a 

transfer of a bigeye tuna catch limit with 

another IATTC member or cooperating 

non-member, NMFS will publish a 

notice in the Federal Register 

announcing the new catch limit that is 


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available to U.S. commercial fishing 

vessels that are over 24 meters in overall 

length. All restrictions described in 

paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(3) through 

(a)(4) of this section will continue to 

apply. 

* * * * * 

(e) Purse seine closures. (1) A 

commercial purse seine fishing vessel of 

the United States that is of class size 4– 

6 (more than 182 metric tons carrying 

capacity) may not be used to fish with 

purse seine gear in the Convention Area 

for 72 days in each of the years 2018, 

2019, and 2020 during one of the 

following two periods: 

(i) From 0000 hours Coordinated 

Universal Time (UTC) July 29, to 2400 

hours UTC October 8, or 

(ii) From 0000 hours UTC November 

9 to 2400 hours UTC January 19 of the 

following year. 

(2) A vessel owner, manager, or 

association representative of a vessel 

that is subject to the requirements of 

paragraph (e)(1) of this section must 

provide written notification to the 

Regional Administrator declaring to 

which one of the two closure periods 

identified in paragraph (e)(1) of this 

section his or her vessel will adhere in 

that year. This written notification must 

be submitted by fax at (562) 980–4047 

or email at RegionalAdministrator.

WCRHMS@noaa.gov and must be 

received no later than July 1 prior to the 

first closure period within a calendar 

year. The written notification must 

include the vessel name and registration 

number, the closure dates that will be 

adhered to by that vessel, and the vessel 

owner or managing owner’s name, 

signature, business address, and 

business telephone number. 

(3) If written notification is not 

submitted per paragraph (e)(2) of this 

section for a vessel subject to the 

requirements under paragraph (e)(1) of 

this section, that vessel must adhere to 

the second closure period under 

paragraph (e)(1)(ii) of this section. 

* * * * * 

(4) * * * 

(ii) If the request for an exemption 

due to force majeure is accepted by the 

IATTC, the vessel must observe a 

closure period of 40 consecutive days in 

the same year during which the force 

majeure event occurred, in one of the 

two closure periods described in 

paragraph (e)(1) of this section. 

(iii) If the request for an exemption 

due to force majeure is accepted by the 

IATTC and the vessel has already 

observed a closure period described in 

paragraph (e)(1) of this section in the 

same year during which the force 

majeure event occurred, the vessel must 

observe a closure period of 40 

consecutive days the following year the 

force majeure event occurred, in one of 

the two closure periods described in 

paragraph (e)(1) of this section. 

(iv) Any purse seine vessel for which 

a force majeure request is accepted by 

the IATTC, must carry an observer 

aboard authorized pursuant to the 

International Agreement on the 

International Dolphin Conservation 

Program. 

(5) A fishing vessel of the United 

States of class size 4–6 (more than 182 

metric tons carrying capacity) may not 

be used from 0000 hours on October 9 

to 2400 hours on November 8 in 2017 

to fish with purse seine gear within the 

area bounded at the east and west by 96° 

and 110° W. longitude and bounded at 

the north and south by 4° N. and 3° S. 

latitude. 

(6) At all times while a vessel is in a 

time/area closed period established 

under paragraphs (e)(1) or (e)(5) of this 

section, unless fishing under exceptions 

established under paragraphs (e)(4) of 

this section, the fishing gear of the 

vessel must be stowed in a manner as 

not to be readily available for fishing. In 

particular, the boom must be lowered as 

far as possible so that the vessel cannot 

be used for fishing, but so that the skiff 

is accessible for use in emergency 

situations; the helicopter, if any, must 

be tied down; and launches must be 

secured. 

* * * * * 

■ 5. Add § 300.28 to Subpart C to read 

as follows: 

§ 300.28 Fish aggregating device 

restrictions. 

(a) FAD identification requirements 

for purse seine vessels. (1) For each FAD 

deployed or modified on or after 

January 1, 2017, in the IATTC 

Convention Area, the vessel owner or 

operator must either: Obtain a unique 

code from HMS Branch; or use an 

existing unique identifier associated 

with the FAD (e.g., the manufacturer 

identification code for the attached 

buoy). 

(2) U.S. purse seine vessel owners and 

operators shall ensure the characters of 

the unique code or unique identifier be 

marked indelibly at least five 

centimeters in height on the upper 

portion of the attached radio or satellite 

buoy in a location that does not cover 

the solar cells used to power the 

equipment. For FADs without attached 

radio or satellite buoys, the characters 

shall be on the uppermost or emergent 

top portion of the FAD. The vessel 

owner or operator shall ensure the 

marking is visible at all times during 

daylight. In circumstances where the 

on-board observer is unable to view the 

code, the captain or crew shall assist the 

observer (e.g., by providing the FAD 

identification code to the observer). 

(b) Activating FADs for purse seine 

vessels. A vessel owner, operator, or 

crew shall deploy an Active FAD only 

while at sea and the tracking equipment 

must be turned on while the FAD is 

onboard the vessel and before being 

deployed in the water. 

(c) Restrictions on Active FADs for 

purse seine vessels. U.S. vessel owners 

and operators of purse-seine vessels 

with the following well volume (m3) or 

fish hold capacity (mt) must not have 

more than the following number of 

Active FADs per vessel in the IATTC 

Convention Area at any one time: 

Well 

volume 

(m3) 

Carrying 

capacity 

(mt) 

Active 

FAD 

limit 

1,200 or more ...... 1,408 or more 450 

435–1,199 ............ 510–1,407 ....... 300 

213–425 ............... 182–363 .......... 120 

0–212 ................... 0–181 .............. 70 

(d) Restrictions on FAD deployments 

and removals. (1) U.S. vessel owners, 

operators, and crew of purse seine 

vessels of class size 4–6 (more than 182 

metric tons carrying capacity) must not 

deploy a FAD during a period of 15 days 

prior to the start of the selected closure 

period described in § 300.25(e)(1). 

(2) U.S. vessel owners, operators, and 

crew of purse seine vessels of class size 

6 (greater than 363 metric tons carrying 

capacity) must remove from the water a 

number of FADs equal to the number of 

FADs set upon by the vessel during the 

15 days prior to the start of the closure 

period selected by the vessel per 

§ 300.25(e)(1). 

(e) FAD design to reduce 

entanglements. No later than January 1, 

2019, all FADs onboard or deployed by 

U.S. vessel owners, operators, or crew, 

must comply with the surface (e.g., raft) 

and subsurface component terms of 

either paragraph (e)(1)(i) or (e)(1)(ii) of 

this section. The use of netting with a 

mesh size greater than 7 centimeters/2.5 

inches stretched mesh is prohibited on 

all parts of a FAD. 

(1) Non-Entangling FADs must not 

include netting on any parts of the FAD, 

and the raft must either not be covered 

or covered with shade cloth or canvas. 

The subsurface structure must be made 

with ropes, canvas, or nylon sheets 

(diagram on the right in Figure 1 to 

paragraph (e)(2)). 

(2) Lower Entanglement Risk FADs 

may use small mesh netting (mesh may 

not exceed 7 centimeters/2.5 when 

stretched) for either the surface or 

subsurface components. If the raft is 


jstallworth on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 218 / Tuesday, November 14, 2017 / Proposed Rules 52709 

covered and small mesh netting is used, 

it must be tightly wrapped around the 

raft with no loose netting hanging from 

it. Any other covering on the raft must 

be comprised of shade cloth or canvas. 

Any small mesh netting used in the 

subsurface structure must be tightly tied 

into bundles (‘‘sausages’’), or formed 

into a panel that is weighted so as to 

keep it taut (diagram on the left in 

Figure 1 to paragraph (e)(2)). 

[FR Doc. 2017–24606 Filed 11–13–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


jstallworth on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with PROPOSALSEP14NO17.003</GPH>