Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Quota Specifications and Effort Controls, 9507-9512 [06-1715]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 37 (Friday, February 24, 2006)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 9507-9512]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-1715]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 635

[Docket No. 060216041-6041-01; I.D. 020206C]
RIN 0648-AT72


Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Quota 
Specifications and Effort Controls

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments; notice of public hearings.

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SUMMARY: NMFS proposes initial 2006 fishing year specifications for the 
Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) fishery to set BFT quotas for each of the 
established domestic fishing categories and to set effort controls for 
the General category and Angling category. 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). NMFS will hold public hearings 
to receive comments on these proposed actions.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before Tuesday, April 
11, 2006.
    The public hearings dates and locations are:
    1. March 17, 2006, 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in Gloucester, MA.
    2. March 22, 2006, 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in West Islip, NY.
    3. March 24, 2006, 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., in Berlin MD.
    4. March 27, 2006, 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., in Morehead City, NC.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted through any of the following 
methods:
     Email: 06BFTSPECS@noaa.gov.
     Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov.
     Mail: Dianne Stephan, Highly Migratory Species Management 
Division, Office of Sustainable Fisheries (F/SF1), NMFS, One Blackburn 
Dr., Gloucester, MA 01930.
     Fax: 978-281-9340.
    Public hearing locations include:
    1. March 17, 2006 - NMFS, One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 
01930.
    2. March 22, 2006 - West Islip Public Library, 3 Higbie Lane, West 
Islip, NY 11795.
    3. March 24, 2006 - Worcester County Public Library, Ocean Pines 
Branch, 11107 Cathell Road, Berlin MD 21811.
    4. March 27, 2006 - Crystal Coast Civic Center, 3505 Arendell 
Street, Morehead City, NC 28557.
    Supporting documents including the environmental assessment, 
initial Regulatory Flexibility Act analysis, and regulatory impact 
review are available by sending your request to Dianne Stephan, Highly 
Migratory Species Management Division, Office of Sustainable Fisheries 
(F/SF1), NMFS, One Blackburn Dr., Gloucester, MA 01930; Fax: 978-281-
9340.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dianne Stephan at (978) 281-9260.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Atlantic tunas are managed under the dual 
authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Act and the ATCA. The 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 the 
ATCA has been delegated from the Secretary to the Assistant 
Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA (AA).

Background

    On May 28, 1998, NMFS published in the Federal Register (64 FR 
29090) final regulations, effective July 1, 1999, implementing the 
Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Tunas, Swordfish, and Sharks (1999 
FMP).
    In November 2002, ICCAT recommended a Total Allowable Catch (TAC) 
of BFT for the United States in the western Atlantic management area of 
1,489.6 metric tons (mt), effective beginning in 2003 and continuing in 
subsequent fishing years until revised by ICCAT. (ICCAT is scheduled to 
assess BFT stocks during 2006 which

[[Page 9508]]

could result in a subsequent re-evaluation of the quota). Also in the 
2002 recommendation, ICCAT allocated 25 mt annually to account for 
incidental catch of BFT by pelagic longline fisheries directed on other 
species ``in the vicinity of the management boundary area.'' This area 
was defined in the 2003 BFT annual specification rulemaking process as 
the Northeast Distant statistical area (NED) (68 FR 56783, October 2, 
2003). The TAC of 1,489.6 mt is inclusive of the annual 25 mt pelagic 
longline set-aside in the NED. The 2002 ICCAT recommendation also 
includes an annual eight percent tolerance limit calculated as a four-
year average. The initial specifications within this proposed rule are 
published in accordance with the 1999 FMP and are necessary to 
implement the 2002 ICCAT quota recommendation, as required by the ATCA, 
and to achieve domestic management objectives under the Magnuson-
Stevens Act.
    This proposed rule would: (1) establish initial quota 
specifications consistent with the BFT rebuilding program as set forth 
in the 1999 FMP by allocating the 2002 ICCAT-recommended quota for the 
2006 fishing year (June 1, 2006 - May 31, 2007); (2) establish General 
category effort controls, including time-period subquotas, restricted 
fishing days (RFDs), and the initial retention limit; and (3) establish 
Angling category retention limits for the 2006 fishing season.
    After consideration of public comment, NMFS will issue a final rule 
setting the initial quota specifications and effort controls and 
publish them in the Federal Register, along with NMFS's response to 
those comments. The specifications and effort controls may subsequently 
be adjusted during the course of the fishing year, consistent with the 
provisions of the 1999 FMP, and, as appropriate, would be published in 
the Federal Register.
    A number of other issues regarding the domestic management of BFT 
have been discussed during recent years. For instance, adjustment of 
domestic quota allocation percentages and General category time-period 
subquotas were raised as issues in a Petition for Rulemaking submitted 
by the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries (see Notice of 
Receipt of Petition, 67 FR 69502, November 18, 2002). This issue was 
addressed in part in the final rule which extended the General category 
season from December 31 to January 31 (68 FR 74504, December 24, 2003). 
The issue is further addressed in the draft consolidated HMS FMP (70 FR 
48804, August 19, 2005), which considers several aspects of the 
changing BFT fishery and has proposed modifications to time period 
subquotas and authorized gear for use in BFT fisheries, among other 
things.
    Other issues include the changing nature of BFT fisheries and BFT 
distribution. These issues are in part characterized by the growth of a 
late season General category fishery, increased numbers of recreational 
participants and fishing effort for smaller size BFT, and ongoing 
under-harvested quota for several commercial categories. ICCAT will be 
undertaking a stock assessment for BFT during the first half of 2006. 
The information provided by this stock assessment and international 
deliberations in fall 2006 will provide insight into management options 
to address the above issues which could result in future regulatory or 
FMP amendments.
    NMFS has prepared a draft Environmental Assessment (EA), Regulatory 
Impact Review (RIR), and an Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 
(IRFA) which present and analyze anticipated environmental, social, and 
economic impacts of several alternatives for each of the major issues 
contained in this proposed rule. The complete list of alternatives and 
their analysis is provided in the draft EA/RIR/IRFA, and is not 
repeated here in its entirety. A copy of the draft EA/RIR/IRFA prepared 
for this proposed rule is available from NMFS (see ADDRESSES).

Domestic Quota Allocation

    The 1999 FMP and its implementing regulations established baseline 
percentage quota shares for the domestic fishing categories. These 
percentage shares were based on allocation procedures that NMFS 
developed over several years. The baseline percentage quota shares 
established in the 1999 FMP for fishing years beginning June 1, 1999, 
to the present are as follows: General category -- 47.1 percent; 
Harpoon category -- 3.9 percent; Purse Seine category -- 18.6 percent; 
Angling category -- 19.7 percent; Longline category -- 8.1 percent; 
Trap category -- 0.1 percent; and Reserve category-- 2.5 percent. The 
2002 ICCAT-recommended U.S. BFT quota of 1,464.6 mt, not including the 
annual 25 mt set-aside for pelagic longline vessels, would be allocated 
in accordance with these percentages. However, in addition to the 2002 
ICCAT quota recommendation, quota allocations are adjusted based on 
overharvest or underharvest from prior fishing year's activity and on 
U.S. data on dead discards as they relate to the ICCAT dead discard 
allowance.
    In addition, the 2002 ICCAT recommendation includes a provision 
designed to limit mortality of school BFT to an average of eight 
percent of overall quota allocation, calculated on a four-year basis. 
Estimates of recreational harvest showed that the eight percent 
tolerance limit had been exceeded in years one and two (2003 and 2004) 
of the 4-year balance period. In March 2005, NMFS consulted with the 
HMS Advisory Panel (AP) to identify alternatives for the 2005 school 
BFT fishery. Since NMFS was reviewing methodology for measuring BFT in 
the Large Pelagics Survey (LPS), which could result in a re-estimation 
and was expected to result in a decrease in previous school BFT harvest 
estimates, some members of the AP recommended that all of the available 
school quota be provided for the 2005 fishing year, even though such an 
approach could severely reduce the amount of quota available for the 
2006 fishing year. Estimates of the 2005 school harvest show that 
landings are at, or near, the 4-year eight percent tolerance limit 
after only 3 years. The reviews of LPS methodologies have not yet been 
completed, thus no school subquota can be provided for the 2006 fishing 
year.
    Each of these adjustments is discussed below and then applied to 
the results of the above percentage shares to determine the 2006 
fishing year proposed initial quota specifications.

The 2005 Underharvest/Overharvest

    The current ICCAT BFT quota recommendation allows, and U.S. 
regulations require, the addition or subtraction, as appropriate, of 
any underharvest or overharvest in a fishing year to the following 
fishing year, provided that the total of the adjusted category quotas 
does not result in overharvest of the total annual BFT quota and 
remains consistent with all applicable ICCAT recommendations, including 
restrictions on landings of school BFT. Therefore, NMFS proposes to 
adjust the 2006 fishing year quota specifications for the BFT fishery 
to account for underharvest or overharvest in the 2005 fishing year.
    Overall U.S. landings figures for the 2005 fishing year are still 
preliminary and may be updated before these 2006 fishing year 
specifications are finalized. Should adjustments to the final initial 
2006 BFT quota specifications be required based on final 2005 BFT 
landing figures, NMFS will publish the adjustments in the Federal 
Register. For the 2005 fishing year, NMFS has preliminarily determined 
that General category landings were lower than the adjusted General 
category quota by

[[Page 9509]]

approximately 493.0 mt; that Harpoon category landings were less than 
the adjusted Harpoon category quota by approximately 66.9 mt; that 
Longline category landings were less than the adjusted Longline 
category quota by approximately 145.3 mt; that Angling category landing 
estimates were less than the adjusted Angling category quota by 
approximately 50.6 mt; that Trap category landings were less than the 
adjusted Trap category quota by 3.8 mt; and that Purse Seine category 
landings were less than the adjusted Purse Seine category quota by 
approximately 351.7 mt. Regulations at 50 CFR 635.27(a)(9)(i) require 
that Purse Seine category underharvests or overharvests be subtracted 
from or added to each individual vessel's quota allocation, as 
appropriate. Based on the estimated amount of Reserve that NMFS 
maintains for the landing of BFT taken during ongoing scientific 
research projects and/or potential overharvests in certain categories, 
NMFS estimates that 245.7 mt of Reserve remains from the 2005 fishing 
year. Since all categories experienced underharvests from the 2005 
fishing year, these initial specifications will add the underharvest to 
the same quota category for the 2006 fishing year.

Dead Discards

    As part of the BFT rebuilding program, ICCAT recommends an 
allowance for dead discards. The U.S. dead discard allowance is 68 mt. 
Dead discard estimates for 2005 are not yet available, so the estimate 
for the 2004 calendar year is used as a proxy to calculate the amount 
to be added to, or subtracted from, the U.S. BFT landings quota for 
2006. The 2004 calendar year preliminary estimate of U.S. dead 
discards, as reported per the longline discards calculated from logbook 
tallies, adjusted as warranted when observer counts in quarterly/
geographic stratum exceeded logbook reports, totaled 71.8 mt. Estimates 
of dead discards from other gear types and fishing sectors that do not 
use the pelagic longline vessel logbook are not collected, and thus, 
are not included in this calculation. As U.S. fishing activity is 
estimated to have resulted in more dead discards than its allowance, 
the ICCAT recommendation and U.S. regulations state that the United 
States must subtract the difference between the amount of dead discards 
and the allowance (i.e., 71.8 - 68.0 mt = 3.8 mt) from its total 
allowed landings for the following fishing year, from individual 
fishing categories, or from the Reserve category. NMFS proposes to 
subtract the 3.8 mt from each Longline category regional subquota based 
on the percentage of total longline landings that occurred in each 
geographic region.

2006 Proposed Initial Quota Specifications

    In accordance with the 2002 ICCAT quota recommendation, the ICCAT 
recommendation regarding the dead discard allowance, the HMS FMP 
percentage shares for each of the domestic categories, and regulations 
regarding annual adjustments at Sec.  635.27(a)(9)(ii), NMFS proposes 
initial quota specifications for the 2006 fishing year as follows: 
General category - 1,182.8 mt; Harpoon category - 124.0 mt; Purse Seine 
category - 624.1 mt; Angling category - 339.2 mt; Longline category - 
285.1 mt; and Trap category - 5.3 mt. Additionally, 282.3 mt would be 
allocated to the Reserve category for inseason adjustments, including 
potentially providing for a late season General category fishery, or 
allocated to cover scientific research collection and potential 
overharvest in any category except the Purse Seine category.
    As discussed above, under the ICCAT 2002 recommendation regarding 
school landings, these specifications do not provide for a school 
fishery during the 2006 fishing year to be consistent with the ICCAT 
recommendation and FMP. Based on the above proposed initial 
specifications and considerations regarding the school fishery, the 
Angling category quota of 339.2 mt would be further subdivided as 
follows: School BFT - 5.7 mt, with 0.0 mt to the northern area (north 
of 39E18' N. latitude), 0.0 mt to the southern area (south of 39E18' N. 
latitude), plus 5.7 mt held in reserve; large school/small medium BFT - 
325.8 mt, with 153.8 mt to the northern area and 172.0 mt to the 
southern area; and large medium/giant BFT - 7.7 mt, with 2.5 mt to the 
northern area and 5.2 mt to the southern area.
    The 2002 ICCAT recommendation includes an annual 25 mt set-aside 
quota to account for bycatch of BFT related to directed longline 
fisheries in the vicinity of the management area boundary and referred 
to as the NED hereafter. This set-aside quota is in addition to the 
overall incidental longline quota to be subdivided in accordance with 
the North/South allocation percentages mentioned below. Thus, the 
proposed Longline category quota of 285.1 mt would be subdivided as 
follows: 82.3 mt to pelagic longline vessels landing BFT north of 31E 
N. latitude and 123.2 mt to pelagic longline vessels landing BFT south 
of 31E N. latitude, and 79.6 mt (54.6 mt from 2005 + 25.0 mt for 2006) 
to account for bycatch of BFT related to directed pelagic longline 
fisheries in the NED. The bycatch allocation by ICCAT for pelagic 
longline vessels in the NED would be allocated to a special subcategory 
of the Longline north category. Accounting for landings under this 
additional quota would be maintained separately from other landings 
under the Longline north subcategory. Finally, regulations regarding 
BFT target catch requirements for pelagic longline vessels within the 
NED do not apply until the landings equal the available set-aside quota 
(50 C.F.R. 635.23(f)(3)) of 25 mt. After the available quota has been 
landed, target catch requirements at 50 C.F.R. 635.23(f)(1) will then 
apply.

General Category Effort Controls

    For the last several years, NMFS has implemented General category 
time-period subquotas to increase the likelihood that fishing would 
continue throughout the entire General category season. The subquotas 
are consistent with the objectives of the 1999 FMP and are designed to 
address concerns regarding the allocation of fishing opportunities, to 
assist with distribution and achievement of optimum yield, to allow for 
a late season fishery, and to improve market conditions and scientific 
monitoring.
    The regulations implementing the 1999 FMP divide the annual General 
category quota into three time-period subquotas as follows: 60 percent 
for June-August, 30 percent for September, and 10 percent for October-
January. These percentages would be applied to the adjusted 2006 
coastwide quota for the General category of 1,182.8 mt, minus 10.0 mt 
reserved for the New York Bight set-aside fishery. Therefore, of the 
available 1172.8 mt coastwide quota, 709.7 mt would be available in the 
period beginning June 1 and ending August 31, 2006; 344.8 mt would be 
available in the period beginning September 1 and ending September 30, 
2006; and 118.3 mt would be available in the period beginning October 
1, 2006, and ending January 31, 2007.
    In addition to time-period subquotas, NMFS also has implemented 
General category RFDs to extend the General category fishing season. 
The RFDs are designed to address the same issues addressed by time-
period subquotas and provide additional fine scale inseason 
flexibility. For the 2006 fishing year, NMFS proposes a series of solid 
blocks of RFDs to extend the General category for as long as possible 
through the October through January time-period.
    Therefore, NMFS proposes that persons aboard vessels permitted in 
the

[[Page 9510]]

General category would be prohibited from fishing, including catch-and-
release and tag-and-release, for BFT of all sizes on the following 
days: all Saturdays and Sundays from November 18, 2006, through January 
31, 2007, and November 23, 2006, and December 25, 2006, inclusive, 
while the fishery is open. These proposed RFDs would improve 
distribution of fishing opportunities during the late season without 
increasing BFT mortality.
    Finally, NMFS proposes to adjust the General category retention 
limit to three BFT (73 inches (185.4 centimeters (cm)) or greater per 
vessel per day/trip). This retention limit would go into effect on the 
effective date of the final rule and would remain in place until the 
end of the first General category subperiod on August 31, 2006, or 
until adjusted before that with an inseason action, if necessary. 
Although NMFS usually adjusts retention limits with an inseason action, 
the adjustment is included in this proposed rule to provide an 
opportunity for public comment. NMFS may consider further retention 
limit adjustments after August 31, 2006.

Angling Category Effort Controls

    NMFS proposes to adjust Angling category retention limits to three 
BFT (47 inches (119.4 cm) to less than 73 inches (185.4 cm)) per vessel 
per day/trip. Although NMFS usually adjusts Angling category retention 
limits with an inseason action, the adjustment is included in this 
proposed rule to provide an opportunity for public comment. NMFS is 
especially interested in comments on how to minimize the impacts of the 
retention prohibition of school size class BFT (27 inches (68.6 cm) to 
less than 47 inches (119.4 cm)), particularly in those regions which 
extensively fish for school size BFT.

Classification

    This proposed rule is published under the authority of the 
Magnuson-Stevens Act and the ATCA. The AA has preliminarily determined 
that the regulations contained in this proposed rule are necessary to 
implement the recommendations of ICCAT and to manage the domestic 
Atlantic HMS fisheries.
    The purpose of this proposed action is to: (1) implement the 2002 
ICCAT recommendation regarding the BFT quota, by proposing 2006 
specifications for the BFT fishery that allocates the quota among 
domestic fishing categories, including 25 mt of BFT quota to the 
Longline category and the four-year eight percent tolerance limit on 
landings of school BFT, (2) implement General category effort controls, 
and (3) implement Angling category effort controls.
    NMFS has prepared this IRFA to analyze the impacts on small 
entities of the alternatives for establishing 2006 fishing year BFT 
quotas for all domestic fishing categories and General and Angling 
category effort controls.
    The analysis for the IRFA assesses the impacts of the various 
alternatives on the vessels that participate in the BFT fisheries, all 
of which are considered small entities. In order to do this, NMFS has 
estimated the average impact that the alternatives to establish the 
2006 BFT quota for all domestic fishing categories would have on 
individual categories and the vessels within those categories. As 
mentioned above, the 2002 ICCAT recommendation increased the BFT quota 
allocation to 1,489.6 mt, to be distributed to the domestic fishing 
categories based on the allocation percentages established in the 1999 
FMP. This quota allocation includes a set-aside quota of 25 mt to 
account for incidental catch of BFT related to directed longline 
swordfish and non-BFT tuna fisheries in the NED. Both these quota 
modifications were established in the 2003, 2004 and 2005 
specifications.
    In 2005, the annual gross revenues from the commercial BFT fishery 
were approximately $3.4 million. There are approximately 8,511 vessels 
that are permitted to land and sell BFT under four commercial BFT quota 
categories (including charter/headboat vessels). The commercial 
categories and their 2005 gross revenues are General ($2.2 million), 
Harpoon ($218,017), Purse seine ($906,946), and Longline ($163,665). 
The analysis for the IRFA approximates that each vessel within a 
category will have similar catch and gross revenues to show the 
relative impact of the various preferred alternatives on vessels. Data 
on net revenues of individual fishermen are lacking, so the economic 
impact of the alternatives is averaged across each category. This is 
considered a reasonable approach for BFT fisheries. More specifically, 
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 (i.e., number of trips expended that led to the 
successful trip and the associated cost of gas, bait, ice, etc.) so net 
revenue for each participant cannot be calculated. So NMFS cannot 
determine whether net revenue varies among individual fishery 
participants within each category, and therefore whether the economic 
impact of a regulation would have a varying impact among individual 
participants. As a result, NMFS analyzes the average impact of the 
proposed alternatives among all participants in each category.
    For the allocation of BFT quota among domestic fishing categories, 
NMFS analyzed a no action alternative and alternative two (preferred 
alternative) which would implement the 2002 ICCAT recommendation. NMFS 
considered a third alternative that would have allocated the 2002 ICCAT 
recommendation in a manner other than that designated in the 1999 FMP 
that was meant to address issues regarding the changing nature of the 
BFT fisheries, including providing specific set-asides and allocations 
for fishing groups which are not currently considered in the 1999 FMP. 
However, since the third alternative could have resulted in a defacto 
sub-period quota reallocation, an FMP amendment would be necessary for 
its implementation, and it was not further analyzed. In a concurrent 
rulemaking, changes to BFT subquota allocations, among other things, 
have been proposed in the consolidated HMS FMP (70 FR 48804, August 19, 
2005).
    As noted above, alternative two would implement the 2002 ICCAT 
recommendation in accordance with the 1999 FMP and consistent with the 
ATCA in the same way it was implemented in 2003-2005. Under the ATCA, 
the United States is obligated to implement ICCAT-approved quota 
recommendations. The preferred alternative would apply this quota and 
have positive impacts for fishermen. The no action alternative would 
keep the quota at pre-2002 ICCAT recommendation levels (i.e. 77.6 mt 
less) and would not be consistent with the purpose and need for this 
action and the 1999 FMP. It would maintain economic impacts to the 
United States and to local economies at a distribution and scale 
similar to 2002 or recent prior years, but would deny fishermen 
additional fishing opportunities as recommended by the 2002 ICCAT 
recommendation and as mandated by the ATCA.
    The preferred alternative would also implement the provision of the 
2002 ICCAT recommendation that limits tolerance for school BFT landings 
to eight percent of the domestic quota, calculated on a four-year 
average. Because of high landings in the previous 3 years, resulting in 
near full utilization of the 4-year tolerance limit, a prohibition on 
school landings is proposed. The prohibition could have negative 
economic impacts to fishermen

[[Page 9511]]

who fish for school BFT, particularly those who rely exclusively on the 
school size class for BFT harvest. In some regions, access to large 
school and small medium BFT will mitigate these impacts. In areas where 
school size BFT are primarily available, fishermen may be able to shift 
their efforts to other pelagic species (e.g. striped bass or bluefish) 
to mitigate impacts. The degree to which shifting effort for either of 
these user groups would mitigate negative economic impacts is unknown.
    Two alternatives were considered for effort control using 
restricted fishing days in the General category. The no action 
alternative would not implement any RFDs with publication of the 
initial specifications but rather would use inseason management 
authority established in the 1999 FMP to implement RFDs during the 
season, should catch rates warrant taking this approach. This 
alternative could be most beneficial during a season of low catch rates 
and could have positive economic consequences if slow catch rates were 
to persist during the late season fishery. During a slow season, the 
season could regulate itself and fishermen could choose when to fish or 
not based on their own preferences. However, it is impossible to 
predict in advance whether the season will have low or high catch 
rates.
    The preferred alternative would designate RFDs according to a 
schedule published in the initial BFT specifications. In the past, when 
catch rates have been high, the use of RFDs (preferred alternative) has 
had positive economic consequences by avoiding oversupplying the market 
and extending the season as late as possible. In addition, establishing 
RFDs at the season onset provides better planning opportunities than 
implementing RFDs during the season, since charter/headboat businesses 
could book trips and recreational and commercial fishermen could make 
plans ahead of time rather than waiting until the last minute to see if 
an RFD is going to be implemented. However, implementing RFDs to extend 
the late season may have some negative economic impacts to northern 
area fishermen who choose to travel to the southern area during the 
late season fishery. Travel and lodging costs may be greater if the 
season were extended over a greater period of time as proposed under 
the preferred alternative. Those additional costs could be mitigated if 
the ex-vessel price of BFT stays high, as is intended under this 
alternative. Without RFDs, travel costs may be less because of a 
shorter season; however, the market could be oversupplied and ex-vessel 
prices could fall. Overall, extending the season as late as possible 
and establishing formalized RFDs at the season onset would enhance the 
likelihood of increasing participation by southern area fishermen, 
increase access to the fishery over a greater range of the fish 
migration, provide a reliable mechanism for slowing a fishery that has 
an ability to generate extremely high catch rates, and is expected to 
provide better than average ex-vessel prices with an overall increase 
in gross revenues.
    A three fish retention limit (73 inches (185.4 cm) or above) is the 
preferred alternative for the opening retention limit for the General 
category, which would be in effect through August 31, 2006. This 
alternative is expected to result in the most positive socio-economic 
impacts by providing the best opportunity to harvest the quota while 
avoiding oversupplying the market, thus maximizing gross revenues. 
Other considered alternatives were the no action alternative (one BFT 
73 inches (185.4 cm) or above per vessel per day/trip) and a retention 
limit of two BFT (73 inches (185.4 cm) or above per vessel per day/
trip). Both these alternatives are expected to be too restrictive given 
the large amount of quota available for the General category during the 
2006 fishing year and could result in the negative economic impact of 
lower gross revenues. Although early season landings seldom occur at a 
rate that could oversupply the market, NMFS will monitor landings 
closely to assure that the increased retention limit does not 
contribute to an oversupply.
    Six alternatives were considered for Angling category retention 
limits for the 2006 fishing year. The no action alternative was 
rejected since it would allow landing of school size class BFT, which 
is contrary to the 1999 FMP, 2002 ICCAT recommendation and the ATCA, 
given the status of school landings over the first 3 years of the 4-
year balance period. The preferred alternative is a three BFT (from 47 
inches (119.4 cm) to less than 73 inches (185.4 cm) per vessel per day/
trip) retention limit for all sectors of the Angling category for the 
entire 2006 fishing year.
    In addition to the preferred alternative, two other alternatives 
were considered that would provide the same retention limits for both 
private recreational and charter/headboats. One alternative (one BFT 
from 47 inches (119.4 cm) to less than 73 inches (185.4 cm) per vessel 
per day/trip) was not preferred because it could unnecessarily restrict 
the amount of Angling category landings which could result in an 
underharvest of the quota and a negative economic impact. The other 
alternative would allow one BFT per person up to a maximum of six per 
vessel (from 47 inches (119.4 cm) to less than 73 inches (185.4 cm)) 
per day/trip and is the alternative most likely to result in an 
overharvest of the quota with negative economic consequences.
    Two other alternatives were considered which provided differential 
retention limits between the Angling category sectors, all for BFT from 
47 inches (119.4 cm) to less than 73 inches (185.4 cm). The first would 
provide a private vessel retention limit of two fish per vessel per 
day/trip and a charter/headboat limit of one fish per person with a 
maximum of six per vessel per day/trip. The second alternative would 
provide one fish for each vessel per day/trip for the season, with an 
increase to three fish per vessel for charter/headboats during June 15, 
2006 through July 31, 2006 and the month of September 2006. The second 
alternative was considered to be unnecessarily restrictive with a 
greater potential for negative economic impacts associated with not 
harvesting the entire quota. The first alternative was not preferred 
since it could result in perceived inequities between the two sectors 
of the Angling category fishery.
    The preferred alternative would provide a three-fish (47 inches to 
less than 73 inches) retention limit for both charter/headboats and 
private recreational vessels for the entire season. The preferred 
alternative was selected to balance the intent of landing the Angling 
category quota without overharvesting, providing sufficient retention 
limits to offset costs, reducing any perceived inequities between the 
charter/headboat and private recreational vessel sectors of the Angling 
category fishery, and providing economic benefits to all regional 
sectors of the fishery.
    None of the proposed alternatives in this document would result in 
additional reporting, recordkeeping, compliance, or monitoring 
requirements for the public. This proposed rule has also been 
determined not to duplicate, overlap, or conflict with any other 
Federal rules.
    This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for 
purposes of Executive Executive Order 12866.
    On September 7, 2000, NMFS reinitiated formal consultation for all 
HMS commercial fisheries under section 7 of the ESA. A Biological 
Opinion (BiOp), issued June 14, 2001, concluded that continued 
operation of the Atlantic pelagic longline fishery is likely to 
jeopardize the continued existence of endangered and threatened

[[Page 9512]]

sea turtle species under NMFS jurisdiction. This BiOp also concluded 
that the continued operation of the purse seine and handgear fisheries, 
which are the primary gears for directed BFT harvest, may adversely 
affect, but is not likely to jeopardize, the continued existence of any 
endangered or threatened species under NMFS jurisdiction. NMFS has 
implemented the reasonable and prudent alternative (RPA) required by 
this BiOp.
    Subsequently, a new BiOp on the Atlantic pelagic longline fishery 
was issued on June 1, 2004. The 2004 BiOp found that the continued 
operation of the fishery was not likely to jeopardize the continued 
existence of loggerhead, green, hawksbill, Kemp's ridley, or olive 
ridley sea turtles, but was likely to jeopardize the continued 
existence of leatherback sea turtles. The 2004 BiOp identified RPAs 
necessary to avoid jeopardizing leatherbacks, and listed the Reasonable 
and Prudent Measures (RPMs) and terms and conditions necessary to 
authorize continued take as part of the revised incidental take 
statement. On July 6, 2004, NMFS published a final rule (69 FR 40734) 
implementing additional sea turtle bycatch and bycatch mortality 
mitigation measures for all Atlantic vessels with pelagic longline gear 
onboard. NMFS is implementing the other RPMs in compliance with the 
2004 BiOp. On August 12, 2004, NMFS published an advance notice of 
proposed rulemaking (69 FR 49858) to request comments on potential 
regulatory changes to further reduce bycatch and bycatch mortality of 
sea turtles, as well as comments on the feasibility of framework 
mechanisms to address unanticipated increases in sea turtle 
interactions and mortalities, should they occur. NMFS will undertake 
additional rulemaking and non-regulatory actions, as required, to 
implement any management measures that are required under the 2004 
BiOp.
    The measures proposed in this action are not expected to have 
adverse impacts on protected species, or have any further impacts on 
protected species than those considered in the 2001 and 2004 BiOps. The 
2002 ICCAT recommendation increased the BFT quota slightly (77.6 mt), 
which may have resulted in a slight increase in effort in BFT fisheries 
after its initial implementation in 2003. NMFS does not expect that 
this slight increase has altered fishing patterns or effort compared to 
pre-2003 levels because the amount of additional quota is so small that 
it would likely not have been an incentive for other fishermen to join 
the open access BFT fisheries, or for either open or limited access BFT 
fishermen to substantially increase fishing effort. The options to 
control effort in the General and Angling categories are not expected 
to adversely impact protected species or have any further impacts on 
protected species than those previously analyzed, since they would not 
result in a change in fishing patterns or an increase in effort, in 
part because they are designed to moderate fishing effort without such 
changes. In addition, these measures are within the limits of effort 
controls allowed under the HMS regulations at 50 CFR 635.23 which were 
covered by the previous BiOps. The specific action to allocate 
additional BFT quota to the Longline category would not alter current 
impacts on threatened or endangered species. Since BFT are only allowed 
to be retained incidentally in this fishery, the additional quota would 
not provide an incentive to target BFT, or modify fishing behavior or 
expand fishing effort. Thus, overall, the proposed action would not be 
expected to change previously analyzed endangered species or marine 
mammal interaction rates or magnitudes, or substantially alter current 
fishing practices or bycatch mortality rates.

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

    Dated: February 17, 2006.
William T. Hogarth
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 06-1715 Filed 2-17-06; 4:23 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S