Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Quotas, 52198-52204 [2015-21147]
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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 167 / Friday, August 28, 2015 / Rules and Regulations
‘‘major rule’’ as defined by 5 U.S.C.
804(2).
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 271
Environmental protection;
Administrative practice and procedure;
Confidential business information;
Hazardous materials transportation;
Hazardous waste; Indians—lands;
Intergovernmental relations; Penalties;
Reporting, and Recordkeeping
requirements.
Authority: This action is issued under the
authority of Sections 2002(a), 3006 and
7004(b) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act, as
amended, 42 U.S.C. 6912(a), 6926, 6974(b).
Dated: August 10, 2015.
Susan Hedman,
Regional Administrator, Region 5.
[FR Doc. 2015–21385 Filed 8–27–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
50 CFR Part 635
[Docket No. 150121066–5717–02]
RIN 0648–BE81
Atlantic Highly Migratory Species;
Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Quotas
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule; notice of adjusted
2015 Purse Seine and Reserve category
quotas.
AGENCY:
NMFS hereby modifies the
baseline annual U.S. quota and
subquotas for Atlantic bluefin tuna
(BFT). Specifically for 2015, NMFS
augments the Reserve category quota
with available underharvest of the 2014
adjusted U.S. BFT quota and also
recalculates the Purse Seine and Reserve
category quotas that were announced
earlier this year (consistent with the
Amendment 7 annual reallocation
process) to reflect the increased U.S.
quota. Furthermore, NMFS makes minor
modifications to the regulations
regarding Atlantic tunas purse seine
auxiliary vessel activity under the
‘‘transfer at sea’’ provisions. This action
is necessary to implement binding
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
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SUMMARY:
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Conservation and Management Act
(Magnuson-Stevens Act).
DATES: Effective September 26, 2015.
ADDRESSES: Supporting documents such
as the Environmental Assessments and
Fishery Management Plans described
below may be downloaded from the
HMS Web site at www.nmfs.noaa.gov/
sfa/hms/. These documents also are
available upon request from Sarah
McLaughlin or Brad McHale at the
telephone number below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Sarah McLaughlin or Brad McHale,
978–281–9260.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Atlantic
bluefin tuna, bigeye tuna, albacore tuna,
yellowfin tuna, and skipjack tuna
(hereafter referred to as ‘‘Atlantic
tunas’’) are managed under the dual
authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Act
and ATCA. As an active member of
ICCAT, the United States implements
binding ICCAT recommendations.
ATCA authorizes the Secretary of
Commerce (Secretary) to promulgate
regulations, as may be necessary and
appropriate to carry out ICCAT
recommendations. The authority to
issue regulations under the MagnusonStevens Act and ATCA has been
delegated from the Secretary to the
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries,
NMFS.
Background
Background information about the
need to modify the U.S. BFT base quota
and the subquotas for all domestic
fishing categories, as well as the
regulatory text regarding Atlantic tunas
purse seine auxiliary vessel activity
under the ‘‘transfer at sea’’ provisions,
were provided in the preamble to the
proposed rule (80 FR 33467, June 12,
2015) and most of that information is
not repeated here.
Changes From the Proposed Rule
In this final rule, NMFS is changing
text at § 635.27(a)(4)(ii), to reflect the
equal allocation of the baseline Purse
Seine category quota that is finalized in
this action among the five individual
Purse Seine category participants.
NMFS inadvertently omitted this
calculation in the regulatory text for the
proposed rule. Specifically, in the
proposed rule, NMFS proposed
updating the baseline Purse Seine quota
to 184.3 mt (§ 635.27(a)(4)(i)) to reflect
the increased U.S. quota. However,
NMFS did not carry this change through
to the codified text in § 635.27(a)(4)(ii)
to reflect the division of that Purse
Seine category quota equally among the
five individual Purse Seine fishery
participants. The existing regulatory text
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Sfmt 4700
specifies that annually, NMFS will
make equal allocations of the baseline
Purse Seine category quota described
under paragraph (a)(4)(i) of the section
to individual Purse Seine participants.
To reflect the increase in the baseline
Purse Seine category quota to 184.3 mt
for each Purse Seine category
participant, NMFS is updating the
amount in the regulatory text at
§ 635.27(a)(4)(ii) to 36.9 mt (i.e., 184.3
mt/5 = 36.9 mt each). Because the
change in the final rule simply reflects
a mathematical function of the amount
in § 635.27(a)(4)(i) and corrects the nowoutdated number for the individual
Purse Seine participants in
§ 635.27(a)(4)(ii) and does not alter the
formula used or substance of the
proposed rule, NMFS has determined
that it is appropriate to make this
change in this final rule.
2014 ICCAT Recommendation
At its November 2014 meeting, ICCAT
adopted a western Atlantic BFT TAC of
2,000 mt annually for 2015 and 2016
after considering the results of the 2014
BFT stock assessment and following
negotiations among Contracting Parties
(ICCAT Recommendation 14–05). This
TAC, which is an increase from the
1,750-mt TAC that has applied annually
since 2011, is consistent with scientific
advice from the 2014 stock assessment,
which indicated that annual catches of
less than 2,250 mt would have a 50percent probability of allowing the
spawning stock biomass to be at or
above its 2013 level by 2019 under
either recruitment scenario, and that
annual catches of 2,000 mt or less
would continue to allow stock growth
under both the low and high
recruitment scenarios for the remainder
of the rebuilding program. All TAC,
quota, and weight information
discussed in this notice are whole
weight amounts.
For 2015 and 2016, the ICCAT
Recommendation also makes the
following allocations from the western
BFT 2,000-mt TAC for bycatch related to
directed longline fisheries in the
Northeast Distant gear restricted area
(NED): 15 mt for Canada and 25 mt for
the United States. Following subtraction
of these allocations from the TAC, the
recommendation allocates the
remainder to the United States (54.02
percent), Canada (22.32 percent) Japan
(17.64 percent), Mexico (5.56 percent),
UK (0.23 percent), and France (0.23
percent). For the United States, 54.02
percent of the remaining 1,960 mt is
1,058.79 mt annually for 2015 and 2016.
This represents an increase of
approximately 135 mt (approximately
14 percent) from the U.S. baseline BFT
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quota that applied annually for 2011
through 2014. Thus, the annual total
U.S. quota, including the 25 mt to
account for bycatch related to pelagic
longline fisheries in the NED, is
1,083.79 mt.
As a method for limiting fishing
mortality on juvenile BFT, ICCAT
continued to recommend a tolerance
limit on the annual harvest of BFT
measuring less than 115 cm (straight
fork length) to no more than 10 percent
by weight of a Contracting Party’s total
BFT quota over the 2015 and 2016
fishing periods. The United States
implements this provision by limiting
the harvest of school BFT (measuring 27
to less than 47 inches (68.5 to less than
119 cm curved fork length)) as
appropriate to not exceed the 10-percent
limit over the two-year period.
Domestic Allocations and Quotas
The table below shows the final
baseline quotas and subquotas that
result from applying the process
established in Amendment 7 to the 2006
Consolidated Atlantic Highly Migratory
Species Fishery Management Plan
52199
(Amendment 7) to the higher U.S. BFT
quota that ICCAT recommended in
2014. These quotas are codified at
§ 635.27(a) and will remain in effect
until changed (for instance, if any new
ICCAT western BFT TAC
recommendation is adopted). Because
ICCAT adopted TACs for 2015 and 2016
in Recommendation 14–05, NMFS
currently anticipates that these annual
base quotas would be in effect through
2016, but they will remain in place
unless and until a new TAC is adopted
by ICCAT.
TABLE 1—FINAL ATLANTIC BLUEFIN TUNA (BFT) ANNUAL BASELINE QUOTAS
[In metric tons]
Category
Annual baseline quotas and subquotas
Quota
Subquotas
January–March 1
24.7
233.3
123.7
60.7
24.3
108.4
....................
....................
....................
82.3
....................
....................
4.5
....................
....................
....................
....................
....................
....................
....................
....................
....................
....................
....................
20.1
41.7
46.6
....................
38.9
43.5
....................
1.5
1.5
1.5
....................
....................
....................
....................
General .................................................................
466.7
Harpoon ................................................................
Longline ................................................................
Trap .......................................................................
Purse Seine ..........................................................
Angling ..................................................................
38.6
148.3
1.0
2 184.3
195.2
Reserve .................................................................
U.S. Baseline BFT Quota .....................................
3 1,058.9
...................................................
June–August .........................................................
September ............................................................
October–November ..............................................
December .............................................................
School ...................................................................
Reserve .........................................................
North of 39°18′ N. lat ....................................
South of 39°18′ N. lat ....................................
Large School/Small Medium ................................
North of 39°18′ N. lat ....................................
South of 39°18′ N. lat ....................................
Trophy ..................................................................
North of 39°18′ N. lat ....................................
South of 39°18′ N. lat ....................................
Gulf of Mexico ...............................................
...............................................................................
...............................................................................
3 1,083.9
...............................................................................
Total U.S. Quota, including 25 mt for NED
(Longline).
2 24.8
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1 January 1 through the effective date of a closure notice filed by NMFS announcing that the January subquota is reached or projected to be
reached, or through March 31, whichever comes first.
2 Baseline amount shown. Does not reflect the annual adjustment process (for the Purse Seine and Reserve category quotas) adopted in
Amendment 7, discussed below.
3 Totals subject to rounding error.
The proposed rule described how
Amendment 7 also changed the way
that NMFS adjusts the U.S. annual
quota for any previous year’s
underharvest. Rather than publishing
proposed and final quota specifications
annually to adjust the quota for the
underharvest as NMFS has in the past,
NMFS will automatically augment the
Reserve category quota to the extent that
underharvest from the previous year is
available. Such adjustment will be
consistent with ICCAT limits and will
be calculated when complete BFT catch
information for the prior year is
available and finalized. Consistent with
the quota regulations, NMFS may
allocate any portion of the Reserve
category quota for inseason or annual
adjustments to any fishing category
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quota pursuant to regulatory
determination criteria described at 50
CFR 635.27(a)(8), or for scientific
research.
In the proposed rule, NMFS stated
that the preliminary 2014 landings and
dead discard estimate (i.e., using the
160.6-mt total of the 2013 estimated
longline dead discards (156.4 mt) and
the observed 2014 purse seine dead
discards (4.2 mt) as a proxy for
estimated 2014 dead discards) indicated
an underharvest of approximately 218
mt. The preliminary 2014 pelagic
longline dead discard estimate of 138.8
mt is now available from the NMFS
Southeast Fisheries Science Center.
Adding the 2014 observed dead discards
of 4.2 mt for the purse seine fishery, the
best available annual estimate of U.S.
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dead discards that could be expected in
2015 is now 143 mt. As anticipated and
explained to the public at the proposed
rule stage, NMFS is using the updated
total in this final rule because it is the
best available and most complete
information NMFS has regarding dead
discards. Based on data available as of
July 7, 2015, BFT landings in 2014
totaled 667.3 mt. Adding the 143-mt
estimate of dead discards results in a
preliminary 2014 total catch of 810.3
mt, which is 233.3 mt less than the
amount of quota (inclusive of dead
discards) allowed under ICCAT
Recommendation 13–09 (i.e., 948.7 mt
plus 94.9 mt of 2013 underharvest
carried forward to 2014, totaling 1,043.6
mt). Thus, the underharvest for 2014 is
233.3 mt. Per the 2014 ICCAT
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recommendation, only 10 percent of the
total 2014 U.S. quota, or 94.9 mt, of that
underharvest is carried forward to the
2015 fishing year. NMFS anticipated
this amount of available underharvest to
carry forward to 2015 in the proposed
rule.
Consistent with the process adopted
in the Amendment 7 implementing
regulations, NMFS calculated at the
beginning of the year the quota available
to individual Atlantic Tunas Purse
Seine category fishery participants for
2015 based on BFT catch (landings and
dead discards) by those fishery
participants in 2014. Based on that
information, 87.4 mt of the baseline
Purse Seine category quota of 159.1 mt
was reallocated to the Reserve category
for the 2015 fishing year. This process
resulted in a total of 71.7 mt for Purse
Seine fishery participants for 2015 and
108.8 mt (i.e., the base Reserve quota of
21.4 mt + 87.4 mt from the Purse Seine
category) for the Reserve category (80 FR
7547, February 11, 2015). As discussed
in the proposed rule, NMFS is first
adjusting the 2015 Purse Seine category
quota based on the ICCAT quota
increase in this rule. As a result, the
baseline Purse Seine category quota
would increase by 25.2 mt to 184.3 mt.
We then recalculate the amounts of
quota available to individual Purse
Seine fishery participants for 2015
applying the final baseline Purse Seine
category (184.3 mt), and adjust the 2015
Purse Seine and Reserve category quotas
as appropriate. This process results in a
total of 82.9 mt for Purse Seine fishery
participants in 2015, with the remainder
(i.e., 184.3¥82.9 = 101.4 mt) added to
the Reserve category. Consistent with
§ 635.27(a)(4)(v)(C), NMFS will notify
Atlantic Tunas Purse Seine fishery
participants of the adjusted amount of
quota available for their use in 2015
through the Individual Bluefin Quota
(IBQ) electronic system and in writing.
NMFS recently implemented two
inseason transfers from the Reserve
category for 2015 (34 mt to the Longline
category and 40 mt to the Harpoon
category), so the adjusted 2015 Reserve
category quota as of publication of this
action, including the allowable
underharvest described above, would be
24.8¥34¥40 + 101.4 + 94.9 = 147.1 mt
(80 FR 45098, July 29, 2015 and 80 FR
46516, August 5, 2015, respectively).
Atlantic Tunas Purse Seine Auxiliary
Vessel Activity
Currently, HMS regulations specify
that an owner or operator of a vessel for
which an Atlantic Tunas Purse Seine
category permit has been issued may
transfer large medium and giant BFT at
sea from the net of the catching vessel
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to another vessel for which an Atlantic
Tunas Purse Seine category permit has
been issued, provided the amount
transferred does not cause the receiving
vessel to exceed its currently authorized
vessel allocation, including incidental
catch limits. NMFS is making minor
modifications to this regulatory text to
clarify that this text was not meant to
allow ‘‘transfer at sea,’’ which clearly is
prohibited by ICCAT Recommendation
14–05, but is only meant to allow the
routine, limited operations of an
auxiliary vessel (i.e., a skiff) in assisting
its associated purse seine vessel in catch
operations for BFT. Such activities are
not the type of activity meant to be
prohibited by that Recommendation.
This clarification is administrative,
reflects current practice, and would
have no environmental impacts or
effects on current fishing operations.
Comments and Responses
NMFS received two written
comments on the proposed rule, as well
as two verbal comments through the
public conference call/webinar. Few of
the comments NMFS received focused
specifically on the proposed rule.
Below, NMFS summarizes and responds
to all comments made specifically on
the proposed rule during the comment
period. The comments that were outside
the scope of this rule are summarized
under ‘‘Other Issues’’ below.
Comment 1: One commenter
suggested that, for conservation reasons
and to allow the BFT stock to grow,
NMFS should not increase the quota.
Response: The western Atlantic BFT
TAC, which includes the U.S. quota, is
expected to allow for continued BFT
stock growth under the both the low and
high stock recruitment scenarios
considered by ICCAT’s Standing
Committee on Research and Statistics
(SCRS) and is consistent with ICCAT
recommendations, ATCA, and domestic
and international management
objectives. Furthermore, NMFS is
required under the Magnuson-Stevens
Act and ATCA to provide U.S. fishing
vessels with a reasonable opportunity to
harvest the ICCAT-recommended quota.
Comment 2: Two commenters,
representing fishing industry
organizations, supported finalizing the
rule as proposed but encouraged NMFS
to increase BFT daily retention limits to
allow more of the available quota to be
harvested.
Response: This rulemaking does not
address daily retention limits. Adjusting
daily retention limits occurs through
separate inseason actions. NMFS has the
authority to adjust the daily retention
limits for the General, Harpoon, and
Angling categories inseason, based on
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consideration of applicable regulatory
determination criteria at § 635.27(a)(8).
In adjusting Angling category limits,
NMFS also considers the ICCAT
tolerance limit of school BFT, which
NMFS manages as appropriate to not
exceed 10 percent (108.4 mt) of the
annual U.S. BFT quota over each twoconsecutive-year period (starting with
2015–2016). To date in 2015, NMFS has
taken two inseason actions to increase
the General and Angling category
retention limit from the default levels
(79 FR 77943, December 29, 2014, and
80 FR 27863, May 15, 2015). These
actions may result in more of the
General and Angling category subquotas
to be harvested, relative to 2014,
depending on the availability of BFT to
the fisheries. NMFS also may adjust
recreational effort controls inseason
based on the best information available,
but landings data are not available with
the timing and frequency of commercial
data (submitted within 24 hours to
NMFS through required landings
reports for each fish) such that
adjustments in recreational fishing effort
may need to be made in subsequent
fishing years.
Comment 3: One representative of an
environmental non-governmental
organization commented that the
proposed rule is reasonable but
expressed disappointment in ICCAT’s
recommendation to increase the TAC,
given stock assessment uncertainties,
and expressed concern that a quota
increase could jeopardize rebuilding the
stock by 2019.
Response: The TAC recommended by
ICCAT in 2014 followed the scientific
advice of ICCAT’s SCRS and considered
the results of the 2014 stock assessment
update while also taking into account
remaining uncertainties. The SCRS
indicated that annual catches of less
than 2,250 mt would have a 50 percent
probability of allowing the spawning
stock biomass to be at or above its 2013
level by 2019 under either recruitment
scenario, and that annual catches of
2,000 mt or less would continue to
allow stock growth under both the low
and high recruitment scenarios for the
remainder of the rebuilding program.
NMFS is committed to the sustainable,
science-based management of BFT and
is hopeful that the updated information
and new data that will be incorporated
into the next benchmark/full stock
assessment will help to reduce some of
the scientific uncertainty that the SCRS
has identified for this stock.
Other Issues
In addition to the above comments
specifically on the content of the
proposed rule, other commenters raised
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issues that are outside the scope of this
rule, particularly regarding Amendment
7 implementation. These comments
included concern about the potential
impact of quota transfers to the Longline
category on IBQ shareholders and
interest in how the reporting by
commercial handgear vessel owners is
proceeding during the initial
implementation this year.
Although outside the scope of this
rulemaking, NMFS is noting here that it
carefully considers the regulatory
determination regarding inseason
adjustments before making an inseason
quota transfer. These criteria include the
effects of the adjustment on
accomplishing the objectives of the 2006
Consolidated HMS FMP and its
amendments. Thus, NMFS would
consider, among other things, how such
a transfer would optimize fishing
opportunity and contribute to full
accounting for landings and dead
discards, while still supporting the
broader objectives of the fishery
management plan. NMFS considered
these and other requisite factors in its
recently published inseason action
transferring 34 mt of quota from the
Reserve to the Longline category (80 FR
45098, July 29, 2015). NMFS will report
on the progress of Amendment 7
implementation (including the IBQ
program and vessel catch reporting) at
upcoming meetings of the HMS
Advisory Panel, and these presentations
and transcripts will be publically
accessible through the HMS Web site
(see ADDRESSES).
Classification
The NMFS Assistant Administrator
has determined that this final rule is
consistent with the 2006 Consolidated
HMS FMP and its amendments, the
Magnuson-Stevens Act, ATCA, and
other applicable law.
This final rule has been determined to
be not significant for purposes of
Executive Order 12866.
In compliance with section 604 of the
Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), a Final
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (FRFA)
was prepared for this rule. The FRFA
incorporates the Initial Regulatory
Flexibility Analysis (IRFA), a summary
of the significant issues raised by the
public comments in response to the
IRFA, and NMFS responses to those
comments, and a summary of the
analyses completed to support the
action. The full FRFA and analysis of
economic and ecological impacts are
available from NMFS (see ADDRESSES).
A summary of the FRFA follows.
In compliance with section 604(a)(1)
of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, the
purpose of this rulemaking is, consistent
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with the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP
objectives, the Magnuson-Stevens Act,
and other applicable law, to analyze the
impacts of the alternatives for
implementing and allocating the ICCATrecommended U.S. quota for 2015 and
2016; and to clarify the purse seine
transfer at sea regulations for Atlantic
tunas.
Section 604(a)(2) of the RFA requires
agencies to summarize significant issues
raised by the public in response to the
IRFA, a summary of the agency’s
assessment of such issues, and a
statement of any changes made as a
result of the comments. NMFS received
a few comments on the proposed rule
(80 FR 33467, June 12, 2015) during the
comment period. A summary of these
comments and the Agency’s responses
are included in Section 13 of the EA/
RIR/FRFA and are included in this final
rule. However, NMFS did not receive
comment specifically on the IRFA.
Section 604(a)(3) of the RFA requires
agencies to provide an estimate of the
number of small entities to which the
rule would apply. The Small Business
Administration (SBA) has established
size criteria for all major industry
sectors in the United States, including
fish harvesters. This final rule is
expected to directly affect commercial
and for-hire fishing vessels that possess
an Atlantic Tunas permit or Atlantic
HMS Charter/Headboat permit. In
general, the HMS Charter/Headboat
category permit holders can be regarded
as small entities for RFA purposes. HMS
Angling (recreational) category permit
holders are typically obtained by
individuals who are not considered
small entities for purposes of the RFA.
The SBA has established size criteria for
all major industry sectors in the United
States including fish harvesters (79 FR
33647; June 12, 2014). A business
involved in fish harvesting is classified
as a ‘‘small business’’ if it is
independently owned and operated, is
not dominant in its field of operation
(including its affiliates), and has
combined annual receipts (revenue) not
in excess of $20.5 million for all of its
affiliated operations worldwide (NAICS
code 114111, finfish fishing). NAICS is
the North American Industry
Classification System, a standard system
used by business and government to
classify business establishments into
industries, according to their economic
activity. The United States government
developed NAICS to collect, analyze,
and publish data about the economy. In
addition, the SBA has defined a small
charter/party boat entity (NAICS code
487210, for-hire) as one with average
annual receipts (revenue) of less than
$7.5 million.
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52201
As described in the final rule to
implement Amendment 7 to the 2006
Consolidated HMS FMP (79 FR 71510,
December 2, 2014), the average annual
gross revenue per active pelagic longline
vessel was estimated to be $187,000
based on the 170 active vessels between
2006 and 2012 that produced an
estimated $31.8 million in revenue
annually. The maximum annual
revenue for any pelagic longline vessel
during that time period was less than
$1.4 million, well below the SBA size
threshold of $20.5 million in combined
annual receipts. Therefore, NMFS
considers all Atlantic Tunas Longline
category permit holders to be small
entities. NMFS is unaware of any other
Atlantic Tunas category permit holders
that potentially could earn more than
$20.5 million in revenue annually.
NMFS is also unaware of any charter/
headboat businesses that could exceed
the $7.5 million thresholds for those
small entities. HMS Angling category
permit holders are typically obtained by
individuals who are not considered
small entities for purposes of the RFA.
Therefore, NMFS considers all Atlantic
Tunas permit holders and HMS Charter/
Headboat permit holders subject to this
action to be small entities.
This action would apply to all
participants in the Atlantic BFT fishery,
i.e., to the over 27,000 vessels that held
an Atlantic HMS Charter/Headboat,
Atlantic HMS Angling, or an Atlantic
Tunas permit as of October 2014. This
final rule is expected to directly affect
commercial and for-hire fishing vessels
that possess an Atlantic Tunas permit or
Atlantic HMS Charter/Headboat permit.
It is unknown what portion of HMS
Charter/Headboat permit holders
actively participate in the BFT fishery or
fishing services for recreational anglers.
As summarized in the 2014 SAFE
Report for Atlantic HMS, there were
6,792 commercial Atlantic tunas or
Atlantic HMS permits in 2014, as
follows: 2,782 in the Atlantic Tunas
General category; 14 in the Atlantic
Tunas Harpoon category; 5 in the
Atlantic Tunas Purse Seine category;
246 in the Atlantic Tunas Longline
category; 3 in the Atlantic Tunas Trap
category; and 3,742 in the HMS Charter/
Headboat category. In Amendment 7,
authorized 136 Longline category
permits for IBQ shares. This constitutes
the best available information regarding
the universe of permits and permit
holders recently analyzed. No impacts
are expected to occur from the
clarification of the transfer at sea
prohibition regulatory text.
NMFS has determined that this action
would not likely directly affect any
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small government jurisdictions, as that
term is defined under the RFA.
Under section 604(a)(4) of the
Regulatory Flexibility Act, agencies are
required to describe any new reporting,
record-keeping, and other compliance
requirements. There are no new
reporting or recordkeeping requirements
in any of the alternatives considered for
this action.
Under section 604(a)(5) of the RFA,
agencies are required to describe any
alternatives to the rule which
accomplish the stated objectives and
which minimize any significant
economic impacts. These alternatives
and their impacts are discussed below.
Additionally, the Regulatory Flexibility
Act (5 U.S.C. 603 (c) (1)–(4)) lists four
general categories of significant
alternatives that would assist an agency
in the development of significant
alternatives. These categories of
alternatives include: (1) Establishment
of differing compliance or reporting
requirements or timetables that take into
account the resources available to small
entities; (2) clarification, consolidation,
or simplification of compliance and
reporting requirements under the rule
for such small entities; (3) use of
performance rather than design
standards; and, (4) exemptions from
coverage of the rule for small entities.
In order to meet the objectives of this
rule, consistent with the MagnusonStevens Act, ATCA, and the ESA, NMFS
cannot exempt small entities or change
the reporting requirements only for
small entities because all the entities
affected are considered small entities.
Thus, no alternatives are discussed that
fall under the first and fourth categories
described above. Amendment 7
implemented criteria for determining
the availability of quota for Purse Seine
fishery category participants and IBQs
for the Longline category. Both of these
and the eligibility criteria for IBQs and
access to the Cape Hatteras GRA for the
Longline category can be considered
individual performance standards.
NMFS has not yet found a practical
means of applying individual
performance standards to the other
quota categories while, concurrently,
complying with the Magnuson-Stevens
Act. Thus, there are no alternatives
considered under the third category. In
this rulemaking, NMFS analyzed two
quota implementation alternatives:
First, the status quo U.S. baseline quota
and quotas established in 2011, and
second, the preferred alternative to
implement the U.S. quota to domestic
categories in accordance with the 2014
ICCAT Recommendation, Amendment
7, and implementing regulations. NMFS
considered a third quota alternative,
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which would use an allocation scheme
other than the one recently established
in Amendment 7 for the purpose of
implementing BFT fishing category
subquotas, but did not analyze this
alternative further because it would not
satisfy the purpose and need of the
action (i.e., modifications to domestic
management of BFT outside the
limitations of the 2006 Consolidated
HMS FMP, as amended, and current
ICCAT recommendations do not satisfy
the purpose and need for the action).
NMFS has estimated the average
impact that establishing the increased
baseline annual U.S. BFT quota for all
domestic fishing categories would have
on each quota category and the vessels
within those categories. As mentioned
above, the 2014 ICCAT recommendation
increased the annual U.S. baseline BFT
quota for each of 2015 and 2016 to
1,058.79 mt and provides 25 mt
annually for incidental catch of BFT
related to directed longline fisheries in
the NED. The baseline annual subquotas
would be adjusted consistent with the
process established in Amendment 7 (79
FR 71510, December 2, 2014), and these
amounts would be codified.
To calculate the average ex-vessel
revenues under this action, NMFS first
estimated potential category-wide
revenues. The most recent ex-vessel
average price per pound information for
each commercial quota category is used
to estimate potential ex-vessel gross
revenues under each of the subquotas
(i.e., 2014 prices for the General,
Harpoon, Purse Seine, and Longline/
Trap categories). For comparison, in
2014, gross revenues were
approximately $7.8 million, broken out
by category as follows: General—$5.9
million, Harpoon—$544,778, Purse
Seine—$391,607, Longline—$953,055,
and Trap—$0. The baseline subquotas
could result in estimated gross revenues
of $11 million, if finalized and fully
utilized, broken out by category as
follows: General category: $6.8 million
(466.7 mt * $6.60/lb); Harpoon category:
$611,851 (38.6 mt * $7.19/lb); Purse
Seine category: $1.9 million (184.3 mt *
$ 4.77/lb); Longline category: $1.7
million (148.3 mt * $5.22/lb); and Trap
category: $11,508 (1.0 mt * $ 5.22/lb).
This rule implements the recently
adopted ICCAT-recommended U.S.
quota and applies the allocations for
each quota category as recently
amended in the implementing
regulations for Amendment 7 to the
2006 Consolidated HMS FMP. This
action would be consistent with ATCA,
under which the Secretary promulgates
regulations as necessary and appropriate
to carry out ICCAT recommendations.
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No affected entities would be
expected to experience negative, direct
economic impacts as a result of the
preferred alternative. On the contrary,
each of the quota categories would
increase relative to the baseline quotas
that applied in 2011 through 2014 and
the quotas finalized in Amendment 7.
To the extent that Purse Seine fishery
participants and IBQ participants could
receive additional quota as a result of
Amendment 7-implemented allocation
formulas being applied to increases in
available Purse Seine and Longline
category quota, those participants would
receive varying increases, which would
result in direct benefits from either
increased fishing opportunities or quota
leasing.
To estimate potential average exvessel revenues that could result from
this action, NMFS divides the potential
annual gross revenues for the General,
Harpoon, Purse Seine, and Trap
category by the number of permit
holders. For the Longline category,
NMFS divides the potential annual
gross revenues by the number of active
vessels as defined in Amendment 7.
This is an appropriate approach for BFT
fisheries, in particular because available
landings data (weight and ex-vessel
value of the fish in price-per-pound)
allow NMFS to calculate the gross
revenue earned by a fishery participant
on a successful trip. The available data
(particularly from non-Longline
participants) do not, however, allow
NMFS to calculate the effort and cost
associated with each successful trip
(e.g., the cost of gas, bait, ice, etc.), so
net revenue for each participant cannot
be calculated. As a result, NMFS
analyzes the average impact of the
alternatives among all participants in
each category.
Success rates vary widely across
participants in each category (due to
extent of vessel effort and availability of
commercial-sized BFT to participants
where they fish) but for the sake of
estimating potential revenues per vessel,
category-wide revenues can be divided
by the number of permitted vessels in
each category. For the Longline fishery,
the number of permits authorized for
IBQ shares is used, and actual revenues
would depend, in part, on each vessel’s
IBQ in 2015. Although HMS Charter/
Headboat vessels may fish commercially
under the General category quota and
retention limits, because it is unknown
what portion of HMS Charter/Headboat
permit holders actively participate in
the BFT fishery, NMFS is estimating
potential General category ex-vessel
revenue changes using the number of
General category vessels only.
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Estimated potential 2015 revenues on
a per vessel basis, considering the
number of permit holders listed above
and the final subquotas, could be $2,441
for the General category; $43,703 for the
Harpoon category; $387,618 for the
Purse Seine category; $12,549 for the
Longline category, using the 136 permits
authorized for IBQ shares; and $3,836
for the Trap category. Thus, all of the
entities affected by this rule are
considered to be small entities for the
purposes of the RFA.
Consistent with Amendment 7
regulations, NMFS calculated the quota
available to Purse Seine fishery
participants for 2015 and then
reallocated the remaining 87.4 mt of
available Purse Seine category quota to
the Reserve category (80 FR 7547,
February 11, 2015). NMFS has
recalculated those amounts based on the
final U.S. baseline BFT quota and
subquotas in this rule, with an increase
of 11.2 mt and 17.4 mt for the Purse
Seine and Reserve categories,
respectively.
Because the directed commercial
categories have underharvested their
subquotas in recent years, the potential
increases in ex-vessel revenues above
may overestimate the probable
economic impacts to those categories
relative to recent conditions.
Additionally, there has been substantial
interannual variability in ex-vessel
revenues per category in recent years
due to recent changes in BFT
availability and other factors.
The modifications to the regulatory
text concerning Atlantic tunas purse
seine transfer at sea are intended to
clarify the prohibition on transfer at sea.
They apply to the five Purse Seine
fishery participants only and are not
expected to have significant economic
impacts as they are administrative in
nature, reflect current practice, and
would not result in changes to Atlantic
tunas purse seine operations.
Section 212 of the Small Business
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of
1996 states that, for each rule or group
of related rules for which an agency is
required to prepare a FRFA, the agency
shall publish one or more guides to
assist small entities in complying with
the rule, and shall designate such
publications as ‘‘small entity
compliance guides.’’ The agency shall
explain the actions a small entity is
required to take to comply with a rule
or group of rules. As part of this
rulemaking process, NMFS has prepared
a brochure summarizing fishery
information and regulations for Atlantic
tuna fisheries for 2015. This brochure
also serves as the small entity
compliance guide. Copies of the
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compliance guide are available from
NMFS (see ADDRESSES).
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 635
Fisheries, Fishing, Fishing vessels,
Foreign relations, Imports, Penalties,
Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Treaties.
Dated: August 20, 2015.
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 635 is amended
as follows:
PART 635—ATLANTIC HIGHLY
MIGRATORY SPECIES
1. The authority citation for part 635
continues to read as follows:
■
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq.; 16 U.S.C.
1801 et seq.
2. In § 635.27, revise paragraphs (a)
introductory text, (a)(1)(i), (a)(2), (a)(3),
(a)(4) introductory text, (a)(4)(i),
(a)(4)(ii), (a)(5), (a)(6), (a)(7)(i), and
(a)(7)(ii) to read as follows:
■
§ 635.27
Quotas.
(a) Bluefin tuna. Consistent with
ICCAT recommendations, and with
paragraph (a)(10)(iv) of this section,
NMFS may subtract the most recent,
complete, and available estimate of dead
discards from the annual U.S. bluefin
tuna quota, and make the remainder
available to be retained, possessed, or
landed by persons and vessels subject to
U.S. jurisdiction. The remaining
baseline annual U.S. bluefin tuna quota
will be allocated among the General,
Angling, Harpoon, Purse Seine,
Longline, Trap, and Reserve categories,
as described in this section. Bluefin
tuna quotas are specified in whole
weight. The baseline annual U.S.
bluefin tuna quota is 1,058.79 mt, not
including an additional annual 25-mt
allocation provided in paragraph (a)(3)
of this section. The bluefin quota for the
quota categories is calculated through
the following process. First, 68 mt is
subtracted from the baseline annual U.S.
bluefin tuna quota and allocated to the
Longline category quota. Second, the
remaining quota is divided among the
categories according to the following
percentages: General—47.1 percent
(466.7 mt); Angling—19.7 percent (195.2
mt), which includes the school bluefin
tuna held in reserve as described under
paragraph (a)(7)(ii) of this section;
Harpoon—3.9 percent (38.6 mt); Purse
Seine—18.6 percent (184.3 mt);
Longline—8.1 percent (80.3 mt) plus the
68-mt allocation (i.e., 148.3 mt total not
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Sfmt 4700
52203
including the 25-mt allocation from
paragraph (a)(3)); Trap—0.1 percent (1.0
mt); and Reserve—2.5 percent (24.8 mt).
NMFS may make inseason and annual
adjustments to quotas as specified in
paragraphs (a)(9) and (10) of this
section, including quota adjustments as
a result of the annual reallocation of
Purse Seine quota described under
paragraph (a)(4)(v) of this section.
(1) * * *
(i) Catches from vessels for which
General category Atlantic Tunas permits
have been issued and certain catches
from vessels for which an HMS Charter/
Headboat permit has been issued are
counted against the General category
quota in accordance with § 635.23(c)(3).
Pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section,
the amount of large medium and giant
bluefin tuna that may be caught,
retained, possessed, landed, or sold
under the General category quota is
466.7 mt, and is apportioned as follows,
unless modified as described under
paragraph (a)(1)(ii) of this section:
(A) January 1 through the effective
date of a closure notice filed by NMFS
announcing that the January subquota is
reached, or projected to be reached
under § 635.28(a)(1), or through March
31, whichever comes first—5.3 percent
(24.7 mt);
(B) June 1 through August 31—50
percent (233.3 mt);
(C) September 1 through September
30—26.5 percent (123.7 mt);
(D) October 1 through November 30—
13 percent (60.7 mt); and
(E) December 1 through December
31—5.2 percent (24.3 mt).
*
*
*
*
*
(2) Angling category quota. In
accordance with the framework
procedures of the Consolidated HMS
FMP, prior to each fishing year, or as
early as feasible, NMFS will establish
the Angling category daily retention
limits. In accordance with paragraph (a)
of this section, the total amount of
bluefin tuna that may be caught,
retained, possessed, and landed by
anglers aboard vessels for which an
HMS Angling permit or an HMS
Charter/Headboat permit has been
issued is 195.2 mt. No more than 2.3
percent (4.5 mt) of the annual Angling
category quota may be large medium or
giant bluefin tuna. In addition, over
each two-consecutive-year period
(starting with 2015–2016), no more than
10 percent of the annual U.S. bluefin
tuna quota, inclusive of the allocation
specified in paragraph (a)(3) of this
section, may be school bluefin tuna (i.e.,
108.4 mt). The Angling category quota
includes the amount of school bluefin
tuna held in reserve under paragraph
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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 167 / Friday, August 28, 2015 / Rules and Regulations
(a)(7)(ii) of this section. The size class
subquotas for bluefin tuna are further
subdivided as follows:
(i) After adjustment for the school
bluefin tuna quota held in reserve
(under paragraph (a)(7)(ii) of this
section), 52.8 percent (46.6 mt) of the
school bluefin tuna Angling category
quota may be caught, retained,
possessed, or landed south of 39°18′ N.
lat. The remaining school bluefin tuna
Angling category quota (41.7 mt) may be
caught, retained, possessed or landed
north of 39°18′ N. lat.
(ii) An amount equal to 52.8 percent
(43.5 mt) of the large school/small
medium bluefin tuna Angling category
quota may be caught, retained,
possessed, or landed south of 39°18′ N.
lat. The remaining large school/small
medium bluefin tuna Angling category
quota (38.9 mt) may be caught, retained,
possessed or landed north of 39°18′ N.
lat.
(iii) One third (1.5 mt) of the large
medium and giant bluefin tuna Angling
category quota may be caught retained,
possessed, or landed, in each of the
three following geographic areas: North
of 39°18′ N. lat.; south of 39°18′ N. lat.,
and outside of the Gulf of Mexico; and
in the Gulf of Mexico. For the purposes
of this section, the Gulf of Mexico
region includes all waters of the U.S.
EEZ west and north of the boundary
stipulated at 50 CFR 600.105(c).
(3) Longline category quota. Pursuant
to paragraph (a) of this section, the total
amount of large medium and giant
bluefin tuna that may be caught,
discarded dead, or retained, possessed,
or landed by vessels that possess
Atlantic Tunas Longline category
permits is 148.3 mt. In addition, 25 mt
shall be allocated for incidental catch by
pelagic longline vessels fishing in the
Northeast Distant gear restricted area,
and subject to the restrictions under
§ 635.15(b)(8).
(4) Purse Seine category quota—(i)
Baseline Purse Seine quota. Pursuant to
paragraph (a) of this section, the
baseline amount of large medium and
giant bluefin tuna that may be caught,
retained, possessed, or landed by
vessels that possess Atlantic Tunas
Purse Seine category permits is 184.3
mt, unless adjusted as a result of
inseason and/or annual adjustments to
quotas as specified in paragraphs (a)(9)
and (10) of this section; or adjusted
(prior to allocation to individual
participants) based on the previous
year’s catch as described under
paragraph (a)(4)(v) of this section.
Annually, NMFS will make a
determination when the Purse Seine
fishery will start, based on variations in
seasonal distribution, abundance or
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migration patterns of bluefin tuna,
cumulative and projected landings in
other commercial fishing categories, the
potential for gear conflicts on the fishing
grounds, or market impacts due to
oversupply. NMFS will start the bluefin
tuna purse seine season between June 1
and August 15, by filing an action with
the Office of the Federal Register, and
notifying the public. The Purse Seine
category fishery closes on December 31
of each year.
(ii) Allocation of bluefin quota to
Purse Seine category participants.
Annually, NMFS will make equal
allocations of the baseline Purse Seine
category quota described under
paragraph (a)(4)(i) of this section to
individual Purse Seine participants (i.e.,
36.9 mt each), then make further
determinations regarding the allocations
per paragraph (a)(4)(v) of this section.
Allocations of individual bluefin quota
to individual Purse Seine participants
may only be transferred through leasing
in accordance with procedures and
requirements at § 635.15(c) and other
requirements under this paragraph
(a)(4).
*
*
*
*
*
(5) Harpoon category quota. The total
amount of large medium and giant
bluefin tuna that may be caught,
retained, possessed, landed, or sold by
vessels that possess Harpoon category
Atlantic Tunas permits is 38.6 mt. The
Harpoon category fishery commences on
June 1 of each year, and closes on
November 15 of each year.
(6) Trap category quota. The total
amount of large medium and giant
bluefin tuna that may be caught,
retained, possessed, or landed by
vessels that possess Trap category
Atlantic Tunas permits is 1.0 mt.
(7) * * *
(i) The total amount of bluefin tuna
that is held in reserve for inseason or
annual adjustments and research using
quota or subquotas is 24.8 mt, which
may be augmented by allowable
underharvest from the previous year, or
annual reallocation of Purse Seine
category quota as described under
paragraph (a)(4)(v) of this section.
Consistent with paragraphs (a)(8)
through (10) of this section, NMFS may
allocate any portion of the Reserve
category quota for inseason or annual
adjustments to any fishing category
quota.
(ii) The total amount of school bluefin
tuna that is held in reserve for inseason
or annual adjustments and fisheryindependent research is 18.5 percent
(20.1 mt) of the total school bluefin tuna
Angling category quota as described
under paragraph (a)(2) of this section.
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This amount is in addition to the
amounts specified in paragraph (a)(7)(i)
of this section. Consistent with
paragraph (a)(8) of this section, NMFS
may allocate any portion of the school
bluefin tuna Angling category quota
held in reserve for inseason or annual
adjustments to the Angling category.
*
*
*
*
*
■ 3. In § 635.29, revise paragraph (c) to
read as follows:
§ 635.29 Transfer at sea and
transshipment.
*
*
*
*
*
(c) An owner or operator of a vessel
for which an Atlantic Tunas Purse Seine
category permit has been issued under
§ 635.4 may use an auxiliary vessel (i.e.,
a skiff) associated with the permitted
vessel to assist in routine purse seine
fishery operations, provided that the
auxiliary vessel has not been issued an
Atlantic Tunas or HMS vessel permit
and functions only in an auxiliary
capacity during routine purse seine
operations (i.e., it conducts limited
assistance activities such as assistance
with purse seine deployment and
removal of BFT from the purse seine).
The auxiliary vessel may transfer large
medium and giant Atlantic BFT to its
associated purse seine vessel during
routine purse seine operations, provided
that the amount transferred does not
cause the receiving vessel to exceed its
currently authorized vessel allocation,
including incidental catch limits.
[FR Doc. 2015–21147 Filed 8–27–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
50 CFR Part 679
[Docket No. 141021887–5172–02]
RIN 0648–XE144
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic
Zone Off Alaska; Several Groundfish
Species in the Bering Sea and Aleutian
Islands Management Area
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; apportionment
of reserves; request for comments.
AGENCY:
NMFS apportions amounts of
the non-specified reserve to the initial
total allowable catch (ITAC) of Bering
Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI)
northern rockfish, BSAI squids, Bering
SUMMARY:
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 167 (Friday, August 28, 2015)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 52198-52204]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-21147]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 635
[Docket No. 150121066-5717-02]
RIN 0648-BE81
Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Quotas
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule; notice of adjusted 2015 Purse Seine and Reserve
category quotas.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NMFS hereby modifies the baseline annual U.S. quota and
subquotas for Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT). Specifically for 2015, NMFS
augments the Reserve category quota with available underharvest of the
2014 adjusted U.S. BFT quota and also recalculates the Purse Seine and
Reserve category quotas that were announced earlier this year
(consistent with the Amendment 7 annual reallocation process) to
reflect the increased U.S. quota. Furthermore, NMFS makes minor
modifications to the regulations regarding Atlantic tunas purse seine
auxiliary vessel activity under the ``transfer at sea'' provisions.
This action is necessary to implement binding recommendations of the
International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas
(ICCAT), as required by the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act (ATCA), and
to achieve domestic management objectives under the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).
DATES: Effective September 26, 2015.
ADDRESSES: Supporting documents such as the Environmental Assessments
and Fishery Management Plans described below may be downloaded from the
HMS Web site at www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/. These documents also are
available upon request from Sarah McLaughlin or Brad McHale at the
telephone number below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sarah McLaughlin or Brad McHale, 978-
281-9260.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Atlantic bluefin tuna, bigeye tuna, albacore
tuna, yellowfin tuna, and skipjack tuna (hereafter referred to as
``Atlantic tunas'') are managed under the dual authority of the
Magnuson-Stevens Act and ATCA. As an active member of ICCAT, the United
States implements binding ICCAT recommendations. ATCA authorizes the
Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) to promulgate regulations, as may be
necessary and appropriate to carry out ICCAT recommendations. The
authority to issue regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens Act and ATCA
has been delegated from the Secretary to the Assistant Administrator
for Fisheries, NMFS.
Background
Background information about the need to modify the U.S. BFT base
quota and the subquotas for all domestic fishing categories, as well as
the regulatory text regarding Atlantic tunas purse seine auxiliary
vessel activity under the ``transfer at sea'' provisions, were provided
in the preamble to the proposed rule (80 FR 33467, June 12, 2015) and
most of that information is not repeated here.
Changes From the Proposed Rule
In this final rule, NMFS is changing text at Sec.
635.27(a)(4)(ii), to reflect the equal allocation of the baseline Purse
Seine category quota that is finalized in this action among the five
individual Purse Seine category participants. NMFS inadvertently
omitted this calculation in the regulatory text for the proposed rule.
Specifically, in the proposed rule, NMFS proposed updating the baseline
Purse Seine quota to 184.3 mt (Sec. 635.27(a)(4)(i)) to reflect the
increased U.S. quota. However, NMFS did not carry this change through
to the codified text in Sec. 635.27(a)(4)(ii) to reflect the division
of that Purse Seine category quota equally among the five individual
Purse Seine fishery participants. The existing regulatory text
specifies that annually, NMFS will make equal allocations of the
baseline Purse Seine category quota described under paragraph (a)(4)(i)
of the section to individual Purse Seine participants. To reflect the
increase in the baseline Purse Seine category quota to 184.3 mt for
each Purse Seine category participant, NMFS is updating the amount in
the regulatory text at Sec. 635.27(a)(4)(ii) to 36.9 mt (i.e., 184.3
mt/5 = 36.9 mt each). Because the change in the final rule simply
reflects a mathematical function of the amount in Sec. 635.27(a)(4)(i)
and corrects the now-outdated number for the individual Purse Seine
participants in Sec. 635.27(a)(4)(ii) and does not alter the formula
used or substance of the proposed rule, NMFS has determined that it is
appropriate to make this change in this final rule.
2014 ICCAT Recommendation
At its November 2014 meeting, ICCAT adopted a western Atlantic BFT
TAC of 2,000 mt annually for 2015 and 2016 after considering the
results of the 2014 BFT stock assessment and following negotiations
among Contracting Parties (ICCAT Recommendation 14-05). This TAC, which
is an increase from the 1,750-mt TAC that has applied annually since
2011, is consistent with scientific advice from the 2014 stock
assessment, which indicated that annual catches of less than 2,250 mt
would have a 50-percent probability of allowing the spawning stock
biomass to be at or above its 2013 level by 2019 under either
recruitment scenario, and that annual catches of 2,000 mt or less would
continue to allow stock growth under both the low and high recruitment
scenarios for the remainder of the rebuilding program. All TAC, quota,
and weight information discussed in this notice are whole weight
amounts.
For 2015 and 2016, the ICCAT Recommendation also makes the
following allocations from the western BFT 2,000-mt TAC for bycatch
related to directed longline fisheries in the Northeast Distant gear
restricted area (NED): 15 mt for Canada and 25 mt for the United
States. Following subtraction of these allocations from the TAC, the
recommendation allocates the remainder to the United States (54.02
percent), Canada (22.32 percent) Japan (17.64 percent), Mexico (5.56
percent), UK (0.23 percent), and France (0.23 percent). For the United
States, 54.02 percent of the remaining 1,960 mt is 1,058.79 mt annually
for 2015 and 2016. This represents an increase of approximately 135 mt
(approximately 14 percent) from the U.S. baseline BFT
[[Page 52199]]
quota that applied annually for 2011 through 2014. Thus, the annual
total U.S. quota, including the 25 mt to account for bycatch related to
pelagic longline fisheries in the NED, is 1,083.79 mt.
As a method for limiting fishing mortality on juvenile BFT, ICCAT
continued to recommend a tolerance limit on the annual harvest of BFT
measuring less than 115 cm (straight fork length) to no more than 10
percent by weight of a Contracting Party's total BFT quota over the
2015 and 2016 fishing periods. The United States implements this
provision by limiting the harvest of school BFT (measuring 27 to less
than 47 inches (68.5 to less than 119 cm curved fork length)) as
appropriate to not exceed the 10-percent limit over the two-year
period.
Domestic Allocations and Quotas
The table below shows the final baseline quotas and subquotas that
result from applying the process established in Amendment 7 to the 2006
Consolidated Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Fishery Management Plan
(Amendment 7) to the higher U.S. BFT quota that ICCAT recommended in
2014. These quotas are codified at Sec. 635.27(a) and will remain in
effect until changed (for instance, if any new ICCAT western BFT TAC
recommendation is adopted). Because ICCAT adopted TACs for 2015 and
2016 in Recommendation 14-05, NMFS currently anticipates that these
annual base quotas would be in effect through 2016, but they will
remain in place unless and until a new TAC is adopted by ICCAT.
Table 1--Final Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (BFT) Annual Baseline Quotas
[In metric tons]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Category Annual baseline quotas and subquotas
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quota Subquotas
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
General................................... 466.7 January-March \1\............ 24.7 ...........
........... June-August.................. 233.3 ...........
........... September.................... 123.7 ...........
........... October-November............. 60.7 ...........
........... December..................... 24.3 ...........
Harpoon................................... 38.6 School....................... 108.4 ...........
Longline.................................. 148.3 Reserve................... ........... 20.1
Trap...................................... 1.0 North of 39[deg]18' N. lat ........... 41.7
Purse Seine............................... \2\ 184.3 South of 39[deg]18' N. lat ........... 46.6
Angling................................... 195.2 Large School/Small Medium.... 82.3 ...........
........... North of 39[deg]18' N. lat ........... 38.9
........... South of 39[deg]18' N. lat ........... 43.5
........... Trophy....................... 4.5 ...........
........... North of 39[deg]18' N. lat ........... 1.5
........... South of 39[deg]18' N. lat ........... 1.5
........... Gulf of Mexico............ ........... 1.5
Reserve................................... \2\ 24.8 ............................. ........... ...........
U.S. Baseline BFT Quota................... \3\ 1,058.9 ............................. ........... ...........
-------------
Total U.S. Quota, including 25 mt for \3\ 1,083.9 ............................. ........... ...........
NED (Longline).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ January 1 through the effective date of a closure notice filed by NMFS announcing that the January subquota
is reached or projected to be reached, or through March 31, whichever comes first.
\2\ Baseline amount shown. Does not reflect the annual adjustment process (for the Purse Seine and Reserve
category quotas) adopted in Amendment 7, discussed below.
\3\ Totals subject to rounding error.
The proposed rule described how Amendment 7 also changed the way
that NMFS adjusts the U.S. annual quota for any previous year's
underharvest. Rather than publishing proposed and final quota
specifications annually to adjust the quota for the underharvest as
NMFS has in the past, NMFS will automatically augment the Reserve
category quota to the extent that underharvest from the previous year
is available. Such adjustment will be consistent with ICCAT limits and
will be calculated when complete BFT catch information for the prior
year is available and finalized. Consistent with the quota regulations,
NMFS may allocate any portion of the Reserve category quota for
inseason or annual adjustments to any fishing category quota pursuant
to regulatory determination criteria described at 50 CFR 635.27(a)(8),
or for scientific research.
In the proposed rule, NMFS stated that the preliminary 2014
landings and dead discard estimate (i.e., using the 160.6-mt total of
the 2013 estimated longline dead discards (156.4 mt) and the observed
2014 purse seine dead discards (4.2 mt) as a proxy for estimated 2014
dead discards) indicated an underharvest of approximately 218 mt. The
preliminary 2014 pelagic longline dead discard estimate of 138.8 mt is
now available from the NMFS Southeast Fisheries Science Center. Adding
the 2014 observed dead discards of 4.2 mt for the purse seine fishery,
the best available annual estimate of U.S. dead discards that could be
expected in 2015 is now 143 mt. As anticipated and explained to the
public at the proposed rule stage, NMFS is using the updated total in
this final rule because it is the best available and most complete
information NMFS has regarding dead discards. Based on data available
as of July 7, 2015, BFT landings in 2014 totaled 667.3 mt. Adding the
143-mt estimate of dead discards results in a preliminary 2014 total
catch of 810.3 mt, which is 233.3 mt less than the amount of quota
(inclusive of dead discards) allowed under ICCAT Recommendation 13-09
(i.e., 948.7 mt plus 94.9 mt of 2013 underharvest carried forward to
2014, totaling 1,043.6 mt). Thus, the underharvest for 2014 is 233.3
mt. Per the 2014 ICCAT
[[Page 52200]]
recommendation, only 10 percent of the total 2014 U.S. quota, or 94.9
mt, of that underharvest is carried forward to the 2015 fishing year.
NMFS anticipated this amount of available underharvest to carry forward
to 2015 in the proposed rule.
Consistent with the process adopted in the Amendment 7 implementing
regulations, NMFS calculated at the beginning of the year the quota
available to individual Atlantic Tunas Purse Seine category fishery
participants for 2015 based on BFT catch (landings and dead discards)
by those fishery participants in 2014. Based on that information, 87.4
mt of the baseline Purse Seine category quota of 159.1 mt was
reallocated to the Reserve category for the 2015 fishing year. This
process resulted in a total of 71.7 mt for Purse Seine fishery
participants for 2015 and 108.8 mt (i.e., the base Reserve quota of
21.4 mt + 87.4 mt from the Purse Seine category) for the Reserve
category (80 FR 7547, February 11, 2015). As discussed in the proposed
rule, NMFS is first adjusting the 2015 Purse Seine category quota based
on the ICCAT quota increase in this rule. As a result, the baseline
Purse Seine category quota would increase by 25.2 mt to 184.3 mt. We
then recalculate the amounts of quota available to individual Purse
Seine fishery participants for 2015 applying the final baseline Purse
Seine category (184.3 mt), and adjust the 2015 Purse Seine and Reserve
category quotas as appropriate. This process results in a total of 82.9
mt for Purse Seine fishery participants in 2015, with the remainder
(i.e., 184.3-82.9 = 101.4 mt) added to the Reserve category. Consistent
with Sec. 635.27(a)(4)(v)(C), NMFS will notify Atlantic Tunas Purse
Seine fishery participants of the adjusted amount of quota available
for their use in 2015 through the Individual Bluefin Quota (IBQ)
electronic system and in writing.
NMFS recently implemented two inseason transfers from the Reserve
category for 2015 (34 mt to the Longline category and 40 mt to the
Harpoon category), so the adjusted 2015 Reserve category quota as of
publication of this action, including the allowable underharvest
described above, would be 24.8-34-40 + 101.4 + 94.9 = 147.1 mt (80 FR
45098, July 29, 2015 and 80 FR 46516, August 5, 2015, respectively).
Atlantic Tunas Purse Seine Auxiliary Vessel Activity
Currently, HMS regulations specify that an owner or operator of a
vessel for which an Atlantic Tunas Purse Seine category permit has been
issued may transfer large medium and giant BFT at sea from the net of
the catching vessel to another vessel for which an Atlantic Tunas Purse
Seine category permit has been issued, provided the amount transferred
does not cause the receiving vessel to exceed its currently authorized
vessel allocation, including incidental catch limits. NMFS is making
minor modifications to this regulatory text to clarify that this text
was not meant to allow ``transfer at sea,'' which clearly is prohibited
by ICCAT Recommendation 14-05, but is only meant to allow the routine,
limited operations of an auxiliary vessel (i.e., a skiff) in assisting
its associated purse seine vessel in catch operations for BFT. Such
activities are not the type of activity meant to be prohibited by that
Recommendation. This clarification is administrative, reflects current
practice, and would have no environmental impacts or effects on current
fishing operations.
Comments and Responses
NMFS received two written comments on the proposed rule, as well as
two verbal comments through the public conference call/webinar. Few of
the comments NMFS received focused specifically on the proposed rule.
Below, NMFS summarizes and responds to all comments made specifically
on the proposed rule during the comment period. The comments that were
outside the scope of this rule are summarized under ``Other Issues''
below.
Comment 1: One commenter suggested that, for conservation reasons
and to allow the BFT stock to grow, NMFS should not increase the quota.
Response: The western Atlantic BFT TAC, which includes the U.S.
quota, is expected to allow for continued BFT stock growth under the
both the low and high stock recruitment scenarios considered by ICCAT's
Standing Committee on Research and Statistics (SCRS) and is consistent
with ICCAT recommendations, ATCA, and domestic and international
management objectives. Furthermore, NMFS is required under the
Magnuson-Stevens Act and ATCA to provide U.S. fishing vessels with a
reasonable opportunity to harvest the ICCAT-recommended quota.
Comment 2: Two commenters, representing fishing industry
organizations, supported finalizing the rule as proposed but encouraged
NMFS to increase BFT daily retention limits to allow more of the
available quota to be harvested.
Response: This rulemaking does not address daily retention limits.
Adjusting daily retention limits occurs through separate inseason
actions. NMFS has the authority to adjust the daily retention limits
for the General, Harpoon, and Angling categories inseason, based on
consideration of applicable regulatory determination criteria at Sec.
635.27(a)(8). In adjusting Angling category limits, NMFS also considers
the ICCAT tolerance limit of school BFT, which NMFS manages as
appropriate to not exceed 10 percent (108.4 mt) of the annual U.S. BFT
quota over each two-consecutive-year period (starting with 2015-2016).
To date in 2015, NMFS has taken two inseason actions to increase the
General and Angling category retention limit from the default levels
(79 FR 77943, December 29, 2014, and 80 FR 27863, May 15, 2015). These
actions may result in more of the General and Angling category
subquotas to be harvested, relative to 2014, depending on the
availability of BFT to the fisheries. NMFS also may adjust recreational
effort controls inseason based on the best information available, but
landings data are not available with the timing and frequency of
commercial data (submitted within 24 hours to NMFS through required
landings reports for each fish) such that adjustments in recreational
fishing effort may need to be made in subsequent fishing years.
Comment 3: One representative of an environmental non-governmental
organization commented that the proposed rule is reasonable but
expressed disappointment in ICCAT's recommendation to increase the TAC,
given stock assessment uncertainties, and expressed concern that a
quota increase could jeopardize rebuilding the stock by 2019.
Response: The TAC recommended by ICCAT in 2014 followed the
scientific advice of ICCAT's SCRS and considered the results of the
2014 stock assessment update while also taking into account remaining
uncertainties. The SCRS indicated that annual catches of less than
2,250 mt would have a 50 percent probability of allowing the spawning
stock biomass to be at or above its 2013 level by 2019 under either
recruitment scenario, and that annual catches of 2,000 mt or less would
continue to allow stock growth under both the low and high recruitment
scenarios for the remainder of the rebuilding program. NMFS is
committed to the sustainable, science-based management of BFT and is
hopeful that the updated information and new data that will be
incorporated into the next benchmark/full stock assessment will help to
reduce some of the scientific uncertainty that the SCRS has identified
for this stock.
Other Issues
In addition to the above comments specifically on the content of
the proposed rule, other commenters raised
[[Page 52201]]
issues that are outside the scope of this rule, particularly regarding
Amendment 7 implementation. These comments included concern about the
potential impact of quota transfers to the Longline category on IBQ
shareholders and interest in how the reporting by commercial handgear
vessel owners is proceeding during the initial implementation this
year.
Although outside the scope of this rulemaking, NMFS is noting here
that it carefully considers the regulatory determination regarding
inseason adjustments before making an inseason quota transfer. These
criteria include the effects of the adjustment on accomplishing the
objectives of the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP and its amendments. Thus,
NMFS would consider, among other things, how such a transfer would
optimize fishing opportunity and contribute to full accounting for
landings and dead discards, while still supporting the broader
objectives of the fishery management plan. NMFS considered these and
other requisite factors in its recently published inseason action
transferring 34 mt of quota from the Reserve to the Longline category
(80 FR 45098, July 29, 2015). NMFS will report on the progress of
Amendment 7 implementation (including the IBQ program and vessel catch
reporting) at upcoming meetings of the HMS Advisory Panel, and these
presentations and transcripts will be publically accessible through the
HMS Web site (see ADDRESSES).
Classification
The NMFS Assistant Administrator has determined that this final
rule is consistent with the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP and its
amendments, the Magnuson-Stevens Act, ATCA, and other applicable law.
This final rule has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
In compliance with section 604 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act
(RFA), a Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (FRFA) was prepared for
this rule. The FRFA incorporates the Initial Regulatory Flexibility
Analysis (IRFA), a summary of the significant issues raised by the
public comments in response to the IRFA, and NMFS responses to those
comments, and a summary of the analyses completed to support the
action. The full FRFA and analysis of economic and ecological impacts
are available from NMFS (see ADDRESSES). A summary of the FRFA follows.
In compliance with section 604(a)(1) of the Regulatory Flexibility
Act, the purpose of this rulemaking is, consistent with the 2006
Consolidated HMS FMP objectives, the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other
applicable law, to analyze the impacts of the alternatives for
implementing and allocating the ICCAT-recommended U.S. quota for 2015
and 2016; and to clarify the purse seine transfer at sea regulations
for Atlantic tunas.
Section 604(a)(2) of the RFA requires agencies to summarize
significant issues raised by the public in response to the IRFA, a
summary of the agency's assessment of such issues, and a statement of
any changes made as a result of the comments. NMFS received a few
comments on the proposed rule (80 FR 33467, June 12, 2015) during the
comment period. A summary of these comments and the Agency's responses
are included in Section 13 of the EA/RIR/FRFA and are included in this
final rule. However, NMFS did not receive comment specifically on the
IRFA.
Section 604(a)(3) of the RFA requires agencies to provide an
estimate of the number of small entities to which the rule would apply.
The Small Business Administration (SBA) has established size criteria
for all major industry sectors in the United States, including fish
harvesters. This final rule is expected to directly affect commercial
and for-hire fishing vessels that possess an Atlantic Tunas permit or
Atlantic HMS Charter/Headboat permit. In general, the HMS Charter/
Headboat category permit holders can be regarded as small entities for
RFA purposes. HMS Angling (recreational) category permit holders are
typically obtained by individuals who are not considered small entities
for purposes of the RFA. The SBA has established size criteria for all
major industry sectors in the United States including fish harvesters
(79 FR 33647; June 12, 2014). A business involved in fish harvesting is
classified as a ``small business'' if it is independently owned and
operated, is not dominant in its field of operation (including its
affiliates), and has combined annual receipts (revenue) not in excess
of $20.5 million for all of its affiliated operations worldwide (NAICS
code 114111, finfish fishing). NAICS is the North American Industry
Classification System, a standard system used by business and
government to classify business establishments into industries,
according to their economic activity. The United States government
developed NAICS to collect, analyze, and publish data about the
economy. In addition, the SBA has defined a small charter/party boat
entity (NAICS code 487210, for-hire) as one with average annual
receipts (revenue) of less than $7.5 million.
As described in the final rule to implement Amendment 7 to the 2006
Consolidated HMS FMP (79 FR 71510, December 2, 2014), the average
annual gross revenue per active pelagic longline vessel was estimated
to be $187,000 based on the 170 active vessels between 2006 and 2012
that produced an estimated $31.8 million in revenue annually. The
maximum annual revenue for any pelagic longline vessel during that time
period was less than $1.4 million, well below the SBA size threshold of
$20.5 million in combined annual receipts. Therefore, NMFS considers
all Atlantic Tunas Longline category permit holders to be small
entities. NMFS is unaware of any other Atlantic Tunas category permit
holders that potentially could earn more than $20.5 million in revenue
annually. NMFS is also unaware of any charter/headboat businesses that
could exceed the $7.5 million thresholds for those small entities. HMS
Angling category permit holders are typically obtained by individuals
who are not considered small entities for purposes of the RFA.
Therefore, NMFS considers all Atlantic Tunas permit holders and HMS
Charter/Headboat permit holders subject to this action to be small
entities.
This action would apply to all participants in the Atlantic BFT
fishery, i.e., to the over 27,000 vessels that held an Atlantic HMS
Charter/Headboat, Atlantic HMS Angling, or an Atlantic Tunas permit as
of October 2014. This final rule is expected to directly affect
commercial and for-hire fishing vessels that possess an Atlantic Tunas
permit or Atlantic HMS Charter/Headboat permit. It is unknown what
portion of HMS Charter/Headboat permit holders actively participate in
the BFT fishery or fishing services for recreational anglers. As
summarized in the 2014 SAFE Report for Atlantic HMS, there were 6,792
commercial Atlantic tunas or Atlantic HMS permits in 2014, as follows:
2,782 in the Atlantic Tunas General category; 14 in the Atlantic Tunas
Harpoon category; 5 in the Atlantic Tunas Purse Seine category; 246 in
the Atlantic Tunas Longline category; 3 in the Atlantic Tunas Trap
category; and 3,742 in the HMS Charter/Headboat category. In Amendment
7, authorized 136 Longline category permits for IBQ shares. This
constitutes the best available information regarding the universe of
permits and permit holders recently analyzed. No impacts are expected
to occur from the clarification of the transfer at sea prohibition
regulatory text.
NMFS has determined that this action would not likely directly
affect any
[[Page 52202]]
small government jurisdictions, as that term is defined under the RFA.
Under section 604(a)(4) of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, agencies
are required to describe any new reporting, record-keeping, and other
compliance requirements. There are no new reporting or recordkeeping
requirements in any of the alternatives considered for this action.
Under section 604(a)(5) of the RFA, agencies are required to
describe any alternatives to the rule which accomplish the stated
objectives and which minimize any significant economic impacts. These
alternatives and their impacts are discussed below. Additionally, the
Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 603 (c) (1)-(4)) lists four
general categories of significant alternatives that would assist an
agency in the development of significant alternatives. These categories
of alternatives include: (1) Establishment of differing compliance or
reporting requirements or timetables that take into account the
resources available to small entities; (2) clarification,
consolidation, or simplification of compliance and reporting
requirements under the rule for such small entities; (3) use of
performance rather than design standards; and, (4) exemptions from
coverage of the rule for small entities.
In order to meet the objectives of this rule, consistent with the
Magnuson-Stevens Act, ATCA, and the ESA, NMFS cannot exempt small
entities or change the reporting requirements only for small entities
because all the entities affected are considered small entities. Thus,
no alternatives are discussed that fall under the first and fourth
categories described above. Amendment 7 implemented criteria for
determining the availability of quota for Purse Seine fishery category
participants and IBQs for the Longline category. Both of these and the
eligibility criteria for IBQs and access to the Cape Hatteras GRA for
the Longline category can be considered individual performance
standards. NMFS has not yet found a practical means of applying
individual performance standards to the other quota categories while,
concurrently, complying with the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Thus, there are
no alternatives considered under the third category. In this
rulemaking, NMFS analyzed two quota implementation alternatives: First,
the status quo U.S. baseline quota and quotas established in 2011, and
second, the preferred alternative to implement the U.S. quota to
domestic categories in accordance with the 2014 ICCAT Recommendation,
Amendment 7, and implementing regulations. NMFS considered a third
quota alternative, which would use an allocation scheme other than the
one recently established in Amendment 7 for the purpose of implementing
BFT fishing category subquotas, but did not analyze this alternative
further because it would not satisfy the purpose and need of the action
(i.e., modifications to domestic management of BFT outside the
limitations of the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP, as amended, and current
ICCAT recommendations do not satisfy the purpose and need for the
action).
NMFS has estimated the average impact that establishing the
increased baseline annual U.S. BFT quota for all domestic fishing
categories would have on each quota category and the vessels within
those categories. As mentioned above, the 2014 ICCAT recommendation
increased the annual U.S. baseline BFT quota for each of 2015 and 2016
to 1,058.79 mt and provides 25 mt annually for incidental catch of BFT
related to directed longline fisheries in the NED. The baseline annual
subquotas would be adjusted consistent with the process established in
Amendment 7 (79 FR 71510, December 2, 2014), and these amounts would be
codified.
To calculate the average ex-vessel revenues under this action, NMFS
first estimated potential category-wide revenues. The most recent ex-
vessel average price per pound information for each commercial quota
category is used to estimate potential ex-vessel gross revenues under
each of the subquotas (i.e., 2014 prices for the General, Harpoon,
Purse Seine, and Longline/Trap categories). For comparison, in 2014,
gross revenues were approximately $7.8 million, broken out by category
as follows: General--$5.9 million, Harpoon--$544,778, Purse Seine--
$391,607, Longline--$953,055, and Trap--$0. The baseline subquotas
could result in estimated gross revenues of $11 million, if finalized
and fully utilized, broken out by category as follows: General
category: $6.8 million (466.7 mt * $6.60/lb); Harpoon category:
$611,851 (38.6 mt * $7.19/lb); Purse Seine category: $1.9 million
(184.3 mt * $ 4.77/lb); Longline category: $1.7 million (148.3 mt *
$5.22/lb); and Trap category: $11,508 (1.0 mt * $ 5.22/lb). This rule
implements the recently adopted ICCAT-recommended U.S. quota and
applies the allocations for each quota category as recently amended in
the implementing regulations for Amendment 7 to the 2006 Consolidated
HMS FMP. This action would be consistent with ATCA, under which the
Secretary promulgates regulations as necessary and appropriate to carry
out ICCAT recommendations.
No affected entities would be expected to experience negative,
direct economic impacts as a result of the preferred alternative. On
the contrary, each of the quota categories would increase relative to
the baseline quotas that applied in 2011 through 2014 and the quotas
finalized in Amendment 7. To the extent that Purse Seine fishery
participants and IBQ participants could receive additional quota as a
result of Amendment 7-implemented allocation formulas being applied to
increases in available Purse Seine and Longline category quota, those
participants would receive varying increases, which would result in
direct benefits from either increased fishing opportunities or quota
leasing.
To estimate potential average ex-vessel revenues that could result
from this action, NMFS divides the potential annual gross revenues for
the General, Harpoon, Purse Seine, and Trap category by the number of
permit holders. For the Longline category, NMFS divides the potential
annual gross revenues by the number of active vessels as defined in
Amendment 7. This is an appropriate approach for BFT fisheries, in
particular because available landings data (weight and ex-vessel value
of the fish in price-per-pound) allow NMFS to calculate the gross
revenue earned by a fishery participant on a successful trip. The
available data (particularly from non-Longline participants) do not,
however, allow NMFS to calculate the effort and cost associated with
each successful trip (e.g., the cost of gas, bait, ice, etc.), so net
revenue for each participant cannot be calculated. As a result, NMFS
analyzes the average impact of the alternatives among all participants
in each category.
Success rates vary widely across participants in each category (due
to extent of vessel effort and availability of commercial-sized BFT to
participants where they fish) but for the sake of estimating potential
revenues per vessel, category-wide revenues can be divided by the
number of permitted vessels in each category. For the Longline fishery,
the number of permits authorized for IBQ shares is used, and actual
revenues would depend, in part, on each vessel's IBQ in 2015. Although
HMS Charter/Headboat vessels may fish commercially under the General
category quota and retention limits, because it is unknown what portion
of HMS Charter/Headboat permit holders actively participate in the BFT
fishery, NMFS is estimating potential General category ex-vessel
revenue changes using the number of General category vessels only.
[[Page 52203]]
Estimated potential 2015 revenues on a per vessel basis,
considering the number of permit holders listed above and the final
subquotas, could be $2,441 for the General category; $43,703 for the
Harpoon category; $387,618 for the Purse Seine category; $12,549 for
the Longline category, using the 136 permits authorized for IBQ shares;
and $3,836 for the Trap category. Thus, all of the entities affected by
this rule are considered to be small entities for the purposes of the
RFA.
Consistent with Amendment 7 regulations, NMFS calculated the quota
available to Purse Seine fishery participants for 2015 and then
reallocated the remaining 87.4 mt of available Purse Seine category
quota to the Reserve category (80 FR 7547, February 11, 2015). NMFS has
recalculated those amounts based on the final U.S. baseline BFT quota
and subquotas in this rule, with an increase of 11.2 mt and 17.4 mt for
the Purse Seine and Reserve categories, respectively.
Because the directed commercial categories have underharvested
their subquotas in recent years, the potential increases in ex-vessel
revenues above may overestimate the probable economic impacts to those
categories relative to recent conditions. Additionally, there has been
substantial interannual variability in ex-vessel revenues per category
in recent years due to recent changes in BFT availability and other
factors.
The modifications to the regulatory text concerning Atlantic tunas
purse seine transfer at sea are intended to clarify the prohibition on
transfer at sea. They apply to the five Purse Seine fishery
participants only and are not expected to have significant economic
impacts as they are administrative in nature, reflect current practice,
and would not result in changes to Atlantic tunas purse seine
operations.
Section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness
Act of 1996 states that, for each rule or group of related rules for
which an agency is required to prepare a FRFA, the agency shall publish
one or more guides to assist small entities in complying with the rule,
and shall designate such publications as ``small entity compliance
guides.'' The agency shall explain the actions a small entity is
required to take to comply with a rule or group of rules. As part of
this rulemaking process, NMFS has prepared a brochure summarizing
fishery information and regulations for Atlantic tuna fisheries for
2015. This brochure also serves as the small entity compliance guide.
Copies of the compliance guide are available from NMFS (see ADDRESSES).
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 635
Fisheries, Fishing, Fishing vessels, Foreign relations, Imports,
Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Treaties.
Dated: August 20, 2015.
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 635 is amended
as follows:
PART 635--ATLANTIC HIGHLY MIGRATORY SPECIES
0
1. The authority citation for part 635 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq.; 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
0
2. In Sec. 635.27, revise paragraphs (a) introductory text, (a)(1)(i),
(a)(2), (a)(3), (a)(4) introductory text, (a)(4)(i), (a)(4)(ii),
(a)(5), (a)(6), (a)(7)(i), and (a)(7)(ii) to read as follows:
Sec. 635.27 Quotas.
(a) Bluefin tuna. Consistent with ICCAT recommendations, and with
paragraph (a)(10)(iv) of this section, NMFS may subtract the most
recent, complete, and available estimate of dead discards from the
annual U.S. bluefin tuna quota, and make the remainder available to be
retained, possessed, or landed by persons and vessels subject to U.S.
jurisdiction. The remaining baseline annual U.S. bluefin tuna quota
will be allocated among the General, Angling, Harpoon, Purse Seine,
Longline, Trap, and Reserve categories, as described in this section.
Bluefin tuna quotas are specified in whole weight. The baseline annual
U.S. bluefin tuna quota is 1,058.79 mt, not including an additional
annual 25-mt allocation provided in paragraph (a)(3) of this section.
The bluefin quota for the quota categories is calculated through the
following process. First, 68 mt is subtracted from the baseline annual
U.S. bluefin tuna quota and allocated to the Longline category quota.
Second, the remaining quota is divided among the categories according
to the following percentages: General--47.1 percent (466.7 mt);
Angling--19.7 percent (195.2 mt), which includes the school bluefin
tuna held in reserve as described under paragraph (a)(7)(ii) of this
section; Harpoon--3.9 percent (38.6 mt); Purse Seine--18.6 percent
(184.3 mt); Longline--8.1 percent (80.3 mt) plus the 68-mt allocation
(i.e., 148.3 mt total not including the 25-mt allocation from paragraph
(a)(3)); Trap--0.1 percent (1.0 mt); and Reserve--2.5 percent (24.8
mt). NMFS may make inseason and annual adjustments to quotas as
specified in paragraphs (a)(9) and (10) of this section, including
quota adjustments as a result of the annual reallocation of Purse Seine
quota described under paragraph (a)(4)(v) of this section.
(1) * * *
(i) Catches from vessels for which General category Atlantic Tunas
permits have been issued and certain catches from vessels for which an
HMS Charter/Headboat permit has been issued are counted against the
General category quota in accordance with Sec. 635.23(c)(3). Pursuant
to paragraph (a) of this section, the amount of large medium and giant
bluefin tuna that may be caught, retained, possessed, landed, or sold
under the General category quota is 466.7 mt, and is apportioned as
follows, unless modified as described under paragraph (a)(1)(ii) of
this section:
(A) January 1 through the effective date of a closure notice filed
by NMFS announcing that the January subquota is reached, or projected
to be reached under Sec. 635.28(a)(1), or through March 31, whichever
comes first--5.3 percent (24.7 mt);
(B) June 1 through August 31--50 percent (233.3 mt);
(C) September 1 through September 30--26.5 percent (123.7 mt);
(D) October 1 through November 30--13 percent (60.7 mt); and
(E) December 1 through December 31--5.2 percent (24.3 mt).
* * * * *
(2) Angling category quota. In accordance with the framework
procedures of the Consolidated HMS FMP, prior to each fishing year, or
as early as feasible, NMFS will establish the Angling category daily
retention limits. In accordance with paragraph (a) of this section, the
total amount of bluefin tuna that may be caught, retained, possessed,
and landed by anglers aboard vessels for which an HMS Angling permit or
an HMS Charter/Headboat permit has been issued is 195.2 mt. No more
than 2.3 percent (4.5 mt) of the annual Angling category quota may be
large medium or giant bluefin tuna. In addition, over each two-
consecutive-year period (starting with 2015-2016), no more than 10
percent of the annual U.S. bluefin tuna quota, inclusive of the
allocation specified in paragraph (a)(3) of this section, may be school
bluefin tuna (i.e., 108.4 mt). The Angling category quota includes the
amount of school bluefin tuna held in reserve under paragraph
[[Page 52204]]
(a)(7)(ii) of this section. The size class subquotas for bluefin tuna
are further subdivided as follows:
(i) After adjustment for the school bluefin tuna quota held in
reserve (under paragraph (a)(7)(ii) of this section), 52.8 percent
(46.6 mt) of the school bluefin tuna Angling category quota may be
caught, retained, possessed, or landed south of 39[deg]18' N. lat. The
remaining school bluefin tuna Angling category quota (41.7 mt) may be
caught, retained, possessed or landed north of 39[deg]18' N. lat.
(ii) An amount equal to 52.8 percent (43.5 mt) of the large school/
small medium bluefin tuna Angling category quota may be caught,
retained, possessed, or landed south of 39[deg]18' N. lat. The
remaining large school/small medium bluefin tuna Angling category quota
(38.9 mt) may be caught, retained, possessed or landed north of
39[deg]18' N. lat.
(iii) One third (1.5 mt) of the large medium and giant bluefin tuna
Angling category quota may be caught retained, possessed, or landed, in
each of the three following geographic areas: North of 39[deg]18' N.
lat.; south of 39[deg]18' N. lat., and outside of the Gulf of Mexico;
and in the Gulf of Mexico. For the purposes of this section, the Gulf
of Mexico region includes all waters of the U.S. EEZ west and north of
the boundary stipulated at 50 CFR 600.105(c).
(3) Longline category quota. Pursuant to paragraph (a) of this
section, the total amount of large medium and giant bluefin tuna that
may be caught, discarded dead, or retained, possessed, or landed by
vessels that possess Atlantic Tunas Longline category permits is 148.3
mt. In addition, 25 mt shall be allocated for incidental catch by
pelagic longline vessels fishing in the Northeast Distant gear
restricted area, and subject to the restrictions under Sec.
635.15(b)(8).
(4) Purse Seine category quota--(i) Baseline Purse Seine quota.
Pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section, the baseline amount of large
medium and giant bluefin tuna that may be caught, retained, possessed,
or landed by vessels that possess Atlantic Tunas Purse Seine category
permits is 184.3 mt, unless adjusted as a result of inseason and/or
annual adjustments to quotas as specified in paragraphs (a)(9) and (10)
of this section; or adjusted (prior to allocation to individual
participants) based on the previous year's catch as described under
paragraph (a)(4)(v) of this section. Annually, NMFS will make a
determination when the Purse Seine fishery will start, based on
variations in seasonal distribution, abundance or migration patterns of
bluefin tuna, cumulative and projected landings in other commercial
fishing categories, the potential for gear conflicts on the fishing
grounds, or market impacts due to oversupply. NMFS will start the
bluefin tuna purse seine season between June 1 and August 15, by filing
an action with the Office of the Federal Register, and notifying the
public. The Purse Seine category fishery closes on December 31 of each
year.
(ii) Allocation of bluefin quota to Purse Seine category
participants. Annually, NMFS will make equal allocations of the
baseline Purse Seine category quota described under paragraph (a)(4)(i)
of this section to individual Purse Seine participants (i.e., 36.9 mt
each), then make further determinations regarding the allocations per
paragraph (a)(4)(v) of this section. Allocations of individual bluefin
quota to individual Purse Seine participants may only be transferred
through leasing in accordance with procedures and requirements at Sec.
635.15(c) and other requirements under this paragraph (a)(4).
* * * * *
(5) Harpoon category quota. The total amount of large medium and
giant bluefin tuna that may be caught, retained, possessed, landed, or
sold by vessels that possess Harpoon category Atlantic Tunas permits is
38.6 mt. The Harpoon category fishery commences on June 1 of each year,
and closes on November 15 of each year.
(6) Trap category quota. The total amount of large medium and giant
bluefin tuna that may be caught, retained, possessed, or landed by
vessels that possess Trap category Atlantic Tunas permits is 1.0 mt.
(7) * * *
(i) The total amount of bluefin tuna that is held in reserve for
inseason or annual adjustments and research using quota or subquotas is
24.8 mt, which may be augmented by allowable underharvest from the
previous year, or annual reallocation of Purse Seine category quota as
described under paragraph (a)(4)(v) of this section. Consistent with
paragraphs (a)(8) through (10) of this section, NMFS may allocate any
portion of the Reserve category quota for inseason or annual
adjustments to any fishing category quota.
(ii) The total amount of school bluefin tuna that is held in
reserve for inseason or annual adjustments and fishery-independent
research is 18.5 percent (20.1 mt) of the total school bluefin tuna
Angling category quota as described under paragraph (a)(2) of this
section. This amount is in addition to the amounts specified in
paragraph (a)(7)(i) of this section. Consistent with paragraph (a)(8)
of this section, NMFS may allocate any portion of the school bluefin
tuna Angling category quota held in reserve for inseason or annual
adjustments to the Angling category.
* * * * *
0
3. In Sec. 635.29, revise paragraph (c) to read as follows:
Sec. 635.29 Transfer at sea and transshipment.
* * * * *
(c) An owner or operator of a vessel for which an Atlantic Tunas
Purse Seine category permit has been issued under Sec. 635.4 may use
an auxiliary vessel (i.e., a skiff) associated with the permitted
vessel to assist in routine purse seine fishery operations, provided
that the auxiliary vessel has not been issued an Atlantic Tunas or HMS
vessel permit and functions only in an auxiliary capacity during
routine purse seine operations (i.e., it conducts limited assistance
activities such as assistance with purse seine deployment and removal
of BFT from the purse seine). The auxiliary vessel may transfer large
medium and giant Atlantic BFT to its associated purse seine vessel
during routine purse seine operations, provided that the amount
transferred does not cause the receiving vessel to exceed its currently
authorized vessel allocation, including incidental catch limits.
[FR Doc. 2015-21147 Filed 8-27-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P