Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Fisheries, 46000-46002 [2017-21209]
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46000
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 190 / Tuesday, October 3, 2017 / Rules and Regulations
Dated: September 7, 2017.
Cecil Rodrigues,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
§ 52.1070
*
Subpart V—Maryland
40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:
PART 52—APPROVAL AND
PROMULGATION OF
IMPLEMENTATION PLANS
1. The authority citation for part 52
continues to read as follows:
■
Identification of plan.
*
*
(e) * * *
*
*
2. In § 52.1070, the table in paragraph
(e) is amended by adding an entry for
‘‘2011 Base Year Inventory for the 2008
8-Hour Ozone National Ambient Air
Quality Standard’’ at the end of the table
to read as follows:
■
EPA APPROVED NON-REGULATORY AND QUASI-REGULATORY MATERIAL
State
submittal date
Name of non-regulatory SIP revision
Applicable geographic area
*
*
2011 Base Year Emissions Inventory for
the 2008 8-Hour Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard.
Additional
explanation
*
12/30/2016
*
10/3/2017 [Insert
Federal Register
citation].
*
See § 52.1075(r).
*
*
Baltimore, Maryland 2008 Ozone Moderate Nonattainment Area.
3. Section 52.1075 is amended by
adding paragraph (r) to read as follows:
■
§ 52.1075
Base year emissions inventory.
*
*
*
*
*
(r) EPA approves as a revision to the
Maryland state implementation plan the
2011 base year emissions inventory for
the Baltimore, Maryland moderate
nonattainment area for the 2008 8-hour
ozone national ambient air quality
standards submitted by the Maryland
Department of the Environment on
December 30, 2016. The 2011 base year
emissions inventory includes emissions
estimates that cover the general source
categories of stationary point, quasipoint, area (nonpoint), nonroad mobile,
onroad mobile, and Marine-Air-Rail (M–
A–R). The inventory includes actual
annual emissions and typical summer
day emissions for the months of May
through September for the ozone
precursors, VOC and NOX.
[FR Doc. 2017–21106 Filed 10–2–17; 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–XF724
jstallworth on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with RULES
EPA approval date
Atlantic Highly Migratory Species;
Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Fisheries
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
AGENCY:
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Temporary rule; inseason
General category bluefin tuna quota
transfer.
ACTION:
NMFS is transferring 156.4
metric tons (mt) of Atlantic bluefin tuna
(BFT) quota from the Reserve category
to the General category for the
remainder of the 2017 fishing year, to
account for overharvests of the January,
June through August, and September
subquotas. This action is intended to
preserve the opportunity for General
category fishermen to participate in the
October through November and
December General category fisheries to
the extent that transferrable quota is
available and is based on consideration
of the regulatory determination criteria
regarding inseason adjustments and
applies to Atlantic tunas General
category (commercial) permitted vessels
and Highly Migratory Species (HMS)
Charter/Headboat category permitted
vessels when fishing commercially for
BFT.
DATES: The quota transfer is effective
September 28, 2017 through December
31, 2017.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Sarah McLaughlin or Brad McHale,
978–281–9260.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Regulations implemented under the
authority of the Atlantic Tunas
Convention Act (ATCA; 16 U.S.C. 971 et
seq.) and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act
(Magnuson-Stevens Act; 16 U.S.C. 1801
et seq.) governing the harvest of BFT by
persons and vessels subject to U.S.
jurisdiction are found at 50 CFR part
635. Section 635.27 subdivides the U.S.
BFT quota recommended by the
International Commission for the
SUMMARY:
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Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT)
and as implemented by the United
States among the various domestic
fishing categories, per the allocations
established in the 2006 Consolidated
Highly Migratory Species Fishery
Management Plan (2006 Consolidated
HMS FMP) (71 FR 58058, October 2,
2006), as amended by Amendment 7 to
the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP
(Amendment 7) (79 FR 71510, December
2, 2014). NMFS is required under ATCA
and the Magnuson-Stevens Act to
provide U.S. fishing vessels with a
reasonable opportunity to harvest the
ICCAT-recommended quota.
The base quota for the General
category is 466.7 mt, as established in
the 2015 BFT quota final rule (80 FR
52198, August 28, 2015). See
§ 635.27(a). Each of the General category
time periods (January, June through
August, September, October through
November, and December) is allocated a
‘‘subquota’’ or portion of the annual
General category quota. Although it is
called the ‘‘January’’ subquota, the
regulations allow the General category
fishery under this quota to continue
until the subquota is reached or March
31, whichever comes first. The
subquotas for each time period are as
follows: 24.7 mt for January; 233.3 mt
for June through August; 123.7 mt for
September; 60.7 mt for October through
November; and 24.3 mt for December.
Any unused General category quota
rolls forward within the fishing year,
which coincides with the calendar year,
from one time period to the next, and
is available for use in subsequent time
periods. On December 19, 2016, NMFS
published an inseason action
transferring 16.3 mt of BFT quota from
the December 2017 subquota to the
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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 190 / Tuesday, October 3, 2017 / Rules and Regulations
jstallworth on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with RULES
January 2017 subquota period, resulting
in a subquota of 41 mt for the January
2017 period and a subquota of 8 mt for
the December 2017 period (81 FR
91873). For 2017, NMFS also transferred
40 mt from the Reserve to the General
category effective March 2, resulting in
an adjusted General category quota of
506.7 mt (82 FR 12747, March 7, 2017).
The 2017 General category fishery is
open until December 31, 2017, or until
the General category quota is reached,
whichever comes first. Prior to this
action, the adjusted Reserve category
quota was 156.4 mt, and was most
recently adjusted in the action to
augment the 2017 BFT Reserve category
quota with available underharvest of the
2016 adjusted U.S. BFT quota (82 FR
43500, September 18, 2017).
Quota Transfer
Under § 635.27(a)(9), NMFS has the
authority to transfer quota among
fishing categories or subcategories, after
considering regulatory determination
criteria at § 635.27(a)(8). NMFS has
considered all of the relevant
determination criteria and their
applicability to the General category
fishery. These considerations include,
but are not limited to, the following:
NMFS considered the catches of the
General category quota to date
(including during the summer/fall and
winter fisheries in the last several
years), and the likelihood of closure of
that segment of the fishery if no
adjustment is made (§ 635.27(a)(8)(ii)
and (ix)). Preliminary landings data as
of September 22, 2017, indicate that the
General category has landed 596 mt this
year, which exceeds the overall General
category quota of 506.7 mt. NMFS
closed the General category fishery
when the September subquota (123.7
mt) was met, effective September 17,
2017 (82 FR 43711, September 19,
2017). Without a quota transfer at this
time, the October through November
and December General category
subquotas would not be available to
General category participants because
the entire General category quota of
506.7 mt has been reached and
exceeded. Approximately 81 percent
(717.3 mt) of the total of the BFT
subquotas for all commercial categories
(888.7 mt, as published in the 2015 BFT
quota final rule) has been harvested as
of September 22, 2017, however, and
NMFS anticipates that some amount of
quota may remain unused by the end of
the year even with the transfer. Absent
a transfer at this time, this segment of
the fishery would have to remain closed
if no adjustment is made, even though
NMFS anticipates that commercial-sized
BFT will be readily available to vessels
VerDate Sep<11>2014
15:04 Oct 02, 2017
Jkt 244001
fishing under the General category quota
when the General category fishery is
scheduled to reopen on October 1, 2017.
Transferring 156.4 mt of BFT quota from
the Reserve category would allow this
segment of the fishery to continue
fishing and would result in a total of
663.1 mt being available to the General
category for the 2017 General category
fishing season.
Regarding the projected ability of the
vessels fishing under the particular
category quota (here, the General
category) to harvest the additional
amount of BFT quota transferred before
the end of the fishing year
(§ 635.27(a)(8)(iii)), NMFS considered
General category landings over the last
several years and landings to date this
year. Landings are highly variable and
depend on access to commercial-sized
BFT and fishing conditions, among
other factors. A portion of the
transferred quota covers overharvests in
the category as prosecuted to date, and
thus has already been harvested. For the
remainder of the transferred quota,
which make the remaining subquotas
whole to the extent that transferrable
quota is available, there is a high
probability that the transferred quota
will be harvested during the October
through November and December time
periods.
NMFS also considered the estimated
amounts by which quotas for other gear
categories of the fishery might be
exceeded (§ 635.27(a)(8)(iv)) and the
ability to account for all 2017 landings
and dead discards. In the last several
years, total U.S. BFT landings have been
below the total available U.S. quota
such that the United States has carried
forward the maximum amount of
underharvest allowed by ICCAT from
one year to the next. NMFS will need
to account for 2017 landings and dead
discards within the adjusted U.S. quota,
consistent with ICCAT
recommendations, and NMFS
anticipates having sufficient quota to do
that.
Regarding the usefulness of
information obtained from catches in
the particular category for biological
sampling and monitoring of the status of
the stock (§ 635.27(a)(8)(i)), biological
samples collected from BFT landed by
General category fishermen and
provided by BFT dealers continue to
provide NMFS with valuable data for
ongoing scientific studies of BFT age
and growth, migration, and reproductive
status. Additional opportunity to land
BFT over the longest time-period
allowable would support the collection
of a broad range of data for these studies
and for stock monitoring purposes.
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46001
This transfer would be consistent
with the current U.S. quota, which was
established and analyzed in the 2015
BFT quota final rule, and with
objectives of the 2006 Consolidated
HMS FMP and amendments.
(§ 635.27(a)(8)(v) and (vi)). Another
principal consideration is the objective
of providing opportunities to harvest the
full annual U.S. BFT quota without
exceeding it based on the goals of the
2006 Consolidated HMS FMP and
Amendment 7, including to achieve
optimum yield on a continuing basis
and to optimize the ability of all permit
categories to harvest their full BFT
quota allocations (related to
§ 635.27(a)(8)(x)).
Based on the considerations above,
NMFS is transferring all of the available
156.4 mt from the Reserve category to
the General category with the objective
of making the remaining subquotas
whole. Therefore, NMFS adjusts the
General category quota to 663.1 mt for
the 2017 General category fishing season
(i.e., through December 31, 2017, or
until the General category quota is
reached, whichever comes first), and
adjusts the Reserve category quota to 0
mt. If necessary, NMFS will close the
General category fishery for October
through November and for December
when the available subquotas for those
time periods are reached.
Monitoring and Reporting
NMFS will continue to monitor the
BFT fishery closely. Dealers are required
to submit landing reports within 24
hours of a dealer receiving BFT. Late
reporting by dealers compromises
NMFS’ ability to timely implement
actions such as quota and retention
limit adjustment, as well as closures,
and may result in enforcement actions.
General and HMS Charter/Headboat
category vessel owners are required to
report the catch of all BFT retained or
discarded dead within 24 hours of the
landing(s) or end of each trip, by
accessing hmspermits.noaa.gov or by
using the HMS Catch Reporting App.
Depending on the level of fishing effort
and catch rates of BFT, NMFS may
determine that additional action (e.g.,
quota adjustment or closure) is
necessary to ensure available subquotas
are not exceeded or to enhance
scientific data collection from, and
fishing opportunities in, all geographic
areas. If needed, subsequent
adjustments will be published in the
Federal Register. In addition, fishermen
may call the Atlantic Tunas Information
Line at (978) 281–9260, or access
hmspermits.noaa.gov, for updates on
quota monitoring and inseason
adjustments.
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46002
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 190 / Tuesday, October 3, 2017 / Rules and Regulations
NMFS reminds General category
participants that when the fishery
reopens October 1, 2017, the BFT
General category daily retention limit
will be one large medium or giant BFT
(measuring 73″ or greater) per vessel per
day/trip.
Dated: September 28, 2017.
Emily Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
Classification
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
The Assistant Administrator for
NMFS (AA) finds that it is impracticable
and contrary to the public interest to
provide prior notice of, and an
opportunity for public comment on, this
action for the following reasons:
The regulations implementing the
2006 Consolidated HMS FMP and
amendments provide for inseason
retention limit adjustments to respond
to the unpredictable nature of BFT
availability on the fishing grounds, the
migratory nature of this species, and the
regional variations in the BFT fishery.
Affording prior notice and opportunity
for public comment to implement the
quota transfer for the remainder of 2017
is impracticable and contrary to the
public interest as such a delay would
result in continued closure of the
General category fishery (because the
available quota has been met) and the
need to re-open the fishery later in the
October through November time period,
rather than the fishery automatically reopening on October 1. The delay would
preclude the fishery from harvesting
BFT that are available on the fishing
grounds and that might otherwise
become unavailable during a delay.
Therefore, the AA finds good cause
under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) to waive prior
notice and the opportunity for public
comment. For these reasons, there also
is good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(d) to
waive the 30-day delay in effectiveness.
This action is being taken under
§ 635.27(a)(9) (Inseason adjustments)
and is exempt from review under
Executive Order 12866.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq. and 1801
et seq.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Claire Fitz-Gerald, Fishery Management
Specialist, (978) 281–9255.
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 151211999–6343–02]
RIN 0648–XF713
Fisheries of the Northeastern United
States; Northeast Multispecies
Fishery; Georges Bank Cod
Possession and Trip Limit Adjustment
for the Common Pool Fishery
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; inseason
adjustment.
AGENCY:
This action decreases the
possession and trip limits for Georges
Bank cod for Northeast multispecies
common pool vessels for the remainder
of the 2017 fishing year, through April
30, 2018. Recent catch data reported
through September 19, 2017, indicates
that the common pool fishery has
already caught 2.4 metric tons, or 65.7
percent, of the Trimester 2 Georges Bank
cod Total Allowable Catch since the
second trimester began on September 1,
2017. We project that, at its current
trajectory, the common pool will catch
its Trimester 2 TAC well before the end
of the second trimester, and is also at
risk of exceeding its annual 2017 quota.
This possession and trip limit decrease
is intended to prevent the common pool
fishery from exceeding its allocation for
this stock prior to the end of the fishing
year.
DATES: This possession and trip limit
decrease is effective September 28,
2017, through April 30, 2018.
SUMMARY:
The
regulations at § 648.86(o) authorize the
Regional Administrator to adjust the
possession and trip limits for common
pool vessels in order to help prevent the
overharvest or underharvest of the
common pool quotas.
Recent catch data reported through
September 19, 2017, indicates that the
common pool fishery has already caught
2.4 metric tons, or 65.7 percent, of the
Trimester 2 Georges Bank (GB) cod
Total Allowable Catch (TAC) since the
second trimester began on September 1,
2017. The current GB cod possession
and trip limit for GB cod is 250 pounds
per DAS, and up to 500 pounds per trip.
Under these possession limits, the
common pool fishery caught its
Trimester 1 TAC and triggered an area
closure for GB cod on July 27, 2017. We
project that, at its current trajectory, the
common pool will catch its Trimester 2
TAC well before the end of the second
trimester, and is also at risk of
exceeding its annual 2017 quota. In the
event that the common pool exceeds its
2017 quota, regulations require that the
overage must be deducted from the
following year’s quota, which would
have a negative economic impact on
common pool vessels. Therefore, a
decrease to the possession and trip
limits is being implemented to help
prevent the common pool fishery from
exceeding its quota for the 2017 fishing
year.
Effective September 28, 2017, the GB
cod possession and trip limits are
decreased to 25 lb (11.3 kg) per day and
50 lb (22.7 kg) per trip, as summarized
in the table below. Common pool
groundfish vessels that have declared
their trip through the vessel monitoring
system (VMS) or interactive voice
response system, and crossed the VMS
demarcation line prior to September 28,
2017, are not subject to the new
possession and trip limits for that trip.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
[FR Doc. 2017–21209 Filed 9–28–17; 4:15 pm]
TABLE 1—NEW POSSESSION AND TRIP LIMITS FOR GB COD
Current possession/trip limits
New possession/trip limits
Days-At-Sea (A DAS) ..........................
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Permit type
250 lb (113.4 kg) per DAS, up to 500 lb (226.8 kg)
per trip.
250 lb (113.4 kg) per trip ........................................
25 lb (11.3 kg) per trip ............................................
25 lb (11.3 kg) per trip, within combined 300 lb
(136.1 kg) trip limit for cod, haddock, and
yellowtail flounder.
25 lb (11.3 kg) per DAS, up to 50 lb (22.6 kg) per
trip.
25 lb (11.3 kg) per trip.
Unchanged.
Unchanged.
Handgear A ..........................................
Handgear B ..........................................
Small Vessel Category .........................
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 190 (Tuesday, October 3, 2017)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 46000-46002]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-21209]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 635
[Docket No. 150121066-5717-02]
RIN 0648-XF724
Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Atlantic Bluefin Tuna
Fisheries
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; inseason General category bluefin tuna quota
transfer.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NMFS is transferring 156.4 metric tons (mt) of Atlantic
bluefin tuna (BFT) quota from the Reserve category to the General
category for the remainder of the 2017 fishing year, to account for
overharvests of the January, June through August, and September
subquotas. This action is intended to preserve the opportunity for
General category fishermen to participate in the October through
November and December General category fisheries to the extent that
transferrable quota is available and is based on consideration of the
regulatory determination criteria regarding inseason adjustments and
applies to Atlantic tunas General category (commercial) permitted
vessels and Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Charter/Headboat category
permitted vessels when fishing commercially for BFT.
DATES: The quota transfer is effective September 28, 2017 through
December 31, 2017.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sarah McLaughlin or Brad McHale, 978-
281-9260.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulations implemented under the authority
of the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act (ATCA; 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq.) and
the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-
Stevens Act; 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) governing the harvest of BFT by
persons and vessels subject to U.S. jurisdiction are found at 50 CFR
part 635. Section 635.27 subdivides the U.S. BFT quota recommended by
the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas
(ICCAT) and as implemented by the United States among the various
domestic fishing categories, per the allocations established in the
2006 Consolidated Highly Migratory Species Fishery Management Plan
(2006 Consolidated HMS FMP) (71 FR 58058, October 2, 2006), as amended
by Amendment 7 to the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP (Amendment 7) (79 FR
71510, December 2, 2014). NMFS is required under ATCA and the Magnuson-
Stevens Act to provide U.S. fishing vessels with a reasonable
opportunity to harvest the ICCAT-recommended quota.
The base quota for the General category is 466.7 mt, as established
in the 2015 BFT quota final rule (80 FR 52198, August 28, 2015). See
Sec. 635.27(a). Each of the General category time periods (January,
June through August, September, October through November, and December)
is allocated a ``subquota'' or portion of the annual General category
quota. Although it is called the ``January'' subquota, the regulations
allow the General category fishery under this quota to continue until
the subquota is reached or March 31, whichever comes first. The
subquotas for each time period are as follows: 24.7 mt for January;
233.3 mt for June through August; 123.7 mt for September; 60.7 mt for
October through November; and 24.3 mt for December. Any unused General
category quota rolls forward within the fishing year, which coincides
with the calendar year, from one time period to the next, and is
available for use in subsequent time periods. On December 19, 2016,
NMFS published an inseason action transferring 16.3 mt of BFT quota
from the December 2017 subquota to the
[[Page 46001]]
January 2017 subquota period, resulting in a subquota of 41 mt for the
January 2017 period and a subquota of 8 mt for the December 2017 period
(81 FR 91873). For 2017, NMFS also transferred 40 mt from the Reserve
to the General category effective March 2, resulting in an adjusted
General category quota of 506.7 mt (82 FR 12747, March 7, 2017). The
2017 General category fishery is open until December 31, 2017, or until
the General category quota is reached, whichever comes first. Prior to
this action, the adjusted Reserve category quota was 156.4 mt, and was
most recently adjusted in the action to augment the 2017 BFT Reserve
category quota with available underharvest of the 2016 adjusted U.S.
BFT quota (82 FR 43500, September 18, 2017).
Quota Transfer
Under Sec. 635.27(a)(9), NMFS has the authority to transfer quota
among fishing categories or subcategories, after considering regulatory
determination criteria at Sec. 635.27(a)(8). NMFS has considered all
of the relevant determination criteria and their applicability to the
General category fishery. These considerations include, but are not
limited to, the following:
NMFS considered the catches of the General category quota to date
(including during the summer/fall and winter fisheries in the last
several years), and the likelihood of closure of that segment of the
fishery if no adjustment is made (Sec. 635.27(a)(8)(ii) and (ix)).
Preliminary landings data as of September 22, 2017, indicate that the
General category has landed 596 mt this year, which exceeds the overall
General category quota of 506.7 mt. NMFS closed the General category
fishery when the September subquota (123.7 mt) was met, effective
September 17, 2017 (82 FR 43711, September 19, 2017). Without a quota
transfer at this time, the October through November and December
General category subquotas would not be available to General category
participants because the entire General category quota of 506.7 mt has
been reached and exceeded. Approximately 81 percent (717.3 mt) of the
total of the BFT subquotas for all commercial categories (888.7 mt, as
published in the 2015 BFT quota final rule) has been harvested as of
September 22, 2017, however, and NMFS anticipates that some amount of
quota may remain unused by the end of the year even with the transfer.
Absent a transfer at this time, this segment of the fishery would have
to remain closed if no adjustment is made, even though NMFS anticipates
that commercial-sized BFT will be readily available to vessels fishing
under the General category quota when the General category fishery is
scheduled to reopen on October 1, 2017. Transferring 156.4 mt of BFT
quota from the Reserve category would allow this segment of the fishery
to continue fishing and would result in a total of 663.1 mt being
available to the General category for the 2017 General category fishing
season.
Regarding the projected ability of the vessels fishing under the
particular category quota (here, the General category) to harvest the
additional amount of BFT quota transferred before the end of the
fishing year (Sec. 635.27(a)(8)(iii)), NMFS considered General
category landings over the last several years and landings to date this
year. Landings are highly variable and depend on access to commercial-
sized BFT and fishing conditions, among other factors. A portion of the
transferred quota covers overharvests in the category as prosecuted to
date, and thus has already been harvested. For the remainder of the
transferred quota, which make the remaining subquotas whole to the
extent that transferrable quota is available, there is a high
probability that the transferred quota will be harvested during the
October through November and December time periods.
NMFS also considered the estimated amounts by which quotas for
other gear categories of the fishery might be exceeded (Sec.
635.27(a)(8)(iv)) and the ability to account for all 2017 landings and
dead discards. In the last several years, total U.S. BFT landings have
been below the total available U.S. quota such that the United States
has carried forward the maximum amount of underharvest allowed by ICCAT
from one year to the next. NMFS will need to account for 2017 landings
and dead discards within the adjusted U.S. quota, consistent with ICCAT
recommendations, and NMFS anticipates having sufficient quota to do
that.
Regarding the usefulness of information obtained from catches in
the particular category for biological sampling and monitoring of the
status of the stock (Sec. 635.27(a)(8)(i)), biological samples
collected from BFT landed by General category fishermen and provided by
BFT dealers continue to provide NMFS with valuable data for ongoing
scientific studies of BFT age and growth, migration, and reproductive
status. Additional opportunity to land BFT over the longest time-period
allowable would support the collection of a broad range of data for
these studies and for stock monitoring purposes.
This transfer would be consistent with the current U.S. quota,
which was established and analyzed in the 2015 BFT quota final rule,
and with objectives of the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP and amendments.
(Sec. 635.27(a)(8)(v) and (vi)). Another principal consideration is
the objective of providing opportunities to harvest the full annual
U.S. BFT quota without exceeding it based on the goals of the 2006
Consolidated HMS FMP and Amendment 7, including to achieve optimum
yield on a continuing basis and to optimize the ability of all permit
categories to harvest their full BFT quota allocations (related to
Sec. 635.27(a)(8)(x)).
Based on the considerations above, NMFS is transferring all of the
available 156.4 mt from the Reserve category to the General category
with the objective of making the remaining subquotas whole. Therefore,
NMFS adjusts the General category quota to 663.1 mt for the 2017
General category fishing season (i.e., through December 31, 2017, or
until the General category quota is reached, whichever comes first),
and adjusts the Reserve category quota to 0 mt. If necessary, NMFS will
close the General category fishery for October through November and for
December when the available subquotas for those time periods are
reached.
Monitoring and Reporting
NMFS will continue to monitor the BFT fishery closely. Dealers are
required to submit landing reports within 24 hours of a dealer
receiving BFT. Late reporting by dealers compromises NMFS' ability to
timely implement actions such as quota and retention limit adjustment,
as well as closures, and may result in enforcement actions. General and
HMS Charter/Headboat category vessel owners are required to report the
catch of all BFT retained or discarded dead within 24 hours of the
landing(s) or end of each trip, by accessing hmspermits.noaa.gov or by
using the HMS Catch Reporting App. Depending on the level of fishing
effort and catch rates of BFT, NMFS may determine that additional
action (e.g., quota adjustment or closure) is necessary to ensure
available subquotas are not exceeded or to enhance scientific data
collection from, and fishing opportunities in, all geographic areas. If
needed, subsequent adjustments will be published in the Federal
Register. In addition, fishermen may call the Atlantic Tunas
Information Line at (978) 281-9260, or access hmspermits.noaa.gov, for
updates on quota monitoring and inseason adjustments.
[[Page 46002]]
NMFS reminds General category participants that when the fishery
reopens October 1, 2017, the BFT General category daily retention limit
will be one large medium or giant BFT (measuring 73'' or greater) per
vessel per day/trip.
Classification
The Assistant Administrator for NMFS (AA) finds that it is
impracticable and contrary to the public interest to provide prior
notice of, and an opportunity for public comment on, this action for
the following reasons:
The regulations implementing the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP and
amendments provide for inseason retention limit adjustments to respond
to the unpredictable nature of BFT availability on the fishing grounds,
the migratory nature of this species, and the regional variations in
the BFT fishery. Affording prior notice and opportunity for public
comment to implement the quota transfer for the remainder of 2017 is
impracticable and contrary to the public interest as such a delay would
result in continued closure of the General category fishery (because
the available quota has been met) and the need to re-open the fishery
later in the October through November time period, rather than the
fishery automatically re-opening on October 1. The delay would preclude
the fishery from harvesting BFT that are available on the fishing
grounds and that might otherwise become unavailable during a delay.
Therefore, the AA finds good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) to waive
prior notice and the opportunity for public comment. For these reasons,
there also is good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(d) to waive the 30-day
delay in effectiveness.
This action is being taken under Sec. 635.27(a)(9) (Inseason
adjustments) and is exempt from review under Executive Order 12866.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq. and 1801 et seq.
Dated: September 28, 2017.
Emily Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-21209 Filed 9-28-17; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
