Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Fisheries, 63812-63814 [2019-25014]
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Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 223 / Tuesday, November 19, 2019 / Rules and Regulations
§ 78.18 Frequency assignment.
[CORRECTION]
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6446.0
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6496.0
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6446.0
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■ 8. In § 101.803, amend the table in
paragraph (e)(2) by revising entry for
‘‘6446.0’’ to the table to read as follows:
§ 101.803
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PART 101—FIXED MICROWAVE
SERVICES
Frequencies.
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(MHz)
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(or receive MHz)
5. The authority citation for part 101
continues to read as follows:
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Authority: 47 U.S.C. 154, 303.
6. In § 101.115, amend the table in
paragraph (b)(2) by revising the text of
footnote 7 to read as follows:
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§ 101.115
Directional antennas.
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7 For stations authorized or pending
on April 1, 2003, the minimum
radiation suppression for Category B is
35dB in the 10,550–10,680 MHz band
and 36 dB in the 21,200–23,600 MHz
band for discrimination angles from
100° to 180°.
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7. In § 101.147, amend table 3 in
paragraph (b)(2) by revising entry for
928.36875’’ and in the table in
paragraph (j)(2) by revising the entry for
‘‘6446.0’’ to read as follows:
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§ 101.147
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Frequency assignments.
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TABLE 3—PAIRED FREQUENCIES
(MHz)
[12.5 kHz bandwidth]
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[FR Doc. 2019–24669 Filed 11–18–19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
50 CFR Part 635
[Docket No. 180117042–8884–02]
RTID 0648–XT027
Atlantic Highly Migratory Species;
Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Fisheries
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; quota transfer.
AGENCY:
*
Remote transmit
Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary, Office of the Secretary.
*
NMFS is transferring 53.2
metric tons (mt) of Atlantic bluefin tuna
(BFT) quota from the Reserve category
to the General category, to account for
an accrued overharvest of 33.7 mt from
previous time period subquotas. This
action is intended to provide
opportunities for General category
fishermen to participate in the
December General category fishery,
which is scheduled to reopen on
December 1, 2019, and is based on
consideration of the regulatory
determination criteria regarding
SUMMARY:
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inseason adjustments. This action
would affect Atlantic tunas General
category (commercial) permitted vessels
and Highly Migratory Species (HMS)
Charter/Headboat category permitted
vessels with a commercial sale
endorsement when fishing
commercially for BFT.
Effective November 18, 2019
through December 31, 2019.
DATES:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Sarah McLaughlin or Nicholas
Velseboer, 978–281–9260, or Larry
Redd, 301–427–8503.
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) and amendments. NMFS is
required under ATCA and the
Magnuson-Stevens Act to provide U.S.
fishing vessels with a reasonable
opportunity to harvest the ICCATrecommended quota.
The current baseline General and
Reserve category quotas are 555.7 mt
and 29.5 mt, respectively. 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. The baseline
subquotas for each time period are as
follows: 29.5 mt for January; 277.9 mt
for June through August; 147.3 mt for
September; 72.2 mt for October through
November; and 28.9 mt for December.
Any unused General category quota
rolls forward from one time period to
the next and is available for use in
subsequent time periods. To date for
2019, NMFS has taken seven actions
that resulted in adjustments to the
Reserve category, leaving 65.3 mt of
quota currently available (84 FR 3724,
February 13, 2019; 84 FR 6701, February
28, 2019; 84 FR 35340, July 23, 2019; 84
FR 47440, September 10, 2019; and 84
FR 48566, September 16, 2019; 84 FR
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Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 223 / Tuesday, November 19, 2019 / Rules and Regulations
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES
52806, October 3, 2019; and 84 FR
55507, October 17, 2019.)
For the January 2019 subquota period,
NMFS transferred 19.5 mt of BFT quota
from the December 2019 subquota
period, and transferred 51 mt from the
Reserve category, resulting in an
adjusted subquota of 100 mt for the
January 2019 period and a subquota of
9.4 mt for the December 2019 period (83
FR 67140, December 28, 2018, 83 FR
3724, February 13, 2019, and 84 FR
6701, February 28, 2019). NMFS closed
the October through November General
category fishery when the subquota
(172.2 mt) was projected to be reached,
effective October 13, 2019 (84 FR 55507,
October 17, 2019). The 2019 General
category fishery reopens December 1,
2019, and will remain open until
December 31, 2019, or until the General
category quota is reached, whichever
comes first.
Transfer of 53.2 mt From the Reserve
Category to the General Category
Under § 635.27(a)(9), NMFS has the
authority to transfer quota among
fishing categories or subcategories, after
considering regulatory determination
criteria provided under § 635.27(a)(8).
NMFS has considered all of the relevant
determination criteria and their
applicability to this inseason quota
transfer. These considerations include,
but are not limited to, the following:
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 valuable data for ongoing
scientific studies of BFT age and
growth, migration, and reproductive
status. Additional opportunity to land
BFT in the General category would
support the collection of a broad range
of data for these studies and for stock
monitoring purposes.
NMFS also 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 November 13, 2019, indicate that the
General category has landed 791.1 mt
this year, which exceeds the overall
General category adjusted quota of 766.8
mt. For all commercial categories,
however, approximately 17 percent
(189.9 mt) of the total of the BFT
category quotas remains available as of
November 13, 2019 (i.e., 978.1 mt of
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1167.99 mt has been harvested), and
NMFS anticipates that some amount of
quota may remain unused by the end of
the year even with the transfer. Absent
a transfer, the December General
category fishery would remain closed,
even though quota remains available
within the overall quota for the year and
NMFS anticipates that commercial-sized
BFT will be readily available on the
fishing grounds when the fishery is
otherwise scheduled to re-open
December 1, 2019. Transferring 53.2 mt
of BFT quota from the Reserve category
would allow the General category
fishery to resume as scheduled and
would result in 28.9 mt being available
to the General category in December
after accounting for 33.7 mt of accrued
overharvest. It would also leave 12.1 mt
in the Reserve category to account for
any BFT mortalities associated with
research and/or any overharvests that
may occur in December.
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 the 33.7 mt
overharvest in the category to date, and
NMFS anticipates that General category
participants will be able to harvest the
remaining 28.9 mt of transferred BFT
quota by the end of the fishing year.
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 2019 landings
and dead discards. In the last several
years, total U.S. BFT landings have been
below the 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
2019 landings and dead discards within
the adjusted U.S. quota, consistent with
ICCAT recommendations, and
anticipates having sufficient quota to do
that, even with this 53.2 mt transfer to
the General category.
NMFS also considered the effects of
the adjustment on the BFT stock and the
effects of the transfer on accomplishing
the objectives of the FMP
(§ 635.27(a)(8)(v) and (vi)). This transfer
would be consistent with the current
quotas, which were established and
analyzed in the 2018 BFT quota final
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63813
rule (83 FR 51391, October 11, 2018),
and with objectives of the 2006
Consolidated HMS FMP and
amendments and is not expected to
negatively impact stock health or to
affect the stock in ways not already
analyzed in those documents. 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
amendments, 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)). Specific to the
General category, this includes
providing opportunity equitably across
all time periods.
Based on the considerations above,
NMFS is transferring 53.2 mt from the
Reserve category to the General
category. Therefore, NMFS adjusts the
General category December 2019
subquota quota to 28.9 mt and adjusts
the Reserve category quota to 12.1 mt.
The General category fishery reopens
December 1, 2019, and will remain open
until December 31, 2019, or until the
adjusted General category quota is
reached, whichever comes first.
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.
Additionally, and separate from the
dealer reporting requirement, 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, or calling
(888) 872–8862 (Monday through Friday
from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.).
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
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Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 223 / Tuesday, November 19, 2019 / Rules and Regulations
quota monitoring and inseason
adjustments.
NMFS reminds General category
participants that when the fishery
reopens December 1, 2019, the BFT
General category daily retention limit
will be one large medium or giant BFT
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 quota
transfers 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 2019 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 exceeded)
and the need to re-open the fishery later
in the December time period, rather
than the fishery automatically reopening on December 1, 2019. 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.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq. and 1801
et seq.
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES
Dated: November 14, 2019.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2019–25014 Filed 11–18–19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
50 CFR Part 648
RTID 0648–XX025
Fisheries of the Northeastern United
States; Summer Flounder Fishery;
Quota Transfer From MD to NJ
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Announcement of quota
transfer.
AGENCY:
NMFS announces that the
State of Maryland is transferring a
portion of its 2019 commercial summer
flounder quota to the State of New
Jersey. This quota adjustment is
necessary to comply with the Summer
Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass
Fishery Management Plan quota transfer
provisions. This announcement informs
the public of the revised 2019
commercial quotas for Maryland and
New Jersey.
DATES: Effective November 18, 2019,
through December 31, 2019.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Laura Hansen, Fishery Management
Specialist, (978) 281–9225.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Regulations governing the summer
flounder fishery are found in 50 CFR
648.100 through 648.110. These
regulations require annual specification
of a commercial quota that is
apportioned among the coastal states
from Maine through North Carolina. The
process to set the annual commercial
quota and the percent allocated to each
state is described in § 648.102 and final
2019 allocations were published on May
17, 2019 (84 FR 22392).
The final rule implementing
Amendment 5 to the Summer Flounder
Fishery Management Plan (FMP), as
published in the Federal Register on
December 17, 1993 (58 FR 65936),
provided a mechanism for transferring
summer flounder commercial quota
from one state to another. Two or more
states, under mutual agreement and
with the concurrence of the NMFS
Greater Atlantic Regional Administrator,
can transfer or combine summer
flounder commercial quota under
§ 648.102(c)(2). The Regional
Administrator is required to consider
three criteria in the evaluation of
requests for quota transfers or
combinations: The transfer or
combinations would preclude the
SUMMARY:
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overall annual quota from being fully
harvested; the transfer addresses an
unforeseen variation or contingency in
the fishery; and, the transfer is
consistent with the objectives of the
FMP and the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
Maryland is transferring 15,220 lb
(6,904 kg) of summer flounder
commercial quota to New Jersey. This
transfer was requested to repay landings
made by a Maryland-permitted vessel in
New Jersey under a safe harbor
agreement. Based on the revised
Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea
Bass Specifications, the summer
flounder quotas for fishing year 2019 are
now: Maryland, 208,734 lb (94,680 kg);
and, New Jersey, 1,855,396 lb (841,593
kg).
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: November 14, 2019.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2019–25053 Filed 11–18–19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
50 CFR Part 679
[Docket No. 180831813–9170–02]
RIN 0648–XY025
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic
Zone Off Alaska; Pacific Cod by
Catcher Vessels Greater Than or Equal
to 50 Feet Length Overall Using Hookand-Line Gear in the Central
Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; closure.
AGENCY:
NMFS is prohibiting directed
fishing for Pacific cod by catcher vessels
greater than or equal to 50 feet length
overall (LOA) using hook-and-line gear
in the Central Regulatory Area of the
Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is
necessary to prevent exceeding the 2019
Pacific cod total allowable catch
apportioned to catcher vessels greater
than or equal to 50 feet LOA using hookand-line gear in the Central Regulatory
Area of the GOA.
DATES: Effective 1200 hours, Alaska
local time (A.l.t.), November 16, 2019,
through 2400 hours, A.l.t., December 31,
2019.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Josh
Keaton, 907–586–7228.
SUMMARY:
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 223 (Tuesday, November 19, 2019)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 63812-63814]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-25014]
=======================================================================
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 635
[Docket No. 180117042-8884-02]
RTID 0648-XT027
Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Atlantic Bluefin Tuna
Fisheries
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; quota transfer.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NMFS is transferring 53.2 metric tons (mt) of Atlantic bluefin
tuna (BFT) quota from the Reserve category to the General category, to
account for an accrued overharvest of 33.7 mt from previous time period
subquotas. This action is intended to provide opportunities for General
category fishermen to participate in the December General category
fishery, which is scheduled to reopen on December 1, 2019, and is based
on consideration of the regulatory determination criteria regarding
inseason adjustments. This action would affect Atlantic tunas General
category (commercial) permitted vessels and Highly Migratory Species
(HMS) Charter/Headboat category permitted vessels with a commercial
sale endorsement when fishing commercially for BFT.
DATES: Effective November 18, 2019 through December 31, 2019.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sarah McLaughlin or Nicholas
Velseboer, 978-281-9260, or Larry Redd, 301-427-8503.
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) and
amendments. 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 current baseline General and Reserve category quotas are 555.7
mt and 29.5 mt, respectively. 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. The baseline subquotas for each
time period are as follows: 29.5 mt for January; 277.9 mt for June
through August; 147.3 mt for September; 72.2 mt for October through
November; and 28.9 mt for December. Any unused General category quota
rolls forward from one time period to the next and is available for use
in subsequent time periods. To date for 2019, NMFS has taken seven
actions that resulted in adjustments to the Reserve category, leaving
65.3 mt of quota currently available (84 FR 3724, February 13, 2019; 84
FR 6701, February 28, 2019; 84 FR 35340, July 23, 2019; 84 FR 47440,
September 10, 2019; and 84 FR 48566, September 16, 2019; 84 FR
[[Page 63813]]
52806, October 3, 2019; and 84 FR 55507, October 17, 2019.)
For the January 2019 subquota period, NMFS transferred 19.5 mt of
BFT quota from the December 2019 subquota period, and transferred 51 mt
from the Reserve category, resulting in an adjusted subquota of 100 mt
for the January 2019 period and a subquota of 9.4 mt for the December
2019 period (83 FR 67140, December 28, 2018, 83 FR 3724, February 13,
2019, and 84 FR 6701, February 28, 2019). NMFS closed the October
through November General category fishery when the subquota (172.2 mt)
was projected to be reached, effective October 13, 2019 (84 FR 55507,
October 17, 2019). The 2019 General category fishery reopens December
1, 2019, and will remain open until December 31, 2019, or until the
General category quota is reached, whichever comes first.
Transfer of 53.2 mt From the Reserve Category to the General Category
Under Sec. 635.27(a)(9), NMFS has the authority to transfer quota
among fishing categories or subcategories, after considering regulatory
determination criteria provided under Sec. 635.27(a)(8). NMFS has
considered all of the relevant determination criteria and their
applicability to this inseason quota transfer. These considerations
include, but are not limited to, the following:
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 valuable data for ongoing scientific
studies of BFT age and growth, migration, and reproductive status.
Additional opportunity to land BFT in the General category would
support the collection of a broad range of data for these studies and
for stock monitoring purposes.
NMFS also 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 November 13, 2019, indicate that the
General category has landed 791.1 mt this year, which exceeds the
overall General category adjusted quota of 766.8 mt. For all commercial
categories, however, approximately 17 percent (189.9 mt) of the total
of the BFT category quotas remains available as of November 13, 2019
(i.e., 978.1 mt of 1167.99 mt has been harvested), and NMFS anticipates
that some amount of quota may remain unused by the end of the year even
with the transfer. Absent a transfer, the December General category
fishery would remain closed, even though quota remains available within
the overall quota for the year and NMFS anticipates that commercial-
sized BFT will be readily available on the fishing grounds when the
fishery is otherwise scheduled to re-open December 1, 2019.
Transferring 53.2 mt of BFT quota from the Reserve category would allow
the General category fishery to resume as scheduled and would result in
28.9 mt being available to the General category in December after
accounting for 33.7 mt of accrued overharvest. It would also leave 12.1
mt in the Reserve category to account for any BFT mortalities
associated with research and/or any overharvests that may occur in
December.
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 the 33.7 mt overharvest in the category to
date, and NMFS anticipates that General category participants will be
able to harvest the remaining 28.9 mt of transferred BFT quota by the
end of the fishing year.
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 2019 landings and
dead discards. In the last several years, total U.S. BFT landings have
been below the 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 2019 landings
and dead discards within the adjusted U.S. quota, consistent with ICCAT
recommendations, and anticipates having sufficient quota to do that,
even with this 53.2 mt transfer to the General category.
NMFS also considered the effects of the adjustment on the BFT stock
and the effects of the transfer on accomplishing the objectives of the
FMP (Sec. 635.27(a)(8)(v) and (vi)). This transfer would be consistent
with the current quotas, which were established and analyzed in the
2018 BFT quota final rule (83 FR 51391, October 11, 2018), and with
objectives of the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP and amendments and is not
expected to negatively impact stock health or to affect the stock in
ways not already analyzed in those documents. 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 amendments, 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)). Specific to the General category, this
includes providing opportunity equitably across all time periods.
Based on the considerations above, NMFS is transferring 53.2 mt
from the Reserve category to the General category. Therefore, NMFS
adjusts the General category December 2019 subquota quota to 28.9 mt
and adjusts the Reserve category quota to 12.1 mt. The General category
fishery reopens December 1, 2019, and will remain open until December
31, 2019, or until the adjusted General category quota is reached,
whichever comes first.
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.
Additionally, and separate from the dealer reporting requirement,
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, or calling (888) 872-8862
(Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.).
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
[[Page 63814]]
quota monitoring and inseason adjustments.
NMFS reminds General category participants that when the fishery
reopens December 1, 2019, the BFT General category daily retention
limit will be one large medium or giant BFT 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 quota transfers 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 2019 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 exceeded) and the need to re-open the
fishery later in the December time period, rather than the fishery
automatically re-opening on December 1, 2019. 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: November 14, 2019.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-25014 Filed 11-18-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
