Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Fisheries, 83832-83834 [2020-28215]
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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 247 / Wednesday, December 23, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
By the Board, Board Members Begeman,
Fuchs, and Oberman.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
(iii) Board action. The Chief, Section
of Administration, Office of Proceedings
will notify the fee waiver applicant of
the decision to grant or deny the request
for waiver or reduction.
(3) Review. No third-party appeals of
fee waiver or reduction decisions are
permitted.
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For the reasons set forth in the
preamble, the Surface Transportation
Board amends part 1002 of title 49,
chapter X, of the Code of Federal
Regulations as follows:
[FR Doc. 2020–28408 Filed 12–22–20; 8:45 am]
PART 1002—FEES
BILLING CODE 4915–01–P
1. The authority citation for part 1002
continues to read as follows:
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Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(4)(A), (a)(6)(B),
and 553; 31 U.S.C. 9701; and 49 U.S.C. 1321.
2. Amend § 1002.2 by revising
paragraphs (e)(1), (e)(2)(i), (ii), and (iii)
and adding paragraph (e)(3) to read as
follows:
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§ 1002.2
Filing fees.
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(e) * * *
(1) Except as noted in this paragraph
(e)(1), filing fees are waived for an
application, petition, notice, tariff,
contract summary, or other document
that is filed by a federal government
agency or a state or local government
entity. A fee waiver is not available
under this paragraph for a quasigovernmental entity or governmentsubsidized transportation company. A
fee waiver is also not available to any
state or local government entity that is
acting in the capacity of a carrier or
shipper or that owns or proposes to own
a carrier and is before the agency in its
proprietary role.
(i) When to request. At the time that
a filing is submitted to the Board, the fee
waiver applicant may request a waiver
of the fee prescribed in this part. Such
request should be addressed to the
Chief, Section of Administration, Office
of Proceedings, Surface Transportation
Board.
(ii) Board action. The Board will
either stamp the relevant filing with the
notation ‘‘Filing Fee Waived,’’ or the fee
waiver applicant will be notified of the
decision to grant or deny the request for
waiver by the Chief, Section of
Administration, Office of Proceedings.
(2) * * *
(i) When to request. At the time that
a filing is submitted to the Board, the fee
waiver applicant may request a waiver
or reduction of the fee prescribed in this
part. Such request should be addressed
to the Chief, Section of Administration,
Office of Proceedings.
(ii) Basis. The fee waiver applicant
must show the waiver or reduction of
the fee is in the best interest of the
public, or that payment of the fee would
impose an undue hardship on the fee
waiver applicant.
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
50 CFR Part 635
[Docket No. 180117042–8884–02; RTID
0648–XA699]
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:
SUMMARY: NMFS is transferring 19.5
metric tons (mt) of Atlantic bluefin tuna
(BFT) from the 28.9-mt General category
December 2021 subquota to the January
through March 2021 subquota period.
This action is based on consideration of
the regulatory determination criteria
regarding inseason adjustments and
applies to Atlantic tunas General
category (commercial) permitted vessels
and Atlantic Highly Migratory Species
(HMS) Charter/Headboat category
vessels with a commercial sale
endorsement when fishing
commercially for BFT.
DATES: Effective January 1, 2021,
through March 31, 2021.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Sarah McLaughlin, sarah.mclaughlin@
noaa.gov, 978–281–9260, Nicholas
Velseboer, nicholas.velseboer@
noaa.gov, or Larry Redd, larry.redd@
noaa.gov, 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)
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and as implemented by the United
States among the various domestic
fishing categories, per the allocations
established in the 2006 Consolidated
Atlantic HMS 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
§ 635.27(a). Each of the General category
time periods (January through March,
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 through March; 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.
Transfer of 19.5 mt From the December
2021 Subquota to the January Through
March 2021 Subquota
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 provide
valuable data for ongoing scientific
studies of BFT age and growth,
migration, and reproductive status.
Additional opportunity to land BFT,
and potentially over a greater portion of
the January through March time period,
would support the continued 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 in December 2020 and during
the winter fishery 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)
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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 247 / Wednesday, December 23, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
and (ix)). Without a quota transfer from
December 2021, the quota available for
the January through March period
would be 29.5 mt (5.3 percent of the
General category quota), and
participants would have to stop BFT
fishing activities once that amount is
met, while commercial-sized BFT may
remain available in the areas where
General category permitted vessels
operate. Transferring 19.5 mt of the
28.9-mt quota available for December
2021 (with 28.9 mt representing 5.2
percent of the General category quota)
would result in 49 mt (8.8 percent of the
General category quota) being available
for the January through March 2021
subquota period. This quota transfer
would provide additional opportunities
to harvest the U.S. BFT quota without
exceeding it, while preserving the
opportunity for General category
fishermen to participate in the winter
BFT fishery at both the beginning and
end of the calendar year.
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. Landings are highly
variable and depend on access to
commercial-sized BFT and fishing
conditions, among other factors. Any
unused General category quota from the
January through March subperiod that
remains as of March 31 will roll forward
to the next subperiod within the
calendar year (i.e., the June through
August time period). In early 2020,
NMFS transferred 19.5 mt of quota from
the December 2020 subquota to the
January through March 2020 subquota
period, resulting in a subquota of 49 mt
for the January through March 2020
period and a subquota of 9.4 mt for the
December 2020 period (85 FR 17,
January 2, 2020). NMFS also made a
transfer of 51 mt from the Reserve to the
General category effective February 5,
2020, resulting in an adjusted subquota
of 100 mt for the January through March
2020 period (85 FR 6828, February 6,
2020), and closed the General category
fishery for the January through March
subquota period effective February 24
(85 FR 10993, February 26, 2020). Under
a one-fish General category daily
retention limit (i.e., of large medium or
giant BFT, measuring 73 inches (185
cm) curved fork length or greater)
effective January 1 through February 24,
a total of 124.1 mt were landed.
NMFS also considered the estimated
amounts by which quotas for other gear
categories of the fishery might be
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exceeded (§ 635.27(a)(8)(iv)) and the
ability to account for all 2021 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
2021 landings and dead discards within
the adjusted U.S. quota, consistent with
ICCAT recommendations, and
anticipates having sufficient quota to do
that. Thus, this quota transfer would
allow fishermen to take advantage of the
availability of fish on the fishing
grounds to the extent consistent with
the available amount of transferrable
quota and other management objectives,
while avoiding quota exceedance.
NMFS also considered the effects of
the adjustment on the BFT stock and the
effects of the transfer on accomplishing
the objectives of the 2006 Consolidated
HMS 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 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.
NMFS also anticipates that some
underharvest of the 2020 adjusted U.S.
BFT quota will be carried forward to
2021 and placed in the Reserve
category, in accordance with the
regulations. This, in addition to the fact
that any unused General category quota
will roll forward to the next subperiod
within the calendar year, as well as
NMFS’ plan to actively manage the
subquotas to avoid any exceedances,
makes it likely that General category
quota will remain available through the
end of 2021 for December fishery
participants, even with the quota
transfer. NMFS also may choose to
transfer unused quota from the Reserve
or other categories, inseason, based on
consideration of the determination
criteria, as NMFS did for late 2020.
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83833
NMFS anticipates that General category
participants in all areas and time
periods will have opportunities to
harvest the General category quota in
2021, through active inseason
management actions such as retention
limit adjustments and/or the timing of
quota transfers, as practicable.
Based on the considerations above,
NMFS is transferring 19.5 mt of the
28.9-mt General category quota
allocated for the December 2021 period
to the January through March 2021
period, resulting in a subquota of 49 mt
for the January through March 2021
period and a subquota of 9.4 mt for the
December 2021 period.
Monitoring and Reporting
NMFS will continue to monitor the
BFT fishery closely. Dealers are required
to submit landings 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.).
Under § 635.23(a)(4), NMFS may
increase or decrease the daily retention
limit of large medium and giant BFT
over a range of zero to a maximum of
five per vessel based on consideration of
the relevant criteria provided under
§ 635.27(a)(8). However, at this time,
NMFS is maintaining the default daily
retention limit of one large medium or
giant BFT per vessel per day/trip
(§ 635.23(a)(2)) for the January through
March 2021 General category fishery.
Regardless of the duration of a fishing
trip, no more than a single day’s
retention limit may be possessed,
retained, or landed. For example (and
specific to the limit that will apply
beginning January 1, 2021), whether a
vessel fishing under the General
category limit takes a 2-day trip or
makes two trips in 1 day, the daily limit
of one fish may not be exceeded upon
landing. This General category retention
limit is effective in all areas, except for
the Gulf of Mexico, where NMFS
prohibits targeted fishing for BFT, and
applies to those vessels permitted in the
General category, as well as to those
HMS Charter/Headboat permitted
vessels with a commercial sale
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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 247 / Wednesday, December 23, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
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endorsement when fishing
commercially for BFT.
Depending on the level of fishing
effort and catch rates of BFT, NMFS
may determine that additional action
(e.g., quota adjustment, daily retention
limit 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. As needed, NMFS will
close the General category fishery when
the adjusted January through March
period subquota has been reached. Even
if the adjusted subquota is not reached,
the General category fishery will close
automatically on March 31, 2021, and
will remain closed until it reopens on
June 1, 2021. 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.
Classification
NMFS issues this action pursuant to
section 305(d) of the Magnuson-Stevens
Act. This action is consistent with
regulations at 50 CFR part 635, which
were issued pursuant to section 304(c)
of the Magnuson-Stevens Act and the
Atlantic Tunas Convention Act, and is
exempt from review under Executive
Order 12866.
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
January through March 2021 subquota
period is impracticable and contrary to
the public interest as NMFS could not
have proposed this action earlier, as it
needed to consider and respond to
updated landings data, including the
recently available December 2020 data,
in deciding to transfer a portion of the
December 2021 subquota to the January
through March 2021 subquota. If NMFS
was to offer a public comment period
now, after having appropriately
considered that data, it could preclude
fishermen from harvesting BFT that are
legally available consistent with all of
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the regulatory criteria, and/or could
result in selection of a retention limit
inappropriately high for the amount of
quota available for the period. This
action does not raise conservation and
management concerns. Transferring
quota within the General category does
not affect the overall U.S. BFT quota,
and available data shows the adjustment
would have a minimal risk of exceeding
the ICCAT-allocated quota. NMFS notes
that the public had an opportunity to
comment on the underlying
rulemakings that established the U.S.
BFT quota and the inseason adjustment
criteria. For all of the above reasons,
there is good cause under 5 U.S.C.
553(d) to waive the 30-day delay in
effectiveness.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq. and 1801
et seq.
Dated: December 17, 2020.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2020–28215 Filed 12–22–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
50 CFR Part 679
[[Docket No. 200221–0062]
RTID 0648–XA725
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic
Zone Off Alaska; Inseason Adjustment
to the 2021 Gulf of Alaska Pollock and
Pacific Cod Total Allowable Catch
Amounts
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; inseason
adjustment; request for comments.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: NMFS is adjusting the 2021
total allowable catch (TAC) amounts for
the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) pollock and
Pacific cod fishery. This action is
necessary because NMFS has
determined these TACs are incorrectly
specified, and will ensure the GOA
pollock and Pacific cod TACs are the
appropriate amount based on the best
available scientific information for
pollock and Pacific cod in the GOA.
This action is consistent with the goals
and objectives of the Fishery
Management Plan for Groundfish of the
Gulf of Alaska.
DATES: Effective 0001 hours, Alaska
local time (A.l.t.), January 1, 2021, until
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the effective date of the final 2021 and
2022 harvest specifications for GOA
groundfish, unless otherwise modified
or superseded through publication of a
notification in the Federal Register.
Comments must be received at the
following address no later than 4:30
p.m., A.l.t., January 7, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments,
identified by NOAA–NMFS–2019–0102
by any of the following methods:
• Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: Go to
www.regulations.gov/
#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-20190102, click the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon,
complete the required fields, and enter
or attach your comments.
• Mail: Submit written comments to
Glenn Merrill, Assistant Regional
Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries
Division, Alaska Region NMFS, Attn:
Records. Mail comments to P.O. Box
21668, Juneau, AK 99802–1668.
Instructions: NMFS may not consider
comments if they are sent by any other
method, to any other address or
individual, or received after the
comment period ends. All comments
received are a part of the public record,
and NMFS will post the comments for
public viewing on www.regulations.gov
without change. All personal identifying
information (e.g., name, address),
confidential business information, or
otherwise sensitive information
submitted voluntarily by the sender will
be publicly accessible. NMFS will
accept anonymous comments (enter ‘‘N/
A’’ in the required fields if you wish to
remain anonymous).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Obren Davis, 907–586–7228.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS
manages the groundfish fishery in the
GOA exclusive economic zone
according to the Fishery Management
Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of
Alaska (FMP) prepared by the North
Pacific Fishery Management Council
(Council) under authority of the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act.
Regulations governing fishing by U.S.
vessels in accordance with the FMP
appear at subpart H of 50 CFR part 600
and 50 CFR part 679.
The final 2020 and 2021 harvest
specifications for groundfish in the GOA
(85 FR 13802, March 10, 2020 and
revision to implement Amendment 109,
85 FR 74266, November 20, 2020) set
the 2021 pollock TAC at 119,239 metric
tons (mt) in the GOA. In December
2020, the Council recommended a 2021
pollock TAC of 113,227 mt for the GOA,
which is less than the 119,239 mt
established by the final 2020 and 2021
harvest specifications for groundfish in
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 247 (Wednesday, December 23, 2020)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 83832-83834]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-28215]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 635
[Docket No. 180117042-8884-02; RTID 0648-XA699]
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 19.5 metric tons (mt) of Atlantic bluefin
tuna (BFT) from the 28.9-mt General category December 2021 subquota to
the January through March 2021 subquota period. This action is based on
consideration of the regulatory determination criteria regarding
inseason adjustments and applies to Atlantic tunas General category
(commercial) permitted vessels and Atlantic Highly Migratory Species
(HMS) Charter/Headboat category vessels with a commercial sale
endorsement when fishing commercially for BFT.
DATES: Effective January 1, 2021, through March 31, 2021.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sarah McLaughlin,
[email protected], 978-281-9260, Nicholas Velseboer,
[email protected], or Larry Redd, [email protected], 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 Atlantic HMS 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 through March, 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 through March; 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.
Transfer of 19.5 mt From the December 2021 Subquota to the January
Through March 2021 Subquota
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 provide valuable data for ongoing scientific studies of BFT
age and growth, migration, and reproductive status. Additional
opportunity to land BFT, and potentially over a greater portion of the
January through March time period, would support the continued
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 in December 2020 and during the winter fishery 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)
[[Page 83833]]
and (ix)). Without a quota transfer from December 2021, the quota
available for the January through March period would be 29.5 mt (5.3
percent of the General category quota), and participants would have to
stop BFT fishing activities once that amount is met, while commercial-
sized BFT may remain available in the areas where General category
permitted vessels operate. Transferring 19.5 mt of the 28.9-mt quota
available for December 2021 (with 28.9 mt representing 5.2 percent of
the General category quota) would result in 49 mt (8.8 percent of the
General category quota) being available for the January through March
2021 subquota period. This quota transfer would provide additional
opportunities to harvest the U.S. BFT quota without exceeding it, while
preserving the opportunity for General category fishermen to
participate in the winter BFT fishery at both the beginning and end of
the calendar year.
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. Landings are highly
variable and depend on access to commercial-sized BFT and fishing
conditions, among other factors. Any unused General category quota from
the January through March subperiod that remains as of March 31 will
roll forward to the next subperiod within the calendar year (i.e., the
June through August time period). In early 2020, NMFS transferred 19.5
mt of quota from the December 2020 subquota to the January through
March 2020 subquota period, resulting in a subquota of 49 mt for the
January through March 2020 period and a subquota of 9.4 mt for the
December 2020 period (85 FR 17, January 2, 2020). NMFS also made a
transfer of 51 mt from the Reserve to the General category effective
February 5, 2020, resulting in an adjusted subquota of 100 mt for the
January through March 2020 period (85 FR 6828, February 6, 2020), and
closed the General category fishery for the January through March
subquota period effective February 24 (85 FR 10993, February 26, 2020).
Under a one-fish General category daily retention limit (i.e., of large
medium or giant BFT, measuring 73 inches (185 cm) curved fork length or
greater) effective January 1 through February 24, a total of 124.1 mt
were landed.
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 2021 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 2021 landings
and dead discards within the adjusted U.S. quota, consistent with ICCAT
recommendations, and anticipates having sufficient quota to do that.
Thus, this quota transfer would allow fishermen to take advantage of
the availability of fish on the fishing grounds to the extent
consistent with the available amount of transferrable quota and other
management objectives, while avoiding quota exceedance.
NMFS also considered the effects of the adjustment on the BFT stock
and the effects of the transfer on accomplishing the objectives of the
2006 Consolidated HMS 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.
NMFS also anticipates that some underharvest of the 2020 adjusted
U.S. BFT quota will be carried forward to 2021 and placed in the
Reserve category, in accordance with the regulations. This, in addition
to the fact that any unused General category quota will roll forward to
the next subperiod within the calendar year, as well as NMFS' plan to
actively manage the subquotas to avoid any exceedances, makes it likely
that General category quota will remain available through the end of
2021 for December fishery participants, even with the quota transfer.
NMFS also may choose to transfer unused quota from the Reserve or other
categories, inseason, based on consideration of the determination
criteria, as NMFS did for late 2020. NMFS anticipates that General
category participants in all areas and time periods will have
opportunities to harvest the General category quota in 2021, through
active inseason management actions such as retention limit adjustments
and/or the timing of quota transfers, as practicable.
Based on the considerations above, NMFS is transferring 19.5 mt of
the 28.9-mt General category quota allocated for the December 2021
period to the January through March 2021 period, resulting in a
subquota of 49 mt for the January through March 2021 period and a
subquota of 9.4 mt for the December 2021 period.
Monitoring and Reporting
NMFS will continue to monitor the BFT fishery closely. Dealers are
required to submit landings 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.).
Under Sec. 635.23(a)(4), NMFS may increase or decrease the daily
retention limit of large medium and giant BFT over a range of zero to a
maximum of five per vessel based on consideration of the relevant
criteria provided under Sec. 635.27(a)(8). However, at this time, NMFS
is maintaining the default daily retention limit of one large medium or
giant BFT per vessel per day/trip (Sec. 635.23(a)(2)) for the January
through March 2021 General category fishery. Regardless of the duration
of a fishing trip, no more than a single day's retention limit may be
possessed, retained, or landed. For example (and specific to the limit
that will apply beginning January 1, 2021), whether a vessel fishing
under the General category limit takes a 2-day trip or makes two trips
in 1 day, the daily limit of one fish may not be exceeded upon landing.
This General category retention limit is effective in all areas, except
for the Gulf of Mexico, where NMFS prohibits targeted fishing for BFT,
and applies to those vessels permitted in the General category, as well
as to those HMS Charter/Headboat permitted vessels with a commercial
sale
[[Page 83834]]
endorsement when fishing commercially for BFT.
Depending on the level of fishing effort and catch rates of BFT,
NMFS may determine that additional action (e.g., quota adjustment,
daily retention limit 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. As needed, NMFS will close the General category fishery when
the adjusted January through March period subquota has been reached.
Even if the adjusted subquota is not reached, the General category
fishery will close automatically on March 31, 2021, and will remain
closed until it reopens on June 1, 2021. 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.
Classification
NMFS issues this action pursuant to section 305(d) of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act. This action is consistent with regulations at 50 CFR part
635, which were issued pursuant to section 304(c) of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act and the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act, and is exempt from
review under Executive Order 12866.
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 January through March 2021
subquota period is impracticable and contrary to the public interest as
NMFS could not have proposed this action earlier, as it needed to
consider and respond to updated landings data, including the recently
available December 2020 data, in deciding to transfer a portion of the
December 2021 subquota to the January through March 2021 subquota. If
NMFS was to offer a public comment period now, after having
appropriately considered that data, it could preclude fishermen from
harvesting BFT that are legally available consistent with all of the
regulatory criteria, and/or could result in selection of a retention
limit inappropriately high for the amount of quota available for the
period. This action does not raise conservation and management
concerns. Transferring quota within the General category does not
affect the overall U.S. BFT quota, and available data shows the
adjustment would have a minimal risk of exceeding the ICCAT-allocated
quota. NMFS notes that the public had an opportunity to comment on the
underlying rulemakings that established the U.S. BFT quota and the
inseason adjustment criteria. For all of the above reasons, there is
good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(d) to waive the 30-day delay in
effectiveness.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq. and 1801 et seq.
Dated: December 17, 2020.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-28215 Filed 12-22-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
