71 FR 211 pgs. 64165-64167 - Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Atlantic Bluefin TunaFisheries
Type: RULEVolume: 71Number: 211Pages: 64165 - 64167
Docket number: [I.D. 102606C]
FR document: [FR Doc. 06-9007 Filed 10-27-06; 2:36 pm]
Agency: Commerce Department
Sub Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Official PDF Version: PDF Version
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 635
[I.D. 102606C]
Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Atlantic Bluefin TunaFisheries
AGENCY:
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS),National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION:
Temporary rule; inseason retention limitadjustment.
SUMMARY:
NMFS has determined that the daily Atlanticbluefin tuna (BFT) retention limits for the Atlantic tunas General categoryshould be adjusted to provide reasonable opportunity to harvest the Generalcategory November through January time-period subquota. Therefore, NMFSincreases the daily BFT retention limits for the entire month of November,including previous scheduled Restricted Fishing Days (RFDs), to provideenhanced commercial General category fishing opportunities in all areaswhile minimizing the risk of an overharvest of the General category BFTquota.
DATES:
The effective dates for the BFT daily retentionlimits are provided in Table 1 under SUPPLEMENTARYINFORMATION .
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Brad McHale,978-281-9260.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Regulations implementedunder the authority of the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act (16 U.S.C. 971 et seq. ) and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation andManagement 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. The 2006 BFT fishing year beganon June 1, 2006, and ends May 31, 2007. The final initial 2006 BFTspecifications and General category effort controls were published on May30, 2006 (71 FR 30619). These final specifications divided the Generalcategory quota among three subperiods (June through August, the month ofSeptember, and October through January) in accordance with the HighlyMigratory Species Fishery Management Plan (1999 FMP) published in 1999 (May29, 1999; 64 FR 29090), and implementing regulations at§ 635.27. The final initial 2006 BFT specifications increasedthe General category retention limit to three fish for the June thoughAugust time-period, as well as established the following General categoryRestricted Fishing Day (RFD) schedule: all Saturday and Sundays fromNovember 18, 2006, through January 31, 2007, and Thursday November 23,2006, and Monday December 25, 2006, inclusive. Due to the large amount ofavailable quota and the low catch rates, NMFS extended the three-fishretention limit through September (71 FR 51529, August 30, 2006) andOctober (71 FR 58287, October 3, 2006) respectively to enhance fishingopportunities while minimizing the risk of exceeding available quota. OnOctober 2, 2006, NMFS published a final rule implementing the ConsolidatedHighly Migratory Species Fishery Management Plan (HMS FMP) (71 FR 58058).Contained in the HMS FMP is a revised General category time-period subquotaallocation scheme that has divided the coastwide General category into thefollowing five distinct time-periods; June through August, September,October and November, December, and January of the following year. Theeffective date of these time-periods and their associated subquota isNovember 1, 2006.
Daily Retention Limits
Pursuant to this action and the final initial 2006 BFT specifications,noted above, the daily BFT retention limits for Atlantic tunas Generalcategory are as follows:
| Permit Category | Effective Dates | Areas | BFT Size Class Limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| General | October 1, 2006, throughOctober 31, 2006, inclusive | All | Three BFT per vesselper day/trip, measuring 73 inches (185 cm) curved fork length (CFL) orlarger |
| November 1, 2006, throughNovember 30, 2006, inclusive | All | Three BFT per vesselper day/trip, measuring 73 inches (185 cm) curved fork length (CFL) orlarger | |
| December 1, 2006, through January 31,2007, inclusive | All | One BFT per vessel per day/trip,measuring 73 inches (185 cm) CFL or larger |
Adjustment of General Category Daily Retention Limits
Under § 635.23(a)(4), NMFS may increase or decrease theGeneral category daily retention limit of large medium and giant BFT over arange from zero (on RFDs) to a maximum of three per vessel to allow for areasonable opportunity to harvest the quota for BFT. As part of the finalspecifications on May 30, 2006 (71 FR 30619), NMFS adjusted the commercialdaily BFT retention limit, in all areas, for those vessels fishing underthe General category quota, to three large medium or giant BFT, measuring73 inches (185 cm) or greater curved fork length (CFL), per vessel perday/trip. This retention limit, which was to remain in effect throughAugust 31, 2006, inclusive, was extended through September and Octoberthrough separate actions filed with the Federal Register .From November 1, 2006, through January 31, 2007, inclusive, the Generalcategory daily BFT retention limit was scheduled to revert to one largemedium or giant BFT per vessel per day/trip.
The June through August, September, and soon to be effective October andNovember time-period subquota allocations for the 2006 fishing year totalapproximately 1,041.2 metric tons (mt). As of October 23, 2006, 94.5 mthave been landed in the General category and catch rates are less than 1.0mt per day. If catch rates remain at current levels and RFDs remain asscheduled, approximately 29 mt would be landed through November 30, 2006.This projection would bring June though November landings to approximately123.5 mt, resulting in an underharvest of approximately 917.7 mt. TheOctober 2, 2006, final rule established stand-alone General categorytime-periods for the months of December and January. Each of thesetime-periods are allocated a portion of the coastwide General category,thereby ensuring fishing opportunities are provided in years where highcatch rates are experienced. The quota carryover from the previoustime-period subquotas, combined with the newly established December andJanuary time-period subquota allocations, would allow for approximately1,039.8 mt to be harvested through January 31, 2007. In combination withthe subquota rollover from previous time-periods, scheduled RFDs, currentcatch rates, and the daily retention limit reverting to one large medium orgiant BFT per vessel per day on November 1, 2006, NMFS anticipates the fullOctober and November time-period subquota will not be harvested. Adding anexcessive amount of unused quota from one time-period subquota to thesubsequent time-period subquota is undesirable because it effectivelychanges the time-period subquota allocation percentages established in theHMS FMP and may contribute to excessive carry-overs to subsequent fishingyears. In the past, however, the fishery has had the capability ofincreasing landings rates dramatically in the latter Fall and Wintermonths, particularly off southern states. If the fishery was to perform atthese past levels with high landings rates (although not witnessed duringthe winter of 2005/2006), it may alleviate concern of excessive roll-oversfrom one fishing year to the next, but raises the possibility ofunprecedented, and potentially unsustainable, catch rates during the winterfishery.
The final initial 2006 BFT specifications scheduled a number of RFDs forthe month of November, including all Saturdays and Sundays, as well asThursday November 23, 2006. These RFDs were designed to provide for anextended late season, south Atlantic BFT fishery for the commercialhandgear fishermen in the General category. For the reasons referred toabove, NMFS has determined that the scheduled November RFDs are no longerrequired to meet their original purpose, and may in fact exacerbate lowcatch rates. Therefore, NMFS determined an increase in the General categorydaily BFT retention limit on those previously established RFDs for themonth of November is warranted. NMFS has selected these days in order togive adequate advance notice to fishery participants. While catch rateshave continued to be low so far this season, NMFS recognizes that they mayincrease at any time late in the season. In order to ensure equitablefishing opportunities in all areas, NMFS has not waived the RFDs scheduledin December and January at this time. If catch rates continue to be low,some or all of the remaining previously scheduled RFDs may be waived aswell.
Therefore, based on a review of dealer reports, daily landing trends,available quota, revised time-periods, and the availability of BFT on thefishing grounds, NMFS has determined that an increase in the Generalcategory daily BFT retention limit effective from November 1, 2006, throughNovember 30, 2006, inclusive of previously scheduled RFDs for the month ofNovember, is warranted. Thus, the General category daily retention limit ofthree large medium or giant BFT per vessel per day/trip (see Table 1) isextended through November 30, 2006, including all Saturdays and Sundays ofNovember as well as Thursday November 23, 2006. From December 1, 2006,through January 31, 2007, inclusive, the General category default daily BFTretention limit will be one large medium or giant BFT per vessel perday/trip will apply, unless further action is taken.
NMFS anticipates that with a combination of the default retention limitstarting on December 1, 2006, and the large amount of General categoryquota available, there will be sufficient quota for the coastwide Generalcategory season to extend through the winter months and allow for asouthern Atlantic fishery to take place with minimal risk of landingsexceeding available quota. However, to reduce the risks of excessivelandings rates throughout December and January, NMFS has determined itnecessary to only extend the three BFT daily retention limit for the onemonth of November and will re-examine the need to further extend theincreased bag limit prior to newly established December and Januarytime-periods based on landings rates and other fishery information.
This adjustment is intended to provide a reasonable opportunity toharvest the U.S. landings quota of BFT while maintaining an equitabledistribution of fishing opportunities, to help achieve optimum yield in theGeneral category BFT fishery, to collect a broad range of data for stockmonitoring purposes, and to be consistent with the objectives of the HMSFMP.
Monitoring and Reporting
NMFS selected the daily retention limits and their duration afterexamining current and previous fishing year catch and effort rates, takinginto consideration public comment on the annual specifications and inseasonmanagement measures for the General category received during the 2006 BFTquota specifications rulemaking process, and analyzing the available quotafor the 2006 fishing year. NMFS will continue to monitor the BFT fisheryclosely through dealer landing reports, the Automated Landings ReportingSystem, state harvest tagging programs in North Carolina and Maryland, andthe Large Pelagics Survey. Depending on the level of fishing effort andcatch rates of BFT, NMFS may determine that additional retention limitadjustments are necessary to ensure available quota is not exceeded or, toenhance scientific data collection from, and fishing opportunities in, allgeographic areas.
Closures or subsequent adjustments to the daily retention limits, ifany, will be published in the Federal Register . In addition,fishermen may call the Atlantic Tunas Information Line at (888)872-8862 or (978) 281-9260, or access the internet atwww.hmspermits.gov, for updates on quota monitoring and retention limitadjustments.
Classification
The Assistant Administrator for NMFS (AA), finds that it isimpracticable and contrary to the public interest to provide prior noticeof, and an opportunity for public comment on, this action for the followingreasons:
NMFS has recently become aware of increased availability of large mediumand giant BFT off southern New England and southern Atlantic fishinggrounds from fishing reports and landings data from dealers. This increasein abundance provides the potential to increase General category landingsrates if fishery participants are authorized to harvest three large mediumor giant BFT per day. Although landings to date have been low (i.e., lessthan one mt per day) there is the potential for increased availability ofBFT during the Fall to allow for an increase in fishery landing rates. Theregulations implementing the HMS FMP provide for inseason retention limitadjustments to respond to the unpredictable nature of BFT availability onthe fishing grounds, the migratory nature of this species, and the regionalvariations in the BFT fishery. Adjustment of retention limits, includingwaiving previously scheduled RFDs in the month of November, is alsonecessary to avoid excessive quota rollovers to subsequent General categorytime-period subquotas. Affording prior notice and opportunity for publiccomment to implement these retention limits is impracticable as it wouldpreclude NMFS from acting promptly to allow harvest of BFT that are stillavailable on the fishing grounds. Analysis of available data shows that theGeneral category BFT retention limit may be increased for the Atlantic tunaGeneral and HMS Charter/Headboat permit holders with minimal risks ofexceeding the International Commission for the Conservation of AtlanticTunas allocated quota.
Delays in increasing the retention limits would be contrary to thepublic interest. Limited opportunities to harvest the respective quotas mayhave negative social and economic impacts to U.S. fishermen that eitherdepend on catching the available quota within the time-periods designatedin the HMS FMP, or depend on multiple BFT retention limits to attractindividuals to book charters. For both the General and the HMSCharter/Headboat sectors, the retention limits must be adjusted asexpeditiously as possible so the impacted sectors can benefit from theadjustment.
Therefore, the AA finds good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) to waiveprior notice and the opportunity for public comment. For all of the abovereasons, and because this action relieves a restriction (i.e., currentdefault retention limit is one fish per vessel/trip but this actionincreases that limit and allows retention of more fish), there is also goodcause under 5 U.S.C. 553(d) to waive the 30-day delay in effectiveness.
This action is being taken under 50 CFR 635.23(a)(4) and is exempt fromreview under Executive Order 12866.
Authority:
16 U.S.C. 971 et seq. and 1801 et seq.
Dated: October 26, 2006.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine FisheriesService.
[FR Doc. 06-9007 Filed 10-27-06; 2:36 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S