Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Fisheries; Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Quota Specifications

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 630

[Docket No. 970401075-7075-01; I.D. 121296A]

RIN 0648-AJ69

Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Fisheries; Atlantic Bluefin

Tuna Quota Specifications

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Proposed quota specifications; public hearings; request for

comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS issues proposed specifications to set Atlantic bluefin

tuna (ABT) fishing category quotas for the 1997 fishing year. The

proposed specifications are necessary to implement the 1996

recommendation of the International Commission for the Conservation of

Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) regarding fishing quotas for bluefin tuna, as

required by the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act (ATCA), and to achieve

domestic management objectives. NMFS will hold public hearings to

receive comments from fishery participants and other members of the

public regarding these proposed specifications.

DATES: Comments are invited and must be received on or before May 16,

1997. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for dates and times of public

hearings.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the proposed specifications should be sent to,

and copies of supporting documents, including a Draft Environmental

Assessment-Regulatory Impact Review (EA/RIR), are available from,

Rebecca Lent, Chief, Highly Migratory Species Management Division,

Office of Sustainable Fisheries (F/SF1), NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway,

Silver Spring, MD 20910-3282. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for

locations of public hearings.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Kelly, 301-713-2347, or Mark

Murray-Brown, 508-281-9260.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Atlantic tuna fisheries are managed

under the authority of ATCA. ATCA authorizes the Secretary of Commerce

(Secretary) to issue regulations as may be necessary to carry out the

recommendations of ICCAT. The authority to carry out ICCAT

recommendations has been delegated from the Secretary to the Assistant

Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA (AA).

Based on a revised stock assessment, parties at the 1996 meeting of

ICCAT adopted a recommendation to increase the annual scientific

monitoring quota of ABT in the western Atlantic Ocean from 2,200 metric

tons (mt) to 2,354 mt. The share allocated to the United States was

increased from 1306 mt to 1,344 mt and applies each year for the 1997

and 1998 fishing years. These proposed specifications would implement

that quota recommendation and allocate the total among the several

established fishing categories. While the ICCAT recommendation refers

to adjustments to the 1998 quotas based on underharvest or overharvest

in 1997, there is no provision for such adjustments from the 1996

fishing year. Therefore, these proposed specifications for 1997 which

appear as an attachment to this document do not include any adjustments

relative to landings in 1996.

Relation to Proposed Consolidation

A proposed rule to consolidate all the Atlantic highly migratory

species regulations was published by NMFS on November 6, 1996, in the

Federal Register at 61 FR 57361. That proposed rule would significantly

reorganize and condense regulatory text regarding the Atlantic tuna

fisheries. In particular, regulations governing the Atlantic tuna

fisheries, currently found at 50 CFR part 285, were proposed to be

combined with other regulations governing highly migratory species

under 50 CFR part 630. The quotas contained in these proposed

specifications have been written to be consistent with the previously

proposed consolidation.

Additionally, under the consolidation, regulatory text regarding

annual quotas for ABT was proposed to be eliminated and replaced by

annual quota specifications to be published in the Federal Register.

Under the proposed new procedures, NMFS would issue proposed quota

specifications and applicable supporting analyses (EA/RIR, Initial

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA)), provide for a public comment

period, and issue final quota specifications. These proposed ABT quota

specifications for 1997 are drafted in a format to enable the public to

place these changes in the context of the proposed consolidated

regulations under part 630. Copies of the proposed consolidation rule

may be obtained by writing (see ADDRESSES) or calling the contact

person (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).

Relation to Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR)

These proposed specifications address in part comments submitted to

NMFS in response to an ANPR (61 FR 48876, September 17, 1996). In the

ANPR, NMFS requested comment on measures necessary to implement quota

modifications and/or any other management recommendations for Atlantic

tunas following the 1996 meeting of ICCAT. As stated in the ANPR, NMFS

is required under ATCA to establish ABT quotas consistent with the

recommendations of ICCAT. Under this legislative requirement,

allocation of the U.S. ABT quota has been designed to collect the

scientific information necessary to monitor the status of the ABT

resource and, consistent with this, to achieve an equitable

distribution of fishing opportunities to all fishing categories and all

geographic areas.

The ANPR established a 30-day comment period during which NMFS

received numerous comments on quota allocations. NMFS received 141

comments that the amount of quota allocated to the handgear categories

should be increased substantially, given recent estimates of bluefin

biomass. Some commenters requested that NMFS substantially reduce, and

ultimately eliminate, the Purse Seine quota. A few individuals

commented that the Charter/Headboat and Angling category quotas should

reflect the economic benefits of those recreational fisheries.

In addition to comments submitted in response to the ANPR, NMFS has

received a petition for rulemaking regarding Atlantic bluefin tuna

quotas. The petitioner requested that NMFS reallocate the domestic

quota in a manner that reduces the Purse Seine category quota to the

proportion established prior to the 1983 reallocation and increases the

combined quotas of the General and Angling categories by the same

amount. NMFS requests comment on the merits and impacts of this

petition for rulemaking. Copies of the petition are available from NMFS

(see ADDRESSES).

Proposed Fishing Category Quotas

In the 1992 final rule (57 FR 32905, July 24, 1992), NMFS

established quotas for the various commercial and recreational

categories in the ABT fishery, based upon the historical share of catch

in each of these categories

[[Page 19297]]

during the period 1983 through 1991 (see table). These base quotas were

modified in 1995 by an increase of 76 mt to the overall U.S. quota at

ICCAT and by reducing the Purse Seine category quota to 250 mt. Both

the overall quota increase and the purse seine transfer were added to

the Reserve, resulting in a total Reserve of 145 mt. The 1995 adjusted

base quotas have been used as a reference point for the 1997 quota

specifications proposed here.

The total 1997 quota allocated by ICCAT to the United States is

1,344 mt, a 33 mt increase over 1996. NMFS proposes to modify quotas by

gear category and the Reserve to achieve a geographic and temporal

distribution of fishing effort and catch that reflects the scientific

monitoring nature of the quota. While NMFS has attempted to allocate

the U.S. quota consistent with maintaining the traditional user groups

and taking into account recent trends in fishing fleet activity, these

socio-economic concerns are secondary to the collection of scientific

data for the purposes of stock assessment.

The proposed specifications would set the Reserve at 33 mt, would

maintain the Purse Seine category quota at 250 mt, would maintain the

Incidental quota at 110 mt, would increase the General category quota

from 531 mt to 633 mt, would maintain the Harpoon category quota at 53

mt, and would increase the Angling category quota from 222 mt to 265

mt.

Reserve Category

The Reserve category was established to ensure that the annual U.S.

quota allocated by ICCAT is not exceeded. Since there is a lag time in

reporting catches and landings of ABT in all commercial and

recreational fishing categories, there is some uncertainty in real-time

harvest estimates. In addition, some reasonable advance notice of

closure is required, and weather conditions can affect the level of

fishing effort prior to the announced closing date. All these factors

lead to uncertainty in forecasting fishery closures, thus allocations

from the Reserve are made to cover potential overharvest or to allow

fishing to continue in a category for the collection of scientific

data.

The 33 mt increase from ICCAT for calendar year 1997 would be

placed in the Reserve. Given the existing measures for quota monitoring

of all categories and the additional measures that will be implemented

in 1997 for Angling category quota monitoring, it is not necessary to

maintain as much tonnage in the Reserve as had been established in 1995

(145 mt). NMFS plans to implement a FAX/OCR system for commercial

dealer reporting and has proposed direct reporting by recreational

anglers (62 FR 9726, March 4, 1997). Additionally, NMFS has proposed

changes to the Atlantic Tunas Permit Program that should improve

information collection through dockside and telephone surveys.

Consequently, NMFS believes that a 33 mt Reserve is adequate to ensure

that the overall quota is not exceeded.

Purse Seine Category

The Purse Seine category has been managed as a limited entry

fishery of five vessels since 1982. Each vessel is annually allocated

an equal share of the category quota, which may be harvested or traded

to another authorized purse seine vessel. In contrast to the handgear

fisheries, the Purse Seine category is the only ABT fishing category

that has not been subject to increased participation and premature

closure in recent years.

NMFS has received numerous comments that the limited entry Purse

Seine category is allocated an inordinate share of the national quota

and that the allocation restricts fishing opportunities for other

fishermen. Many individuals have requested that the purse seine quota

be reduced and redistributed to the handgear fisheries. In recent

years, NMFS has reallocated some of the purse seine quota to try to

collect scientific information, particularly catch-per-unit effort,

over the broadest geographic and temporal range as possible.

NMFS is specifically seeking comment on the issue of reallocation

of the purse seine quota. Further, NMFS has decided that reallocation

issues warrant further consideration by the Atlantic Tunas Advisory

Panel (AP) to be created as required under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery

Conservation and Management Act. The AP, required by law to be of

balanced representation, would consider comments submitted under these

proposed specifications and will discuss reallocation schemes and

provide additional opportunities for public comment. For this reason,

NMFS proposes to utilize the AP for further discussion and

recommendations to the agency, and proposes no immediate change to the

Purse Seine category quota.

General and Angling Categories

Participation in the General and Angling categories has increased

markedly in recent years and has resulted in early closures for these

categories. Because of the reliance on the large fish and small fish

catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) indices for stock assessment, the General

and Angling category fisheries should be kept open as long as possible

to achieve high survey sampling rates over the widest possible

geographic area and temporal range.

Also, in response to recommendations from the National Research

Council, NMFS has increased scientific sampling of ABT, working with

outside organizations in conducting genetic studies, microconstituent

analysis, sexual maturity determination, tagging studies, and age and

growth studies.

Given the need to improve data collection, NMFS proposes to

reallocate the 145 mt that had been in the 1995 Reserve to the Angling

and General categories in proportion to the 1995 base quotas

established for the two categories. In 1995, a total of 753 mt was

allocated to the two categories: 222 mt (29.5 percent) for Angling and

531 mt (70.5 percent) for General. Allocating the 145 mt on the basis

of these proportions would increase the Angling category by 43 mt and

the General category by 102 mt.

The proposed increase in allocation to the Angling category would

be used partially to cover harvest that has occurred during the

collection of additional scientific information on the winter fishery

in North Carolina. Approximately 150 archival tags have been surgically

implanted in bluefin tuna in order to gather data to address movement

as part of the exchange rate between the east and west Atlantic

populations. ICCAT has stated in the 1996 session of the Commission

that large numbers of archival tagged fish would be necessary to

resolve the mixing question relative to the Mediterranean and Gulf of

Mexico spawning stocks.

Additional Angling category quota is also needed to account for

collection of data relating to the use of circle hooks and discard

mortality and the use of conventional tags to assess maturation rates

for ABT of all sizes throughout their geographic range. The

concentration of bluefin tuna in the Cape Hatteras area and the high

catch rate makes this an ideal location for these scientific programs.

The winter ABT fishery, while predominantly a catch-and-release

fishery for giant fish, also resulted in considerable harvest of small

medium fish in 1996 and 1997. While NMFS recognizes the value of

scientific data collection from this uniquely high catch rate fishery,

restrictive management measures are needed to ensure that scientific

data collection and fishing opportunities in northern areas are not

[[Page 19298]]

adversely impacted. For these reasons, NMFS lowered the landing

allowance for the winter fishery to one per vessel per day and issued a

final rule (62 FR 8634, February 26, 1997) to allow for interim

closures of the Angling category while the ABT migrate to other areas.

Apart from these measures, however, additional allocation is needed

because the summer and fall ABT fisheries have traditionally harvested

the full amount allocated.

Under the ABT stock recovery program, ICCAT has recommended that

the United States limit catch of school bluefin tuna to 8 percent of

the national quota. NMFS proposes the maximum permissible tonnage under

the 8 percent ICCAT limit (108 mt) to allow for increased biological

sampling of school bluefin. A large number of muscle, heart, otolith,

and vertebrae samples are needed to continue with genetic and

microconstituent analyses. These biological materials are to be

obtained through dockside sampling of angler catches during the

summertime recreational fishery. Broad-based sampling of young fish

will help resolve important issues relative to stock structure and

spawning site fidelity.

NMFS also proposes to increase the Angling category trophy class

(large medium and giant ABT) from 3 mt to 6 mt. Most of the fish

implanted with archival tags are in these size classes. Increasing

fishing opportunities in the trophy class and establishing northern and

southern area subquotas should improve chances for archival tag

recovery.

For the reasons indicated, the Angling category quota would be

increased from 222 mt to 265 mt. In addition to the total quota change,

NMFS has previously proposed to increase the geographical and seasonal

scope of data collection by subdividing the Angling category quota (62

FR 9726, March 4, 1997). Consistent with that proposal, and the ICCAT

limitation on catch of school bluefin tuna, the 265 mt would be

subdivided as follows: School bluefin--108 mt, with 57 mt to the

northern area (New Jersey and north) and 51 mt to the southern area

(Delaware and south); large school/small medium bluefin--151 mt, with

80 mt to the northern area and 71 mt to the southern area; large

medium/giant bluefin--6 mt, with 2 mt to the northern area and 4 mt to

the southern area.

NMFS has previously implemented measures to address broadening the

fishing opportunities and scientific data collection for the General

category. These measures have included monthly quotas and restricted-

fishing days. Despite these measures, and new measures previously

proposed for 1997 (62 FR 9726, March 4, 1997), NMFS recognizes that

additional quota is needed to balance the increased participation in

this fishery with the need for broad-based data collection. NMFS

therefore proposes to increase the General category to 633 mt. NMFS

will consider subdivision of this total General category quota on a

seasonal or geographic basis, and possible effort controls, in a

separate action.

Harpoon Category

Although comments have been received indicating that catch rates

and effort have increased in the Harpoon category, the data obtained

from this fishery have not been as useful as other data in performing

stock assessments. Due to the nature of the fishery, it is difficult to

standardize CPUE. Thus far, harpoon catch data have not been

incorporated into any useful index of abundance. Therefore, NMFS

proposes that the 1997 quota remain at 53 mt for the Harpoon category.

Incidental Category

The Incidental category was established to reduce waste in

recognized situations of ABT bycatch. At the time that the ABT

scientific monitoring quota was established by ICCAT, there was no

directed longline fishery for bluefin tuna by U.S. vessels. However,

incidental catch of bluefin tuna by vessels in the swordfish, shark,

bigeye tuna, and yellowfin tuna fisheries was well documented. In

addition, limited bycatch was known to occur in pound nets, traps,

gillnets and non-tuna purse seine fisheries. Failure to include these

catches in the U.S. quota would have led to wasteful discards and ABT

fishing mortality over and above that which would occur in the directed

handgear and purse seine fisheries.

NMFS has previously established target catch requirements for the

Incidental category to reduce incentives for targeting bluefin tuna

with these types of fishing gear. As prices for ABT increased in the

mid-1980s, it became necessary to implement trips limits and revise the

target catch requirements to ensure that catch of ABT remained as an

incidental occurrence in the traditional directed fisheries. In recent

years, these landings restrictions have led to situations in which the

incidental catch quota has not been met, yet substantial discards are

being recorded and reported to ICCAT. The United States reported to

ICCAT that longline discards averaged 125 mt a year from 1991 to 1995.

Because of the high level of reported discards, and the increased

ABT mortality that results when quota not landed against the Incidental

category is reallocated to other directed fishing categories, ICCAT

recommended that the U.S. take measures in 1997 to decrease discards of

ABT. NMFS is currently analyzing observer reports, vessel logs, and

dealer reports to more fully assess ABT interaction rates, patterns of

fishing activity, and economic factors in all ABT fishing categories.

Once all available data are analyzed, NMFS plans to propose measures to

reduce ABT discards in a separate rulemaking.

For these reasons, NMFS proposes that the Incidental category quota

remain at the 1995 base level. The total quota of 110 mt would be

allocated as follows: 86 mt to longline vessels operating south of 34

degrees N. Lat.; 23 mt to longline vessels operating north of 34

degrees N. Lat.; and 1 mt to fishermen using traps, fixed gear, and

purse seines in the non-tuna fisheries. Pending the results of the

analysis on discards, these quotas could be adjusted by allocations

from the Reserve, if necessary, to conform to future management

measures designed to reduce ABT discards in this fishing category.

Dates, Times, and Locations of Public Hearings

The public hearing schedule is as follows:

Tuesday, April 22, 1997, Silver Spring, MD, 2-5 p.m.

NOAA/NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 4527, Silver Spring, MD

20910

Tuesday, April 29, 1997, Gloucester, MA, 7-10 p.m.

Milton Fuller School, 4 School House Road, Gloucester, MA 01930

Wednesday, April 30, 1997, Brunswick, ME, 7-10 p.m.

Atrium Inn and Conference Center, Cooks Corner, Brunswick, ME 23502

Wednesday, April 30, 1997, Islip, NY, 7-10 p.m.

Holiday Inn, 3845 Veterans Memorial Highway, Ronkonkoma, NY 11779

Thursday, May 1, 1997, Manteo, NC, 7-10 p.m.

North Carolina Aquarium, Airport Road, Manteo, NC 27954

Friday, May 2, 1997, Ocean City, MD, 7-10 p.m.

City Hall, 3rd Street & Baltimore Avenue, Ocean City, MD 21842

Wednesday, May 7, 1997, Toms River, NJ, 7-10 p.m.

Holiday Inn, 290 State Highway 37 East, Toms River, NJ 08753

[[Page 19299]]

Wednesday, May 7, 1997, St. Petersburg, FL, 7-9 p.m.

NMFS Southeast Regional Office, 9721 Executive Center Drive, North,

St. Petersburg, FL 33702

Thursday, May 8, 1997, Plymouth, MA, 7-10 p.m.

Plymouth North High School, Obery Street, Plymouth, MA 02360

Classification

These proposed quota specifications are published under the

authority of the ATCA, 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq. Preliminarily, the AA has

determined that the regulations contained in these proposed

specifications are necessary to implement the recommendations of ICCAT

and are necessary for management of the Atlantic tuna fisheries.

NMFS prepared a draft EA for these proposed specifications with a

preliminary finding of no significant impact on the human environment.

In addition, a draft RIR was prepared with a preliminary finding of no

significant impact. The Assistant General Counsel for Legislation and

Regulation of the Department of Commerce has certified to the Chief

Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration that the

proposed specifications, if implemented, would not have a significant

economic impact on a substantial number of small entities as follows:

The proposed specifications would allocate the Total Allowable

Catch (TAC) for the Atlantic bluefin tuna fishery in accordance with

the recommendations of the International Commission for the

Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) and domestic fishery

management objectives. For all fishing categories, quotas are

proposed at levels similar to or slightly higher than prior years.

Because the overall bluefin tuna quota has increased, additional

revenues will accrue to many small businesses.

Because of this certification, an IRFA was not prepared.

These proposed specifications have been determined to be not

significant for purposes of E.O. 12866.

NMFS reinitiated consultation on the Atlantic tuna fishery under

Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act on September 25, 1996. This

consultation will consider new information concerning the status of the

northern right whale. NMFS has determined that proceeding with this

rule, pending completion of that consultation, will not result in any

irreversible and irretrievable commitment of resources that would have

the effect of foreclosing the formulation or implementation of any

reasonable and prudent alternative measures. This proposed rule would

implement quotas similar to prior years, making minor allocation

changes. Therefore, the proposed rule is not expected to increase

endangered species or marine mammal interaction rates.

Dated: April 15, 1997.

Nancy Foster,

Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries

Service.

Attachment--Proposed ABT Quotas by Fishing Category

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1992 Base 1995 Base Proposed 1997

quota quota d quota

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General......................................................... 531 531 633

Harpoon......................................................... 53 53 53

Incidental...................................................... 113 110 110

Other....................................................... 4 1 1

Longline.................................................... 109 109 109

North................................................... 23 23 23

South................................................... 86 86 86

Purse Seine..................................................... a 301 250 250

Angling......................................................... 219 222 265

School b.................................................... 100 100 108

North................................................... 53 53 57

South................................................... 47 47 51

Large School/Small Medium................................... 119 119 151

North................................................... .............. .............. 80

South................................................... .............. .............. 71

Trophy c.................................................... .............. 3 6

North................................................... .............. .............. 2

South................................................... .............. .............. 4

Reserve......................................................... 31 145 33

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Total..................................................... 1248 1311 1344

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a The 1992 base quota of 301 mt was reduced to 250 mt in 1995.

b ICCAT recommendation limits school size class subquota to 8% of U.S. allocation.

c Trophy quota category first established in 1995. In prior years, large medium and giant ABT landed by Angling

and Charter/Headboat vessels were counted against Incidental-Other gear category.

d Actual 1995 quotas included adjustments to base due to overharvest/underharvest from 1994.

[FR Doc. 97-10220 Filed 4-16-97; 2:44 pm]

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