Atlantic
Bluefin Tuna: Annual Adjustment of Purse
Seine and Reserve Category Quotas; 44.5-mt Quota Transfer from the Reserve
Category to the Longline Category; Reminder of 2018 Quotas and Subquotas
NOAA Fisheries has adjusted the Atlantic bluefin tuna Purse Seine and Reserve
category quotas for 2018. NOAA Fisheries
also has transferred inseason 44.5 metric tons (mt) of bluefin tuna quota from
the Reserve category to the Longline category.
See the end of this notice for a
table summarizing available quotas and subquotas for 2018.
Annual Adjustment of the Bluefin Tuna Purse Seine and
Reserve Category Quotas: In
accordance with the Atlantic bluefin tuna quota regulations, NOAA Fisheries has determined the 2018 Purse Seine
category quota available to Purse Seine category participants is 46.1 mt. The amount of Purse Seine category quota
reallocated to the Reserve category is 138.2 mt. This reallocation would result in an adjusted
2018 Reserve category quota of 153 mt (14.8 mt + 138.2 mt), before any further
transfers to other categories (see below).
Quota Transfer from the
Reserve Category to the Longline Category: NOAA Fisheries has transferred
44.5 mt of bluefin tuna quota from the 2018 Reserve category to the 2018
Longline category, resulting in an adjusted 2018 Longline quota of 192.8
mt. This transfer is intended to
increase the amount of quota available to individual vessels, and therefore
help vessel owners account for incidental bluefin tuna landings and dead
discards while fostering conditions in which permit holders become more willing
to lease IBQ to other vessels.
Specifically, NOAA Fisheries has taken this action after considering the
regulatory determination criteria regarding inseason adjustments. As a result of this quota transfer, the adjusted
2018 Reserve category quota is 108.5 mt.
Distribution of Quota
Transferred Inseason to Longline Category: In 2017, NOAA Fisheries modified the HMS
regulations regarding the distribution of inseason bluefin tuna quota transfers
to the Longline category (81 FR 95903, December 29, 2016) to provide NOAA Fisheries
the ability to distribute quota inseason either to all qualified IBQ share
recipients (i.e., share recipients who have associated their permit with a
vessel) or only to permitted Atlantic Tunas Longline vessels with recent
fishing activity, whether or not they are associated with IBQ shares.
NOAA Fisheries has examined the logbook, Vessel Monitoring
System (VMS), dealer, and electronic monitoring data for 2017 and for 2018 as
of March 31, and has determined that 89 vessels have recent fishing activity. Of the vessels with recent fishing activity,
85 were IBQ share recipients. Any vessel
activity in the pelagic longline fishery during this date range is sufficient
to qualify as “recent fishing activity.” For comparison, there are 136 IBQ
share recipients under Amendment 7.
NOAA Fisheries has determined that distribution of
quota only to Atlantic Tunas Longline vessels with recent fishing activity
fulfills IBQ Program objectives. Such a
distribution would provide transferred quota only to the vessels that have
recently fished and are therefore most likely to need quota in order to account
for BFT interactions. This would include
the four Atlantic Tunas Longline vessels with recent fishing activity that are
not associated with IBQ shares, as well as the 85 IBQ share recipients with
recent fishing activity (representing 63 percent of all IBQ share
recipients). Some inactive share
recipients participate in the IBQ Program through leasing out quota; however, a
majority of inactive share recipients (36 of 51) did not lease out quota in the
period analyzed. After considering this
information, NOAA Fisheries has decided to distribute the 44.5 mt of quota
transferred from the Reserve to the Atlantic Tunas Longline vessels with recent
fishing activity.
As a result of this
quota transfer, NOAA Fisheries is distributing 1,102 lb (0.5 mt) of quota to
each of the 89 permitted Atlantic Tunas Longline vessels with recent fishing
activity.
IBQ allocation will be
distributed by April 16, 2018, via the electronic IBQ system to the vessel
accounts with valid permits associated with a vessel. For comparison, if the 44.5 mt were
distributed to all qualified IBQ share recipients, each would receive 721 lb
(0.33 mt). When a qualified IBQ share
recipient with recent fishing activity receives inseason quota, the quota will
be designated as either Gulf of Mexico (GOM) IBQ, Atlantic (ATL) IBQ, or both
GOM and ATL IBQ, according to the share recipient's regional designations. Those vessels that are participating in the
voluntary Deepwater Horizon Oceanic Fish Restoration Project repose period
through June 30, 2018, and that have recent fishing activity, would
receive a distribution of inseason quota once the repose period ends. For
vessels with recent fishing activity that are not qualified IBQ share
recipients, NOAA Fisheries will assign the distributed quota a regional
designation based on where the majority of the vessel's “recent fishing
activity” occurred for the relevant period analyzed.
This action should enhance
the ability of vessel owners to account for bluefin tuna catch, reduce quota
debt, facilitate quota leasing, and reduce uncertainty in the fishery.
Longline category permit holders are reminded that all
bluefin tuna discarded dead must be reported through the Vessel Monitoring
System, and accounted for in the electronic (online) IBQ system. NOAA Fisheries
will continue to monitor the bluefin tuna fisheries, including the pelagic
longline fishery, through the mandatory landings and catch reports.
This notice is a courtesy to BFT fishery permit holders to help keep
you informed about the fishery. For additional information, call (978) 281-9260, or go the HMS Permit Shop or call (978) 281-9260. Official notice of Federal fishery actions is made through filing such notice with the Office of the Federal Register.
The following table summarizes the available quotas and subquotas for 2018 as of this action.
 *2018 subquotas adjusted via inseason action (82 FR 60680, December
22, 2017), reflecting transfer of 14.3 mt from the December 2018 subquota
period to the January 2018 subquota period and inseason action (83 FR 9232,
March 5, 2018), reflecting transfer of 10
mt from the Reserve category to the General category.
**2018 quota adjusted via inseason action (83 FR 9232, March 5, 2018), reflecting transfer of 10
mt from the Reserve category to the General category.
The above quotas are based upon the currently codified U.S. quota of 1,058.79 mt and category subquotas. NOAA Fisheries anticipates that it will consider additional bluefin tuna quota adjustments during 2018 for all quota categories, to provide reasonable fishing opportunities throughout the year. An ICCAT recommendation adopted at the annual meeting in November 2017 for western Atlantic bluefin tuna management would result in an increase to the baseline U.S. bluefin tuna quota (i.e., from 1,058.79 mt to 1,247.86 mt) and subquotas for 2018, and NOAA Fisheries will undertake domestic implementation of that recommendation through rulemaking in the near future. NOAA Fisheries also anticipates that some underharvest of the 2017 adjusted U.S. bluefin tuna quota will be carried forward to 2018 and placed in the Reserve category, in accordance with the regulations, in mid-2018 (when complete 2017 catch information is available and finalized). Subsequent notices will be published in the Federal Register. In addition, fishermen may call the Atlantic Tunas Information Line at (978) 281-9260, or access the HMS Permit Shop, for updates.
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