Atlantic Bluefin Tuna General Category Fishery: NOAA
Fisheries transfers 55 metric tons to the General category for the October through November 2018 subquota period and closes the fishery Friday, October 5, 2018
NOAA Fisheries transferred 40 metric
tons (mt) from the Harpoon category and 15 mt from the Reserve category and will
close the General category fishery until it reopens December 1, 2018. This action is intended to provide limited additional opportunities to harvest the U.S. bluefin
tuna quota while avoiding exceeding it.
Quota Transfer:
Although a proposed rule was
published to increase the baseline U.S. bluefin tuna quota from 1,058.79 mt to
1,247.86 mt and accordingly increase the subquotas for 2018 (including an
expected increase in the General category October through November time period
subquota from 60.7 mt to 72.2 mt), the final “quota rule” is not yet in effect.
The transfers result in an adjusted subquota of 115.7
mt for the General category October through November 2018 subquota period, 28.6
mt for the 2018 Harpoon category, and 3.5 mt for the Reserve category.
NOAA
Fisheries anticipates that General category participants in all areas and time
periods will have opportunities to harvest the General category quota in 2018,
including the December time period.
Closure of the Bluefin Tuna General Category October through November Fishery:
The General category bluefin tuna fishery will
close effective 11:30 p.m., October 5, 2018, through November 30, 2018. Based
on landings rates in the September 2018 fishery and the October through
November fisheries in recent years and anticipated fishing conditions, NOAA
Fisheries projects that the General category October through November subquota
of 115.7 mt will be reached at that time.
The General category will reopen automatically
on December 1, 2018, at the default one-fish level. Based on quota availability
in the Reserve, NOAA Fisheries may transfer additional quota to the December
subquota period.
More information can be found
in the Federal Register notice -- see the Atlantic
HMS Management Division’s website.
Persons aboard vessels permitted in the
Atlantic tunas General and Atlantic HMS Charter/Headboat categories may not
retain, possess, or land large medium or giant Atlantic bluefin tuna after
11:30 p.m. on October 5, 2018, through November 30, 2018.
This action applies to General category (commercial)
permitted vessels and to HMS Charter/Headboat category permitted vessels with a commercial sale endorsement when
fishing commercially for bluefin tuna.
Dealers
are required to submit landing reports within 24 hours of a dealer receiving bluefin tuna. Late dealer reporting compromises NOAA
Fisheries’
ability to implement actions such as quota and retention limit adjustments or
fishery closures and may result in enforcement actions.
Additionally, and separate from
the dealer reporting requirement, General category and HMS Charter/Headboat category vessel owners are required to report their own catch
of all bluefin tuna retained or discarded dead, within 24 hours of the landing(s) or end
of each trip, by accessing the HMS Permit Shop, using the HMS Catch Reporting app, or calling (888)
872-8862 (Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.).
All bluefin
tuna that are released must be handled in a manner
that will maximize survivability and without removing the fish from the water. Download
the Careful
Catch and Release brochure for more safe handling tips.
This notice is a courtesy to bluefin tuna fishery permit holders to help keep
you informed about the fishery. For additional information, call (978)
281-9260, or go to the HMS Permit Shop. Official notice of Federal fishery actions is made through filing such notice with the Office of the Federal Register.
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