[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 206 (Wednesday, October 24, 2001)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 53735-53736]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-26794]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 300
[Docket No. 011005243-1243-01; I.D. 091001B]
RIN 0648-AO48
International Fisheries; Pacific Tuna Fisheries; 2001 Quotas and
Management Measures for Yellowfin and Juvenile Bigeye Tuna
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule; 2001 quotas and management measures for yellowfin
and juvenile bigeye tuna.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces the 2001 quotas and associated purse seine
fishery conservation measures for the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean
(ETP), consistent with recommendations by the Inter-American Tropical
Tuna Commission (IATTC) that have been approved by the Department of
State (DOS) under the terms of the Tuna Conventions Act.
DATES: Effective October 24, 2001, through December 31, 2001, or
attainment of either or both quotas, which will be announced in the
Federal Register.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the environmental assessment (EA) and the
biological opinion (BO) for the January 3, 2000, interim final rule
implementing the International Dolphin Conservation Program Act (IDCPA)
and the aggregate data upon which the action is based are available
from: Rodney McInnis, Acting Regional Administrator, Southwest Region,
NMFS, 501 W. Ocean Boulevard, Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802-4213.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Svein Fougner, Sustainable Fisheries
Division, Southwest Region, NMFS, 562-980-4040.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The United States is a member of the IATTC, which was established
under the Convention for the Establishment of an Inter-American
Tropical Tuna Commission signed in 1949. The IATTC was established to
ensure the effective international conservation and management of
highly migratory species of fish in the Convention Area. The IATTC has
maintained a scientific research and fishery monitoring program for
many years and annually assesses the status of stocks of tuna and the
fisheries to determine appropriate harvest limits or other measures to
prevent overexploitation of the stocks and promote viable fisheries.
The area covered by the Convention is all waters of the eastern Pacific
Ocean (EPO) between 40 deg. N. lat. and 40 deg. S. lat. from North and
South America west to 150 deg. W. long. Within the area covered by the
Convention, the IATTC has designated a smaller Commission Yellowfin
Regulatory Area (CYRA) in which the total catch of yellowfin tuna
historically has been limited. The boundaries of the CYRA are found at
50 CFR 300.21.
Under the regulations implementing the Tuna Conventions Act at 50
CFR 300.29, the Southwest Regional Administrator, NMFS (Regional
Administrator), directly notifies owners or agents of U.S. tuna vessels
of fishery management recommendations made by the IATTC and approved by
the DOS. As soon as practicable after such notification, NMFS publishes
a notification of the approved IATTC recommendations in the Federal
Register.
Action by IATTC
At its annual meeting June 19-21, 2001, the IATTC adopted a
resolution dealing with yellowfin tuna conservation. This resolution
set an initial quota of 250,000 metric tons (mt) for yellowfin tuna
taken in calendar year 2001 by purse seine vessels in the CYRA. This
quota could be raised by up
[[Page 53736]]
to three successive increments of 20,000 mt each if the Director of the
IATTC concludes from examination of available data that such increases
will pose no substantial danger to the stocks. After the quota is
reached and the yellowfin tuna fishery is closed, catches of any vessel
may include a maximum of 15 percent yellowfin tuna (relative to its
total catch of all species of fish) caught while fishing for other
species of tuna.
In a separate resolution adopted in June 2001, the IATTC
recommended that action be taken to limit the catch of juvenile bigeye
tuna in the purse seine fisheries to the level reached in 1999, which
was 5,813 mt. The Director of IATTC will monitor the fisheries and
determine the date on which the quota is projected to be reached (if at
all). The Director will then inform the member nations that they should
prohibit further use of purse seine sets on floating objects within 2
weeks of that date, except that the floating objects fishery will not
close sooner than November 1, 2001.
The yellowfin tuna quota and juvenile bigeye tuna quota are both
based on 2001 stock assessments of yellowfin and bigeye tuna stocks in
the ETP. The stock assessments indicate that both the yellowfin and
bigeye tuna stocks are healthy, although there is substantial
uncertainty with respect to the bigeye tuna stock assessment. This
stock extends throughout the Pacific and has not been assessed
throughout its range by any international organization. However, the
quotas set for yellowfin tuna and juvenile bigeye tuna are believed to
be conservative because of the conservative assumptions used in the
stock assessments concerning life history parameters of yellowfin and
bigeye tuna.
NMFS Action
After receiving oral approval of this recommendation from the DOS
on September 6, 2001, the Regional Administrator provided actual notice
of these fishery management recommendations to owners or agents of U.S.
tuna vessels on September 12, 2001. The DOS subsequently provided
written approval of the IATTC recommendation on September 25, 2001.
This notice is the formal announcement to the public of the
implementation of the recommendations of the IATTC. As provided in 50
CFR 300.29(b), if any quota is reached, NMFS will announce a closure
directly to the owners or agents of U.S. tuna vessels and publish the
announcement in the Federal Register as soon as practicable after the
attainment of the quota.
Classification
This action is authorized by 50 CFR part 300, subpart C.
The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA (AA) finds that
this action constitutes a foreign affairs function under 5 U.S.C.
553(a)(1), which exempts such functions from that section of the
Administrative Procedure Act. This action implements quotas and
management measures that have been recommended by the IATTC and
approved by DOS, as authorized by the Tuna Conventions Act of 1949 and
this part. Therefore, the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B) for
providing prior notice and an opportunity for public comment and the
provisions of 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) for a 30-day delay in effectiveness do
not apply to this action.
An EA was prepared for the interim final rule to implement the
IDCPA (65 FR 47, January 3, 2000). This document is available from the
Acting Regional Administrator (see ADDRESSES). The AA concluded that
that rule would pose no significant impact on the human environment.
The impacts of the fisheries as they will operate under quotas set in
this action are within the range of impacts considered in the
alternatives of that EA, and do not pose significant threats to the
human environment; therefore, this action does not require further
environmental analysis.
NMFS prepared a BO assessing the impacts of the fisheries as they
would operate under the regulations implementing the IDCPA (65 FR 47,
January 3, 2000). This document is available from the Acting Regional
Administrator (see ADDRESSES). NMFS concluded that the fishing
activities conducted under those regulations are not likely to
jeopardize the continued existence of any endangered or threatened
species under the jurisdiction of NMFS or result in the destruction or
adverse modification of critical habitat. This rule will not result in
any changes to the fisheries that would cause impacts beyond those
considered in the BO.
Because prior notice and opportunity for public comment are not
required for this rule by 5 U.S.C. 553, or any other law, the
analytical requirements of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C.,
601 et seq., are inapplicable.
This action is exempt from review under Executive Order 12866.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 951-961 and 971 et seq.
Dated: October 18, 2001.
John Oliver,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Operations, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 01-26794 Filed 10-23-01; 8:45 am]
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