International Fisheries; Western and Central Pacific Fisheries for Highly Migratory Species; Changes to Purse Seine Fish Aggregating Device Closure Periods

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE <SUBAGY>National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</SUBAGY> <CFR>50 CFR Part 300</CFR> <DEPDOC>[Docket No. 240522-0142]</DEPDOC> <RIN>RIN 0648-BM86</RIN> <SUBJECT>International Fisheries; Western and Central Pacific Fisheries for Highly Migratory Species; Changes to Purse Seine Fish Aggregating Device Closure Periods</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce. <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Proposed rule; request for comments. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> NMFS seeks comments on this proposed rule issued under authority of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Convention Implementation Act (WCPFC Implementation Act). The proposed rule would implement a recent decision of the Commission for the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPFC or Commission). This decision shortens the duration of fish aggregating device (FAD) closure periods for the U.S. purse seine fishery. This action is necessary to satisfy the obligations of the United States under the Convention on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Species in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (Convention), to which it is a formal signatory to the Convention (Contracting Party). </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> Comments on the proposed rule must be submitted in writing by June 13, 2024. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> A plain language summary of this proposed rule is available at <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov/docket/NOAA-NMFS-2024-0057.</E> You may submit comments on this document, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2024-0057, by any of the following methods: • <E T="03">Electronic Submission:</E> Submit all electronic public comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Visit <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov</E> and type NOAA-NMFS-2024-0057 in the Search box. Click on the “Comment” icon, complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments. • <E T="03">Mail:</E> Submit written comments to Sarah Malloy, Acting Regional Administrator, NMFS, Pacific Islands Regional Office (PIRO), 1845 Wasp Blvd., Building 176, Honolulu, HI 96818. <E T="03">Instructions:</E> Comments sent by any other method, to any other address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period, may not be considered by NMFS. All comments received are a part of the public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov</E> without change. All personal identifying information ( <E T="03">e.g.,</E> name, address, <E T="03">etc.</E> ), confidential business information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily by the sender will be publicly accessible. NMFS will accept anonymous comments (enter “N/A” in the required fields if you wish to remain anonymous). An initial regulatory flexibility analysis (IRFA) prepared under authority of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) is included in the Classification section of the <E T="02">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION</E> section of this document. Copies of the Regulatory Impact Review (RIR) and the documents prepared for National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) purposes are available at <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov</E> or may be obtained from Sarah Malloy, Acting Regional Administrator, NMFS PIRO (see address above). <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Rini Ghosh, NMFS PIRO, 808-725-5033. </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Background on the Convention</HD> The Convention is focused on the conservation and management of fisheries for highly migratory species (HMS). The objective of the Convention is to ensure, through effective management, the long-term conservation and sustainable use of HMS in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO). To accomplish this objective, the Convention established the Commission, which includes Members, Cooperating Non-members, and Participating Territories (collectively referred to here as members). The United States of America is a Member. American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) are Participating Territories. As a Contracting Party to the Convention and a Member of the Commission, the United States implements, as appropriate, conservation and management measures and other decisions adopted by the Commission. The WCPFC Implementation Act (16 U.S.C. 6901 <E T="03">et seq.</E> ), authorizes the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Department in which the United States Coast Guard is operating (currently the Department of Homeland Security), to promulgate such regulations as may be necessary to carry out the obligations of the United States under the Convention, including the decisions of the Commission. The WCPFC Implementation Act further provides that the Secretary of Commerce shall ensure consistency, to the extent practicable, of fishery management programs administered under the WCPFC Implementation Act and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA; 16 U.S.C. 1801 <E T="03">et seq.</E> ), as well as other specific laws (see 16 U.S.C. 6905(b)). The Secretary of Commerce has delegated the authority to promulgate regulations under the WCPFC Implementation Act to NMFS. A map showing the boundaries of the area of application of the Convention (Convention Area), which comprises the majority of the WCPO, can be found on the WCPFC website at: <E T="03">www.wcpfc.int/doc/convention-area-map.</E> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Background on the WCPFC Decision</HD> This proposed rule would implement specific provisions of Conservation and Management Measure (CMM) 2023-01, “Conservation and Management Measure for Bigeye, Yellowfin, and Skipjack Tuna in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean.” The Commission adopted CMM 2023-01 at its twentieth regular annual session, in December 2023, and it went into effect in February 2024. The provisions of CMM 2023-01 are described in more detail below. CMM 2023-01 is the latest in a series of CMMs devoted to the conservation and management of tropical tuna stocks, particularly stocks of bigeye tuna ( <E T="03">Thunnus obesus</E> ), yellowfin tuna ( <E T="03">Thunnus albacares</E> ), and skipjack tuna ( <E T="03">Katsuwonus pelamis</E> ). The stated purpose of CMM 2023-01 is to support fisheries for skipjack tuna, bigeye tuna, and yellowfin tuna in the Convention Area that benefit WCPFC members and their communities, and to do so in a way that is fair to all WCPFC members and addresses the special requirements of developing States and Participating Territories. CMM 2023-01's provisions are based on specific objectives for each of the three tropical tuna stocks. Many of the provisions of CMM 2023-01 have already been implemented by NMFS or will be implemented in separate rulemakings. This proposed rule would implement the provisions regarding FAD prohibition periods for U.S. purse seine vessels. Under NMFS' current regulations at 50 CFR 300.223(b)(2), the FAD prohibition periods are from July 1 through September 30, during each calendar year for the high seas and exclusive economic zones (EEZs) in the Convention Area, and from November 1 through December 31 during each calendar year solely on the high seas in the Convention Area. Thus, U.S. purse seine vessels are currently prohibited from setting on FADs for three months in EEZs and on the high seas in the Convention Area, and for an additional two months on the high seas in the Convention Area. Per 50 CFR 300.223, these FAD prohibition periods do not apply in the area of overlap between the WCPFC and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC). Paragraph 13 of CMM 2023-01 reduces the 3-month FAD prohibition period for the EEZs and on the high seas in the Convention Area to one and a half months, running from July 1 to August 15 during each calendar year. This proposed rule would amend the regulations at 50 CFR 300.223(b)(2)(1) to revise the three-month FAD prohibition period for the EEZs and on the high seas to be July 1 through August 15 during each calendar year, consistent with CMM 2023-01. Paragraph 14 of CMM 2023-01 reduces the additional two-month high seas FAD prohibition period to one month—either April, May, November, or December. Previously, WCPFC members could choose between implementing the two-month additional FAD prohibition period on the high seas in April and May or in November and December. NMFS had previously determined that implementing the two-month additional FAD prohibition period in November and December would be more cost-effective than implementing the prohibition period in April and May. Regulations at 50 CFR 300.223(b)(2)(2) implement the additional two-month high seas FAD prohibition period in November and December. Based on the analysis in the IRFA and RIR for this proposed rule, NMFS concludes that continuing to implement the one month high seas FAD prohibition period late in the year would be more cost-effective for the fleet. NMFS proposes to implement the additional one-month high seas FAD prohibition period in December 2024 and in future calendar years. The American Tunaboat Association has also provided preliminary information indicating the U.S. purse seine fleet's preference for a December closure in 2024. NMFS specifically requests comments on this aspect of the proposed rule and will make adjustments in the final rule as warranted. CMM 2023-01 is in effect until February 15, 2027. However, as has been NMFS's practice, the elements of the proposed rule would remain in effect until they are replaced or amended, to avoid a lapse in the m ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 37k characters. 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