Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Adjustments to the 2025 North Atlantic Albacore Tuna, North and South Atlantic Swordfish, and Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Category Quotas

<RULE> DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE <SUBAGY>National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</SUBAGY> <CFR>50 CFR Part 635</CFR> <DEPDOC>[Docket No. 240916-0238; RTID 0648-XF352]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Adjustments to the 2025 North Atlantic Albacore Tuna, North and South Atlantic Swordfish, and Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Category Quotas</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce. <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Temporary rule; quota adjustment. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> NMFS adjusts the 2025 baseline quotas for U.S. North Atlantic albacore tuna (northern albacore) and North and South Atlantic swordfish quotas based on 2024 underharvest and applicable international quota transfers. NMFS also adjusts the 2025 Atlantic bluefin tuna category subquotas based on 2024 overharvest. These temporary adjustments apply throughout the 2025 fishing year and are effective through December 31, 2025 (for portions of the 2025 fishing year that are already completed, they are considered to apply retrospectively). These actions are necessary to implement the 2025 quotas consistent with the recommendations of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) as required by the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act (ATCA), and to achieve domestic management objectives under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). Full annual baseline allocations will be available to U.S. harvesters starting January 1, 2026. Note that NMFS intends to take separate action as soon as possible in 2026 to modify the baseline Atlantic bluefin tuna quota consistent with the quota agreed to at the 2025 ICCAT annual meeting. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> Effective December 23, 2025, through December 31, 2025. </EFFDATE> <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Steve Durkee ( <E T="03">steve.durkee@noaa.gov</E> ) or Carrie Soltanoff ( <E T="03">carrie.soltanoff@noaa.gov</E> ) by email or phone at 301-427-8503. </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> U.S. northern albacore, swordfish, and bluefin tuna fisheries, are managed under the authority of ATCA (16 U.S.C. 971 <E T="03">et seq.</E> ) and the Magnuson-Stevens Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 <E T="03">et seq.</E> ). The Highly Migratory Species Fishery Management Plan (HMS FMP) and its amendments are implemented by regulations at 50 CFR part 635. Section 635.27(a) implements the ICCAT-recommended quota and describes the annual quota adjustment process for bluefin tuna, including in the event of an overharvest. Section 635.27(c) implements the ICCAT-recommended quotas and describes the quota adjustment process for both North and South Atlantic swordfish. Section 635.27(e) implements the northern albacore annual quota recommended by ICCAT and describes the annual northern albacore quota adjustment process. NMFS is required under the Magnuson-Stevens Act to provide U.S. fishing vessels with a reasonable opportunity to harvest quotas under relevant international fishery agreements such as the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, which is implemented domestically pursuant to ATCA. Consistent with the relevant binding ICCAT Recommendations and the requirements under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, this action adjusts the 2025 baseline quotas for U.S. North Atlantic albacore tuna (northern albacore) and North and South Atlantic swordfish quotas based on 2024 underharvest and applicable international quota transfer. This action also adjusts the 2025 Atlantic bluefin tuna category subquotas based on 2024 overharvest. These temporary adjustments apply throughout the 2025 fishing year and are effective through December 31, 2025 (for portions of the 2025 fishing year that are already completed, they are considered to apply retrospectively). Furthermore, these temporary adjustments are consistent with the quota levels that NMFS considered throughout 2025 when taking actions during the fishing year to adjust the bluefin tuna retention limits and close bluefin tuna quota categories ( <E T="03">e.g.,</E> 90 FR 25158, June 16, 2025; 90 FR 45152, September 19, 2025). Full annual baseline allocations will be available to U.S. harvesters starting January 1, 2026. Once complete catch information for fishing year 2025 is available, NMFS will determine whether any resulting adjustments to 2026 quotas are necessitated based on ICCAT overharvest requirements or underharvest carryover allowances. Additionally, NMFS plans to take action as soon as possible in 2026 to modify the baseline bluefin tuna quota consistent with the quota that was agreed to at the 2025 ICCAT annual meeting. Note that, consistent with how the quotas are established, weight information for northern albacore and bluefin tuna below is shown in metric tons (mt) whole weight (ww), and weight information for swordfish is shown in both dressed weight (dw) and ww. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Northern Albacore Annual Quota and Adjustment Process</HD> Consistent with the northern albacore quota regulations at § 635.27(e), NMFS adjusts the U.S. annual northern albacore quota for allowable underharvest in the previous year. NMFS makes such adjustments consistent with ICCAT carryover limits, and when complete catch information for the prior year is available and finalized. The baseline quota is 889.4 mt. The maximum underharvest that may be carried forward from one year to the next is 25 percent of its baseline quota, thus 222.4 mt. For 2024, the adjusted quota was 1,067.3 mt (89 FR 77029, September 20, 2024). In 2024, the United States landed 228.4 mt of northern albacore which is 838.9 mt less than the 2024 adjusted quota. This underharvest exceeds the 222.4-mt underharvest carryover limit allowed under Recommendation 23-05; therefore, only 222.4 mt may be carried forward to the 2025 fishing year. Thus, the adjusted 2025 northern albacore quota will be 1,111.8 mt (889.4-mt baseline quota + 222.4-mt carryover = 1,111.8 mt) (table 1). <GPOTABLE COLS="3" OPTS="L2,nj,i1" CDEF="s100,12,12"> <TTITLE>Table 1—2024 Northern Albacore Quota</TTITLE> <CHED H="1"> Northern albacore quota (mt ww) </CHED> <CHED H="1">2024</CHED> <CHED H="1">2025</CHED> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Baseline Quota</ENT> <ENT>889.4</ENT> <ENT>889.4</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Underharvest from Previous Year</ENT> <ENT>708.9</ENT> <ENT>838.9</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Underharvest Carryover from Previous Year †</ENT> <ENT>(+) 177.9</ENT> <ENT>(+) 222.4</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Adjusted Quota (Baseline + Underharvest)</ENT> <ENT>1,067.3</ENT> <ENT>1,111.8</ENT> </ROW> <TNOTE>† Allowable underharvest carryover is capped at 25 percent of the baseline quota allocation (222.4 mt ww).</TNOTE> </GPOTABLE> <HD SOURCE="HD1">North and South Atlantic Swordfish Annual Quota and Adjustment Process</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD2">North Atlantic Swordfish</HD> Consistent with the North Atlantic swordfish quota regulations at § 635.27(c), in this action, NMFS adjusts the 2025 U.S. annual North Atlantic swordfish quota for allowable underharvest from 2024. NMFS makes such adjustments consistent with ICCAT carryover limits and when complete catch information for the prior year is available and finalized. The U.S. North Atlantic swordfish baseline annual quota is 2,937.6 mt dw (3,907 mt ww). As codified at § 635.27(c)(3), the maximum North Atlantic swordfish underharvest that may be carried forward from one year to the next is 15 percent of the baseline quota, which equates to 440.6 mt dw (586 mt ww). For 2024, the adjusted North Atlantic swordfish quota was 3,227.8 mt dw (89 FR 77029, September 20, 2024). In 2024, U.S. landings of North Atlantic swordfish, which includes landings and dead discards, was 669.5 mt dw, which is 2,558.3 mt dw less than the 2024 adjusted quota. This underharvest exceeds the 440.6-mt dw underharvest carryover limit allowed; therefore, only 440.6 mt dw may be carried forward to the 2025 fishing year. Additionally, specific to only 2025, ICCAT Recommendation 24-10 provides for a transfer of quota from the United States to Costa Rica of 225.6 mt dw (300 mt ww). Thus, the adjusted 2025 North Atlantic swordfish quota will be 3,152.6 mt dw (2,937.6-mt dw baseline quota + 440.6-mt dw underharvest−225.6-mt dw quota transfer to Costa Rica = 3,152.6 mt dw). From the adjusted quota and consistent with § 635.27(c)(1)(i), 50 mt dw would be allocated to the Reserve category for inseason adjustments and research; 300 mt dw would be allocated to the incidental category, which covers recreational landings and landings by incidental swordfish permit holders; and the remainder of the adjusted quota (2,802.6 mt dw) would be allocated to the directed category, which will be split equally between two seasons in 2025 (January through June, and July through December) (table 2). <GPOTABLE COLS="3" OPTS="L2,nj,i1" CDEF="s100,12,12"> <TTITLE>Table 2—2025 North Atlantic Swordfish Quotas</TTITLE> <CHED H="1"> North Atlantic swordfish quota (mt dw) </CHED> <CHED H="1">2024</CHED> <CHED H="1">2025</CHED> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Baseline Quota</ENT> <ENT>2,937.6</ENT> <ENT>2,937.6</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">International Quota Transfers *</ENT> <ENT>(−) 150.4</ENT> <ENT>(−) 225.6</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Underharvest from Previous Year</ENT> <ENT>2,369.9</ENT> <ENT>2,558.3</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Underharvest Carryover from Previous Year †</ENT> <ENT>(+) 440.6</ENT> <ENT>(+) 440.6</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Adjusted Quota (Baseline + Carryover + Transfer)</ENT> <ENT>3,227.8</ENT> <ENT>3,152.6</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="22">Quota Allocation:</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">Directed Category</ENT> <EN ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 22k characters. 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