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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 239 / Thursday, December 16, 2021 / Rules and Regulations Amendment 53 in 2022, if approved.
Such procedures are contrary to the public interest because notice and comment would require delaying the reduction in the commercial and recreational ACLs and ACTs specified in Amendment 53 until 2023. If NMFS
does not withhold the necessary commercial red grouper and multi-use IFQ allocation, shareholders can begin transferring or landing allocation on January 1, 2022, and NMFS would not be able to retroactively withdraw allocation from shareholder accounts.
Delaying implementation of Amendment 53 until 2023 would allow harvest in excess of the level supported by the best scientific information available and recommended by the Councils Scientific and Statistical Committee.
For the aforementioned reasons, the NMFS Assistant Administrator also finds good cause to waive the 30-day delay in the effectiveness of this action under 5 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: December 13, 2021.
Ngagne Jafnar Gueye, Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
FR Doc. 202127249 Filed 121521; 8:45 am BILLING CODE 351022P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 50 CFR Part 635
Docket No. 180117042888402; RTID
0648XB635

Atlantic Highly Migratory Species;
Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Fisheries National Marine Fisheries Service NMFS, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA, Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; quota adjustment and closure of the Atlantic bluefin tuna General category December fishery for 2021.
AGENCY:

NMFS adjusts the Atlantic bluefin tuna BFT General category December 2021 subquota by adding 15.5
metric tons mt of quota remaining from the September and October through November subquotas resulting in a total adjusted December subquota of 54.6 mt and simultaneously closes the General category fishery for large medium and giant i.e., measuring 73
inches 185 centimeters curved fork length or greater BFT for the December
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SUMMARY:

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subquota time period, and thus for the remainder of 2021. This action applies to Atlantic Tunas General category commercial permitted vessels and HMS Charter/Headboat permitted vessels with a commercial sale endorsement when fishing commercially for BFT.
DATES: The quota adjustment is effective December 13, 2021, through December 31, 2021. The closure is effective 11:30
p.m., local time, December 14, 2021, through December 31, 2021.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Larry Redd, Jr., larry.redd@noaa.gov, 3014278503, Nicholas Velseboer, nicholas.velsboer@noaa.gov, 978281
9260, or Thomas Warren, thomas.warren@noaa.gov, 978281
9347.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Atlantic HMS fisheries, including BFT fisheries, are managed under the authority of the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act ATCA;
16 U.S.C. 971 et seq. and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act Magnuson-Stevens Act; 16 U.S.C. 1801
et seq.. The 2006 Consolidated Atlantic HMS Fishery Management Plan FMP
and its amendments are implemented by regulations at 50 CFR part 635.
Section 635.27 divides the U.S. BFT
quota recommended by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas ICCAT
and as implemented by the United States among the various domestic fishing categories, per the allocations established in the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP and its amendments. 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 ICCAT
Convention, which is implemented domestically pursuant to ATCA.
Under 635.28a1, NMFS files a closure action with the Office of the Federal Register for publication when a BFT quota or subquota is reached or is projected to be reached. Retaining, possessing, or landing BFT under that quota category is prohibited on or after the effective date and time of a closure notice for that category until the opening of the relevant subsequent quota period or until such date as specified.
The 2021 baseline quota for the General category is 555.7 mt. The General category baseline subquota for the December time period is 28.9 mt.
Effective January 1, 2021, NMFS
transferred 19.5 mt of BFT quota from the December 2021 subquota timeperiod to the January through March
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2021 subquota time-period resulting in an adjusted subquota of 9.4 mt for the December 2021 time period 85 FR
83832, December 23, 2020. NMFS
recently transferred 9.5 mt of Reserve category and 20.2 mt from the Harpoon category to the General category resulting in an adjusted December subquota of 39.1 mt 86 FR 66975, November 24, 2021. Based on landings data received to date, NMFS has determined that the adjusted September and October through November time period subquotas were underharvested by 10.7 mt and 4.8 mt, respectively.
Thus, 15.5 mt remains available from previous time periods.
Quota Adjustment Under 635.27a1ii, NMFS has the authority to adjust each periods apportionment based on overharvest or underharvest in the prior period, after considering determination criteria provided under 635.27a8. NMFS
has considered all of the relevant determination criteria and their applicability to this inseason quota adjustment. These considerations include, but are not limited to, the following:
Regarding the usefulness of information obtained from catches in the particular category for biological sampling and monitoring of the status of the stock 635.27a8i, biological samples collected from BFT landed by General category fishermen and provided by tuna dealers provide NMFS
with valuable parts and data for ongoing scientific studies of BFT age and growth, migration, and reproductive status. Additional opportunity to land BFT in the General category would support the continued collection of a broad range of data for these studies and for stock monitoring purposes.
NMFS also considered the catches of the General category quota to date including during the summer/fall and winter fisheries in the last several years and the likelihood of closure of that segment of the fishery if no adjustment is made 635.27a8ii and ix. To date, preliminary landings data indicate that the General category September fishery landed 196.6 mt of the adjusted 207.3 mt subquota 86 FR 51016, September 14, 2021 before closing, resulting in an underharvest of 10.7 mt 207.3 mt196.6 mt = 10.7 mt and the October through November fishery landed 207.4 mt of the adjusted 212.2
mt subquota 86 FR 54873, October 5, 2021 by the end of the October through November time period, resulting in an underharvest of 4.8 mt 212.2 mt207.4
mt = 4.8 mt. Adjusting the December 2021 subquota by adding the September
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