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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 25 / Tuesday, February 9, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
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participant either 100 percent, 75
percent, 50 percent, or 25 percent of the individual baseline quota allocations based on the previous years catch, as described in 635.27a4ii, and reallocates the remainder to the Reserve category. NMFS has calculated the amounts of quota available to the Purse Seine category participants for 2021
based on their individual catch levels in 2020 and the codified process adopted in Amendment 7. NMFS did not open the Purse Seine fishery in 2020 because there were no purse seine vessels permitted to fish for BFT and thus no catch in 2020. As a result, each Purse Seine category participant will receive 25 percent of the individual baseline quota amount, which is the required distribution even with no fishing activity under the current regulations.
The individual baseline amount is 43.9
mt 219.5 mt divided by five Purse Seine category participants, 25 percent of which is 11 mt. Consistent with 635.27a4vC, NMFS notifies Atlantic Tunas Purse Seine category participants of the amount of quota available for their use this year through the Individual Bluefin Quota electronic system established under 635.15 and in writing.
By summing the individual available allocations, NMFS has determined that 55 mt are available to the Purse Seine category for 2021. Thus, the amount of Purse Seine category quota to be reallocated to the Reserve category is 164.5 mt 219.5 mt55 mt. This reallocation results in an adjusted 2021
Reserve category quota of 194 mt 29.5
mt + 164.5 mt, before any further transfers to other categories.
Transfer of 26 mt From the Reserve Category to the General Category Each of the General category time periods January, June through August, September, October through November, and December is allocated a subquota or portion of the annual General category quota. Although it is called the January subquota, the regulations allow the General category fishery under this quota to continue until the subquota is reached or March 31, whichever comes first.
Under 635.27a9, NMFS has the authority to transfer quota among fishing categories or subcategories after considering regulatory determination criteria at 635.27a8. For 2021 to date, NMFS has transferred 19.5 mt from the General category December 2021 subquota period to the January 2021 subquota period 85 FR 83832, December 23, 2020, resulting in an adjusted General category January period subquota of 49 mt.

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NMFS has considered all of the relevant determination criteria and their applicability to the inseason quota transfer. 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 BFT dealers provide NMFS
with valuable data for ongoing scientific studies of BFT age and growth, migration, and reproductive status.
Additional opportunity to land BFT
over the longest time-period allowable 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 winter fishery 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. As of February 2, 2021, the General category has landed 17.6 mt of its adjusted January 2021 subquota of 49 mt.
Commercial-size BFT are currently readily available to vessels fishing under the General category quota.
Without a quota transfer at this time, General category participants would have to stop BFT fishing activities with very short notice, while commercialsized BFT remain available in the areas General category permitted vessels operate. Transferring 26 mt of BFT
quota from the Reserve category would result in a total of 75 mt being available for the General category for the January 2021 subquota period.
Regarding the projected ability of the vessels fishing under the particular category quota here, the General category to harvest the additional amount of BFT quota transferred before the end of the fishing year 635.27a8iii, NMFS considered General category landings over the last several years and landings to date this year. Landings are highly variable and depend on access to commercial-sized BFT and fishing conditions, among other factors. NMFS anticipates that all 26 mt of transferred quota will be used by March 31. In the unlikely event that any of this quota is unused by March 31, the unused quota will roll forward to the next subperiod within the calendar year i.e., the June through August time period, and NMFS anticipates that it would be used by the subquota category before the end of the fishing year.
NMFS also considered the estimated amounts by which quotas for other gear
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categories of the fishery might be exceeded 635.27a8iv and the ability to account for all 2021 landings and dead discards. In the last several years, total U.S. BFT landings have been below the total available U.S. quota such that the United States has carried forward the maximum amount of underharvest allowed by ICCAT from one year to the next. NMFS will need to account for 2021 landings and dead discards within the adjusted U.S. quota, consistent with ICCAT
recommendations, and NMFS
anticipates having sufficient quota to do that, even with this 26-mt transfer to the General category.
NMFS also considered the effects of the adjustment on the BFT stock and the effects of the transfer on accomplishing the objectives of the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP 635.27a8v and vi.
This transfer would be consistent with the current U.S. quota, which was established and analyzed in the 2018
BFT quota final rule, and with objectives of the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP and amendments, which include measures to meet obligations related to ending overfishing and rebuilding stocks 635.27a8v and vi. Another consideration is the objective of providing opportunities to harvest the full annual U.S. BFT quota without exceeding it based on the objectives of the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP and amendments, including to achieve optimum yield on a continuing basis and to optimize the ability of all permit categories to harvest their full BFT quota allocations related to 635.27a8x. Specific to the General category, this includes the goal of providing opportunity equitably across all time periods.
NMFS also anticipates that some underharvest of the 2020 adjusted U.S.
BFT quota will be carried forward to 2021 and placed in the Reserve category, in accordance with the regulations, later this year. This, in addition to the fact that any unused General category quota will roll forward to the next subperiod within the calendar year and NMFS plan to actively manage the subquotas to avoid any exceedances, makes it likely that General category quota will remain available through the end of 2021 for December fishery participants. NMFS
also may transfer unused quota from the Reserve or other categories, inseason, based on consideration of the determination criteria, as it did in 2020
i.e., transferred 111.6 mt from the Reserve category effective September 17, 2020 85 FR 59445, September 22, 2020; 40 mt from the Reserve category effective October 9, 2020 85 FR 64411,
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