Je veux savoir à propos de…

lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with RULES1

43424

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 150 / Monday, August 9, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
tournament is registered. NMFS does not plan to waive RFDs specifically to accommodate tournaments, as doing so could eliminate the benefits of RFDs by allowing General category and Charter/
Headboat permitted vessels with a commercial sale endorsement the opportunity to land and sell commercial size BFT on those scheduled RFD dates.
Furthermore, as explained above, General category and Charter/Headboat fishermen could still participate in tournaments during RFDs, albeit with the additional RFD restrictions and retention limits. NMFS will closely monitor BFT landings and catch rates and, should NMFS determine that waiving RFDs is warranted, NMFS
could waive an RFD by adjusting the daily retention limits with a minimum 3-day notification to fishermen, by filing such an adjustment in the Federal Register, under 50 CFR 635.23a4.
Comment 5: NMFS received several comments suggesting that NMFS should waive RFDs during HMS registered fishing tournaments because tournaments are a source of valuable scientific data and information for BFT.
Response: NMFS understands the importance of fishing tournaments for the collection of scientific data on catch, effort, and participants, and the collection of biological samples. The scheduled RFDs will still allow the opportunity for valuable scientific data collection as recreational fishing tournaments can still proceed throughout the year. General category and Charter/Headboat fishermen could still participate in tournaments during RFDs, consistent with the applicable retention limits and RFD restrictions.
Scientists who collect biological samples during fishing tournaments could still do so, even on an RFD, by collecting samples from those fish landed recreationally under the Angling category or as authorized under exempted fishing permits. NMFS
will closely monitor BFT landings and catch rates and, should NMFS
determine that waiving RFDs is warranted, NMFS could adjust the daily retention limits with a minimum 3-day notification to fishermen in the Federal Register, under 50 CFR 635.23a4.
Without RFDs, subquota time-periods in the later part of the year often close early, even if BFT are available, which in turn limits valuable data collection among General category participants.
NMFS believes that extending the fishing year via RFDs and other inseason actions will benefit scientific data collection by allowing for collection of data during time-periods when the General category fishery is otherwise closed.

VerDate Sep<11>2014

16:04 Aug 06, 2021

Jkt 253001

Comment 6: NMFS received comments of concern that increasing the General category retention limit from the default of one fish to three fish to begin the June through August timeperiod subquota 86 FR 27814, May 24, 2021 was counterproductive to the goal of setting RFDs. Several commenters requested the use of mechanisms other than RFDs to extend the fishery, such as maintaining the default retention limit throughout the season, limiting entry into the fishery, considering different closure dates at the end of subquota periods, and increasing the price for fishing permits. These commenters noted that increasing outreach and education before permit issuance and promoting tagging could benefit the fishery.
Response: This action focuses on implementing RFDs, as currently authorized in the regulations, to slow the rate of General category landings, prevent early closures, and extend fishing opportunities through a greater portion of the General category timeperiod subquotas for the 2021 fishing year. NMFS will continue to use retention limits, RFDs, and other available management tools to manage the BFT fisheries, within the available BFT quota and established subquotas. In recent years, because the rate of landings is typically slow in early June, NMFS has regularly set the daily retention limit for the beginning of the June through August period at three fish, following consideration of the relevant criteria provided under 635.27a8, including supporting scientific data collection. As appropriate, NMFS then typically reduces the limit to the one-fish default level based on catch rates associated with the various authorized gear types e.g., harpoon, rod and reel to ensure fishing opportunities in all respective time-period subquotas and to ensure that the available quota is not exceeded.
As with other mechanisms mentioned above, RFDs are an available effort control mechanism that can be used to extend time-period subquotas and provide additional inseason management flexibility regarding quota use and distribution and season length.
Unlike other mechanisms, in the current regulations, RFDs may only be used to assist with the management of the BFT
General category fishery i.e., permit categories that fish against the General category quota. NMFS is not considering the use of limited entry for the General category fishery at this time, although NMFS has used limited entry in other BFT fisheries, such as the pelagic longline fishery. Throughout the season, NMFS monitors landings and
PO 00000

Frm 00044

Fmt 4700

Sfmt 4700

catch rates and will close the fishery or modify retention limits as appropriate to ensure the quotas are not exceeded.
NMFS establishes the price of the permits based on the costs to administer the issuance of the permits; the price of the permits is not used as a means to limit or reduce entry to the fishery.
NMFS will continue to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of all these management measures in the context of current conditions to determine whether other actions are necessary.
Comment 7: NMFS received comments noting issues with dealer practices, particularly regarding sale of poor quality BFT, and requesting that NMFS not resume use of RFDs. Several individuals noted that if the dealers would like better control over supply and demand related to state and international markets, those dealers should continue to limit their own purchases as was done in 2019 and 2020.
Response: NMFS does not control or regulate the activities of Federal Atlantic tunas dealers regarding the quality of fish sold on domestic or international markets. Instead, NMFS
requires that dealers obtain a Federal dealer permit to purchase, trade, or barter any HMS and abide by the regulations under both 635.4 and 635.5. As described in the proposed rule, NMFS received communications from dealers and fishermen regarding the self-imposed no or limited purchase days in 2019 and 2020. While these actions by dealers may have prevented an oversupply of BFT on the market and may have lengthened the time-period for some subquotas, because these actions were not pre-scheduled or consistently implemented across the fishery, some General category and Charter/Headboat permitted fishermen experienced negative impacts, and opportunities may not have been equitably distributed among all permitted vessels. Thus, NMFS is implementing a schedule of RFDs to apply consistently across the fishery to ensure that the General category fishery is extended for a greater portion of the subquota time-periods. This may have positive impacts for all General category and Charter/Headboat commercial BFT
fishery participants by allowing for more equitable distribution of opportunities.
Comment 8: NMFS received several comments that the proposed action would disadvantage General category fishermen because Harpoon category participants can fish for and sell BFT on RFDs. One commenter suggested that RFDs should apply across all categories.

E:FRFM09AUR1.SGM

09AUR1