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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 58 / Monday, March 29, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
4200, Long Beach, CA 90802, or WCR.HMS@noaa.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Celia Barroso, NMFS, 5624321850, Celia.Barroso@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background On January 5, 2021, NMFS published a proposed rule in the Federal Register to revise regulations at 50 CFR part 300, subpart C, for the commercial catch of Pacific bluefin tuna applicable to U.S.
commercial fishing vessels in the IATTC
Convention Area Convention Area 1 in 2021 86 FR 279. The comment period was open for 30 days. NMFS received one public comment on the proposed rule, which is addressed later in this preamble.
This final rule is implemented under the authority of the TCA 16 U.S.C. 951
et seq., which directs the Secretary of Commerce, after approval by the Secretary of State, to promulgate regulations as necessary to implement resolutions adopted by the IATTC. The Secretary of Commerce has delegated this authority to NMFS.
Additional background information on the IATTC, the international obligations of the United States as a member of the IATTC, and the need for regulations to manage the Pacific Bluefin tuna stock was included in the proposed rule and is not repeated in this rule.
New Regulations for Commercial Pacific Bluefin Tuna for 2021
This final rule establishes catch and trip limits for U.S. commercial fishing vessels that catch Pacific bluefin tuna in the Convention Area and a landing receipt submission deadline for buyers of Pacific bluefin tuna during 2021. This final rule also implements procedures for notice of inseason actions to reduce trip limits or close the fishery. This final rule does not extend to 2021 the pre-trip notification requirement that was in effect for 20192020.
Annual Catch and Trip Limits In 2021, the catch limit for the entire U.S. fleet is 425 metric tons mt. The initial trip limit for 2021 is 20 mt. If cumulative catch reaches certain amounts depending on the quarter of the year, NMFS will impose an intermediate 15 mt trip limit, and a lower 2 mt trip limit through the end of the year, or until the annual catch limit is met and the fishery is closed, as follows:
1 The Convention Area is defined as waters of the EPO within the area bounded by the west coast of the Americas and by 50 N latitude, 150 W
longitude, and 50 S latitude.

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JanuaryMarch: If cumulative catch reaches 250 mt, then the trip limit is reduced to 15 mt; and if cumulative catch reaches 325 mt, then the trip limit is reduced to 2 mt for the remainder of the year or until the annual catch limit is met and the fishery is closed.
AprilJune: If cumulative catch reaches 275 mt, then the trip limit is reduced to 15 mt; and if cumulative catch reaches 350 mt, then the trip limit is reduced to 2 mt for the remainder of the year or until the annual catch limit is met and the fishery is closed.
JulySeptember: If cumulative catch reaches 300 mt, then the trip limit is reduced to 15 mt; and if cumulative catch reaches 375 mt, then the trip limit is reduced 2 mt for the remainder of the year or until the annual catch limit is met and the fishery is closed.
OctoberDecember: If cumulative catch reaches 325 mt, then the trip limit is reduced to 15 mt; and if cumulative catch reaches 375 mt, then the trip limit is reduced to 2 mt for the remainder of the year or until the annual catch limit is met and the fishery is closed.
Landing Receipt Submission Deadline Under California law and regulations, electronic landing receipts i.e., e-tickets are required for landings in California and are required to be submitted to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife within 3 business days see California Fish and Game Code section 8046 and 14 California Code of Regulations section 197. Under this final rule, e-tickets are required to be submitted within 24 hours if any Pacific bluefin tuna is included in a landing into California. This accelerated submission deadline is required in order to better monitor catch limits.
NMFS will estimate when the overall catch is expected to reach the thresholds to reduce the trip limit i.e., from 20 mt to 15 mt, or from 15 mt to 2 mt or the annual limit based on available fishery information, such as landing receipts.
NMFS will then make decisions on inseason actions based on those estimates. NMFS encourages owners or operators of purse seine vessels to call NMFS at 5624321850 in advance of landing with an estimate of how much Pacific bluefin tuna was caught on the trip.
Inseason Action Announcements Inseason actions to reduce trip limits will be imposed by NMFS, effective upon the time and date that appears in a notice on the NMFS website https
www.fisheries.noaa.gov/west-coast/
sustainable-fisheries/pacific-bluefintuna-commercial-harvest-status.
Inseason actions will also be announced
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over a United States Coast Guard USCG Notice to Mariners broadcast three times per day for 4 days on USCG
channel 16 VHF. NMFS will then publish a notice of the reduced trip limit in the Federal Register as soon as practicable.
In 2021, if NMFS determines that cumulative catch is expected to be 250
mt during JanuaryMarch, 275 mt during AprilJune, 300 mt during July September, or 325mt during October December based on landing receipts or other available information, a 15-mt trip limit will be imposed by NMFS
using the inseason action procedures described in the previous paragraph.
In 2021, if NMFS determines that cumulative catch is expected to be 325
mt during JanuaryMarch, 350 mt during AprilJune, or 375 mt during JulyDecember, a 2-mt trip limit will be imposed by NMFS using the inseason action procedures described previously.
When NMFS determines that the 2021
catch limit is expected to be reached based on landings receipts or other available fishery information, NMFS
will prohibit U.S. commercial fishing vessels from targeting, retaining, transshipping, or landing Pacific bluefin tuna captured in the Convention Area for the remainder of the calendar year i.e., fishery closure. NMFS will provide a notice on the NMFS website and the USCG will provide a Notice to Mariners three times per day for 4 days on USCG channel 16 VHF announcing that targeting, retaining, transshipping, or landing of Pacific bluefin tuna captured in the Convention Area will be prohibited on a specified effective time and date through the end of that calendar year. Upon that effective date, a commercial fishing vessel of the United States may not be used to target, retain on board, transship, or land Pacific bluefin tuna captured in the Convention Area. However, any Pacific bluefin tuna already on board a fishing vessel on the effective date could be retained on board, transshipped, and/or landed within 14 days of the effective date, to the extent authorized by applicable laws and regulations. NMFS
will then publish a notice of the fishery closure in the Federal Register as soon as practicable. In the event the trip limit was reduced early or the fishery was closed due to an overestimation of catch, NMFS could reverse immediately the prior inseason action to increase the trip limit or re-open the fishery after landing receipts have been received and the landed catch quantity confirmed.
NMFS will announce these actions on the NMFS website and by USCG Notice to Mariners on USCG channel 16 VHF.

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