Environmental assessment, regulatory impact review, and initial regulatory flexibility analysis for the Atlantic bluefin tuna quota rule Environmental assessment (EA) for the Atlantic bluefin tuna quota rule (RIN 0648-BE81)

In October 2006, NMFS finalized the Consolidated Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Fishery Management Plan (2006 Consolidated HMS FMP) and issued implementing regulations, including regulations for the Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) fishery, to meet the requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). Effective January 2015, NMFS amended the FMP with conservation and management measures, including alterations to the BFT allocation process in the recently published Amendment 7 to the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP (Amendment 7; 79 FR 71510, December 2, 2014). This action is necessary to implement recommendations of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) pursuant to the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act (ATCA) and to achieve domestic management objectives under the Magnuson-Stevens Act. This action would increase the baseline annual U.S. BFT quota from the 923.7-mt level established via a 2011 quota rule (76 FR 39019, July 5, 2011) to the ICCAT-recommended level of 1,058.79 mt for each of 2015 and 2016. The baseline annual subquotas for the domestic fishing categories would be adjusted consistent with the process established in Amendment 7, and these amounts would be codified. The rule would also clarify regulations regarding the prohibition of transfer-at-sea in the purse seine fishery, but this clarification would have no environmental impacts or other effects, is administrative in nature, and reflects current practice and thus is not analyzed in this document.