Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Fisheries

الملخص

NMFS transfers 60 metric tons (mt) of Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) quota from the Reserve category to the September 2019 General category subquota period and closes the General category fishery until the General category reopens on October 1, 2019. The quota transfer is intended to provide additional fishing opportunities based on consideration of the regulatory determination criteria regarding inseason adjustments and applies to Atlantic tunas General category (commercial) permitted vessels and Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Charter/Headboat category permitted vessels with a commercial sale endorsement when fishing commercially for BFT. Given that the adjusted quota is projected to be caught quickly, the closure is being filed simultaneously to prevent overharvest of the adjusted General category September 2019 BFT subquota.