Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Quotas and Fishing Areas; Trade Monitoring

Resumo

NMFS proposes to amend regulations governing the Atlantic highly migratory species (HMS) fisheries to implement recommendations adopted at the 2000 meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). Specifically, NMFS proposes measures that would set a reserve quota for North Atlantic swordfish, maintain the status quo South Atlantic swordfish quota for 2001, and prohibit imports of Atlantic bigeye tuna harvested by certain countries. NMFS also proposes to reinstate regulations inadvertently removed during regulatory consolidation that would prohibit persons and vessels subject to the jurisdiction of the United States from possessing fish taken in violation of ICCAT recommendations or from violating another country's fisheries regulations pertaining to species managed by ICCAT. Finally, NMFS proposes certain corrections to existing trade restrictions to facilitate enforcement of the swordfish dead discard allowance and import of swordfish from designated countries. The intent of these actions is to improve conservation of the Atlantic highly migratory species and to improve management of these fisheries, while allowing harvest and trade consiste