Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Atlantic Bluefin Tuna and Northern Albacore Tuna Quotas; Atlantic Bigeye and Yellowfin Tuna Size Limit Regulations

In this final rule, NMFS modifies the baseline annual U.S. quota and subquotas for Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) and the baseline annual U.S. North Atlantic albacore (northern albacore or NALB) quota to reflect quotas adopted by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). NMFS also updates regulatory language on school BFT to reflect current ICCAT requirements. NMFS also makes a minor change to the Atlantic tunas size limit regulations to address retention, possession, and landing of bigeye and yellowfin tuna damaged through predation by sharks and other marine species. This action is necessary to implement binding recommendations of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), as required by the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act (ATCA), and to achieve domestic management objectives under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). NMFS also provides notice of adjustment of the 2018 BFT Reserve category quota and the 2018 NALB baseline quota to account for the available underharvest from 2017, consistent with the Atlantic tunas quota regulations. NMFS further recalculates the BFT Purse Seine and Reserve category quotas that were announced earlier this year, in accordance with the quotas in this final rule.