Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Fisheries; Implementation of ICCAT Recommendations

NMFS issues this final rule to amend the regulations governing the Atlantic swordfish fishery to reduce the annual landings quota for the north Atlantic swordfish stock to 2,219 metric tons (mt) dressed weight (dw) for each of the next 3 fishing years (2000, 2001, 2002), with 300 mt dw allocated for incidental catch and the remainder allocated equally to each of the two semi-annual seasons for the directed fishery (June 1 through November 30 and December 1 through May 31). This final rule also establishes an allowance for dead discards of 320 mt whole weight (ww) in 2000, 240 mt ww in 2001, and 160 mt ww in 2002. Dead discards in excess of the allowance will be deducted from the subsequent year's landings quota. Additionally, NMFS is taking several actions regarding import restrictions: Removing a prohibition on the importation of Atlantic bluefin tuna from Panama; prohibiting the importation of BFT and its products from Equatorial Guinea; and prohibiting the importation of Atlantic swordfish and its products from Belize and Honduras. The intent of these actions is to improve conservation and management of the Atlantic swordfish and BFT, while allowing harvests consistent with recommendations of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT).