Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Bluefin Tuna Fisheries

NMFS adjusts the coastwide General category quota for the Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) fishery by transferring 15.0 metric tons (mt) from the Longline North subcategory quota, 12 mt from the Longline South subcategory quota and 3 mt from the Trap category to the coastwide General category for a revised quota of approximately 564.4 mt. NMFS reopens the coastwide BFT General category for the time period of 12:30 a.m. January 2 through 11:30 p.m. January 3, 2004 inclusive. These actions are being taken to allow for maximum utilization of the U.S. BFT landings quota while maintaining a fair distribution of fishing opportunities, preventing overharvest of the adjusted quotas for the affected fishing categories, helping to achieve optimum yield in the General category fishery, and allowing the collection of a broad range of data for stock monitoring purposes, consistent with the objectives of the Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Tunas, Swordfish, and Sharks (HMS FMP).