International Fisheries; Pacific Tuna Fisheries; Fishing Restrictions for Fish Aggregating Devices in the Eastern Pacific Ocean

NMFS is issuing regulations under the Tuna Conventions Act to implement Resolution C-18-05 (Amendment of Resolution C-16-01 on the Collection and Analysis of Data on Fish-Aggregating Devices), which was adopted at the 93rd Meeting of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) in August 2018. The Resolution includes construction standards for fish aggregating devices (FADs) intended to reduce entanglements of marine life when fishing for tropical tuna (i.e., bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus), yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), and skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis)) in the eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO). This final rule will revise the existing regulations for consistency with the new Resolution. In addition, this rule revises the definition of "Active FAD" and regulations related to activating FADs at sea that were codified in the April 2018 rule. This final rule is necessary for the conservation of living marine resources in the EPO and for the United States to satisfy its obligations as a member of the IATTC.