Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; General Category Restricted-Fishing Days

This final rule sets Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) General category restricted-fishing days (RFDs) for the 2021 fishing year; clarifies the regulations regarding applicability of RFDs to Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Charter/Headboat permitted vessels; and corrects references to the Atlantic Tunas General category permit in a section of the Atlantic HMS regulations. This final rule establishes RFDs for specific days during the months of September through November 2021. On an RFD, Atlantic Tunas General category permitted vessels may not fish for (including catch-and-release or tag-and-release fishing), possess, retain, land, or sell BFT. On RFDs, persons aboard HMS Charter/Headboat permitted vessels with a commercial sale endorsement are prohibited from fishing commercially for BFT. Persons aboard all HMS Charter/Headboat permitted vessels can fish recreationally for BFT under the applicable Angling category restrictions and retention limits.