Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Atlantic Bluefin Tuna and North Atlantic Albacore Quotas

In this final rule, NMFS modifies the baseline annual U.S. quota and subquotas for Atlantic bluefin tuna and the baseline annual U.S. North Atlantic albacore tuna (northern albacore) quota. This action is necessary to implement binding recommendations of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) adopted in 2021, 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 adjusts the 2022 bluefin tuna Reserve category quota and the 2022 baseline northern albacore quota to account for available underharvest from 2021, consistent with the Atlantic tunas quota regulations. NMFS further recalculates the bluefin tuna Purse Seine and Reserve category quotas that were announced earlier this year, to reflect the quotas in this final rule.