Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Bluefin Tuna General Category Effort Controls and Related Regulations

In this final rule, NMFS is modifying the process of scheduling restricted-fishing days (RFDs) by codifying a schedule of RFDs for the 2024 fishing year and subsequent fishing years, setting an additional non-codified RFD for the 2024 fishing year, establishing a General category default retention limit for large medium or giant bluefin tuna (BFT) on open days (i.e., non-RFDs), and clarifying the BFT dealer regulations and the definition of a bluefin statistical document (BSD) tag. This final action is necessary to increase the likelihood of pacing General category landings to extend fishing opportunities through a greater portion of the General category time period subquotas. Lastly, this final action clarifies existing regulations to ensure better understanding and compliance by General category quota participants.