NMFS Adopts New Electronic System for Bluefin Tuna Import/Export Reporting

The National Marine Fisheries Service is adopting a new electronic system for reporting imports, exports and re-exports of Bluefin tuna, it said in a final rule (here). Effective May 1, NMFS will replace the current paper-based Bluefin tuna catch documentation (BCD) program with the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas’ new eBCD system. The new system was designed to collect largely the same information that is currently collected under the paper-based BCD program, said NMFS. The agency will hold three webinars on how to use the new system on April 21, April 22, and May 3, it said.