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This action would consider modifying the Atlantic highly migratory species regulations to require vessels in the pelagic longline fishery to account for bycatch of bluefin tuna using Individual Bluefin Quota on a quarterly basis instead of before commencing any fishing trip while in quota debt or with less than the minimum required Individual Bluefin Quota balance. Current regulations require permitted Atlantic Tunas Longline vessels to possess a minimum amount of Individual Bluefin Quota to depart on a fishing trip with pelagic longline gear onboard and account for bluefin tuna catch (fish retained or discarded dead) using Individual Bluefin Quota. At the end of a trip on which bluefin tuna are caught, a vessel's Individual Bluefin Quota balance is reduced by the amount caught. If the trip catch exceeds the vessel's available quota, the vessel will incur quota debt (i.e., exceeding its available Individual Bluefin Quota balance). In this case, the regulations currently require the vessel to obtain additional Individual Bluefin Quota through leasing to resolve that quota debt and to acquire the minimum Individual Bluefin Quota amount, before departing on a subsequent trip using pelagic longline gear. This action would implement accountability on a quarterly basis instead of after each trip to minimize constraints on fishing for target species and support business planning while accounting for all bluefin tuna catch and maintaining incentives to avoid bluefin catch. Quarterly accountability would require vessel owners to resolve quota debt and obtain the minimum amount of Individual Bluefin Tuna prior to fishing for the first time during each new calendar quarter. The annual U.S. Bluefin tuna quota would remain unaffected by this measure, as it results from International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas recommendations. Through the proposed rule, NMFS would consider the potential impacts of this approach on the Individual Bluefin Tuna Program.