Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone off Alaska; Modify the Timing of Haul Designation for Trawl Catcher Processors in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Groundfish Fisheries
Key claim: NMFS finalizes a rule standardizing the time window for trawl catcher/processors to assign hauls to management programs in Alaska groundfish fisheries, improving consistency between CDQ and non-CDQ fishing trips.
Abstract
(Rule · Commerce Department, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) NMFS issues this final rule to standardize the time limit in which trawl catcher/processors (C/Ps) participating in the groundfish fisheries in the Gulf of Alaska Management Area (GOA) and the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (BSAI) must assign each haul to a management program. This action is necessary to improve consistency with respect to when trawl C/Ps are required to assign a haul to a specific management program in a logbook. It allows additional time for vessel operators participating in the Western Alaska Community Development Quota (CDQ) and non-CDQ fisheries on the same trip to determine which management program to assign a haul to. This rule is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), the Fishery Management Plans (FMPs) for Groundfish of the GOA and BSAI Management Areas, and other applicable laws.
Why this matters
NMFS finalizes a rule standardizing the time window for trawl catcher/processors to assign hauls to management programs in Alaska groundfish fisheries, improving consistency between CDQ and non-CDQ fishing trips.