NMFS Issues Final Rule Requiring Vessel Monitoring System for Atka Mackerel Fishery

Summary

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has issued a final rule requiring vessels participating in the Atka mackerel fishery in the Aleutian Islands subarea of the Bering Sea to use a Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) transmitter, in order to enhance monitoring of fishery activities within critical habitat areas and further the conservation goals of the Fishery Management Plan for the Groundfish Fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area.