NMFS Issues Final Rule to Improve Estimates of Demersal Shelf Rockfish Mortality in the Gulf of Alaska

Summary

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has issued a final rule requiring catcher vessels in the Southeast Outside District of the Gulf of Alaska to retain and land all demersal shelf rockfish caught under the Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) program, in order to improve estimates of fishing mortality of these species.