Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Full Retention of Demersal Shelf Rockfish in the Southeast Outside District of the Gulf of Alaska

Zusammenfassung

NMFS issues a final rule that requires the operator of a federally permitted catcher vessel using hook-and-line or jig gear in the Southeast Outside District (SEO) of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) to retain and land all demersal shelf rockfish (DSR) caught while fishing for groundfish or for Pacific halibut under the Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) program. This action is necessary to improve estimates of fishing mortality of DSR. This final rule is intended to further the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) and the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (FMP).