Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska; Groundfish Fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area

Résumé

NMFS implements regulations for several management measures to prevent certain Gulf of Alaska (GOA) trawl fisheries from taking an unnecessarily large share of the GOA halibut bycatch limit; amend the directed fishing standards to prohibit using retained amounts of arrowtooth flounder, or groundfish species that are closed to directed fishing, as a basis for calculating retainable amounts of other, more valuable groundfish species that are closed to directed fishing; change the opening date of the yellowfin sole and ``other flatfish'' fisheries in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI) from May 1 to January 1; and implement changes pertaining to the annual specification and management of GOA halibut prohibited species catch (PSC) limits. This action is necessary to reduce the likelihood that one sector of the Alaska trawl fleet will preempt others for a share of the Pacific halibut bycatch limit established for vessels using trawl gear in the GOA, and provide greater opportunity to harvest available groundfish under halibut bycatch restrictions in both the GOA and BSAI fisheries. This action is intended to further the objectives of the fishery management plans f