Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Pacific Whiting; Routine Management Measure; Closure Authority

Résumé

This emergency rule establishes routine management measure authority, under the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP), to close the Pacific whiting (whiting) primary season fisheries by sector before the sector's whiting allocation is reached in order to minimize impacts on overfished species. This action is necessary to establish a mechanism that can be used to quickly close the commercial whiting primary season fisheries if NMFS estimates that the incidental catch of an overfished species is too high.