Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries Off West Coast States; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan; Amendment 36; Limited Entry Fixed Gear Follow-On Actions

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NMFS announces that the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) submitted amendment 36 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (Groundfish FMP) to the Secretary of Commerce for review. If approved, amendment 36 would add flexibility to gear endorsements for limited entry fixed gear (LEFG) permit owners and remove the base permit designation of LEFG permits. Amendment 36 would also update language regarding LEFG and open access (OA) allocations related to amendment 6 to the Groundfish FMP. Amendment 36 is part of a larger proposed rulemaking action for the LEFG fishery, which includes two additional action items, the removal of the start and end times (i.e., hours of the day) for the open dates of the primary tier season and the development of a cost recovery program for the LEFG fishery. Those action items do not require a plan amendment and, therefore, are not discussed in detail in this Notice of Availability (NOA).