Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Scallops

요약

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announces that the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) has submitted Amendment 13 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Scallop fishery off Alaska (FMP) for review by the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary). If approved, Amendment 13 would implement an annual catch limit (ACL) and accountability measures (AMs) to prevent overfishing in the target fishery for weathervane scallops. Implementing these measures would require revising the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) and the optimum yield (OY) for weathervane scallops to account for total catch. Amendment 13 would also clarify that, in the absence of a statewide estimate of spawning biomass for weathervane scallops, the overfishing level (OFL) is specified as the MSY. Under Amendment 13, scallop species not targeted in the fishery would be classified as Ecosystem Component (EC) species. Amendment 13 is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), the FMP, and other applicable laws.