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

Samenvatting

NMFS implements a regulatory amendment that prohibits the retention of groundfish caught with unauthorized gear in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off Alaska. In addition, this action implements a technical amendment that organizes all fishing gear definitions as paragraphs under the single definition of ``authorized fishing gear''. This action is necessary to prevent fishing with unauthorized gear and associated preemption of fishing grounds and gear conflicts, and undermining prohibited species bycatch measures in the groundfish fishery. It is intended to support the goals and objectives contained in the Fishery Management Plans (FMPs) for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) and the Groundfish Fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area (BSAI).