Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Individual Fishing Quota Program; Sweep-up Adjustments

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NMFS issues a proposed rule that would implement Amendment 43 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Groundfish Fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area (BSAI) and Amendment 43 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) and a regulatory amendment to the halibut individual fishing quota (IFQ) regulations. This action is necessary to increase the consolidation (``sweep-up'') levels for small quota share (QS) blocks for Pacific halibut and sablefish managed under the IFQ program. This action is intended to maintain consistency with the objectives of the IFQ program (i.e., prevent excessive consolidation of QS, maintain diversity of the fishing fleet, and allow new entrants into the fishery), while increasing the program's flexibility by allowing a moderately greater amount of QS to be ``swept-up'' into larger amounts that can be fished more economically.