Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Allow Longline Pot Gear

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NMFS issues a final rule to allow the use of longline pot gear by vessels engaged in directed fishing for sablefish in the Bering Sea subarea (BS). Sablefish hook-and-line fishermen in the BS have faced increasing predation of hooked sablefish by killer whales. The use of longline pot gear will effectively prevent such predation. This action is necessary to protect Bering Sea sablefish harvests and is intended to resolve a conflict between fishermen and a species protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (MMPA).