Whiting and midwater trawl cleanup rule

Elements for a whiting and midwater trawl cleanup rule were reviewed by the Council in March and November, 2014. The proposed rule included the following with respect to vessels on Pacific whiting individual fish quota (IFQ) trips: An allowance for prohibited and protected species to be retained until landing on “maximized retention” trips. Disposition procedures for […]

Observer/catch monitoring rule

In April 2012, the following NMFS-proposed trailing actions were approved for implementation: Implementation of certification and decertification requirements for observer providers, Numerous revisions to details of the observer program provisions, and Revision to briefing periods in catch monitor certification requirements. The proposed rule was published on February 19, 2014 and the public comment deadline was March 21, 2014. […]

Change the shorebased whiting season opening date

In November 2012, the Council recommended moving the shorebased sector primary whiting season opening date to May 15 for the area north of 40o 30’ N. latitude. The proposed rule was published on February 17, 2015 and the public comment deadline was March 19, 2015. NMFS published a final environmental assessment for this action in March 2015, and a final rule on […]

Continue adaptive management program pass-through

The current pass-through of the quota pounds allocated for the quota share set-aside for the adaptive management program (10% of the non-whiting quota shares) was set to expire at the end of 2014 (for further description of the Adaptive Management Program, see “Develop Criteria for Distributing Adaptive Management Program Quota Pounds”). The Council recommended a […]

Cost recovery

In September 2011, the Council adopted a cost recovery program structure. Download the complete description of the Council’s recommendations on Cost Recovery. National Marine Fisheries Service published a proposed rule on February 1, 2013 and the public comment deadline was March 18, 2013. The National Environmental Policy Act analysis for cost recovery was covered by the Amendment 20 EIS. The final […]

Chafing gear

In April 2012, the Council recommended an alternative that would address industry concerns about the restrictiveness of the chafing gear regulations for the midwater trawl fishery. The Council reconsidered and reaffirmed its decision in November 2012. The proposed rule was published on March 19, 2014 and the public comment deadline was April 18, 2014.  On April 4, […]

Control date: Large-mesh drift gillnet limited entry program

Date: June 23, 2014 Federal Register summary: “This advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) announces a control date of June 23, 2014, that may be used as a reference for allocation decisions when considering potential future management actions to limit the number of participants in the large-mesh drift gillnet (DGN) fishery that targets swordfish and […]

Program Improvements and Enhancement Rule 2

The Program Improvements and Enhancement Rule 2 (PIE 2) included a number of regulatory changes recommended by the Council. In April 2012, the Council recommended to NMFS the preliminary preferred alternatives for all of the items on the Council’s list, except for the Pacific whiting season dates (on which no action was taken). Additionally, the […]

Whiting catch share reallocation

In March 2012, the Council considered matters associated with the 2011 District Court Judge Thelton E. Henderson decision in the case C10-4829-TEH: Pacific Dawn, LLC, et al. v. John Bryson, et al., including the February 21, 2012 Court Order on Remedy. This order remanded “for further consideration” the regulations addressing the initial allocation of whiting […]

Change of renewal dates from September 1 to September 15

This rule corrects an error in the regulations to make them consistent with the groundfish fishery management plan. The date by which National Marine Fisheries Service will mail notices for quot share permit and account renewal will be September 15 (consistent with the September 15, 2015 date for renewing groundfish limited entry permits).  The final rule correcting […]