National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration December 5, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This temporary rule closes the White Hake Trimester Total Allowable Catch (TAC) Area to all common pool groundfish vessels fishing with trawl gear, sink gillnet gear, or longline/hook gear for the remainder of Trimester 2, through December 31, 2012. This action is necessary to prevent the common pool fishery from exceeding its Trimester 2 TAC or its annual catch limit for white hake. This rule is expected to slow the catch rate of white hake in the common pool fishery for the remainder of Trimester 2.

In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) regulations, notification is hereby given that NMFS has issued an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) to the Partnership for Interdisciplinary Study of Coastal Oceans (PISCO) at the University of California (UC) Santa Cruz to take marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to rocky intertidal monitoring surveys.

NMFS proposes 2013 and 2014 harvest specifications, apportionments, and Pacific halibut prohibited species catch limits for the groundfish fishery of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to establish harvest limits for groundfish during the 2013 and 2014 fishing years and to accomplish the goals and objectives of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska. The intended effect of this action is to conserve and manage the groundfish resources in the GOA in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.