National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration August 6, 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Pursuant to the regulations governing the subsistence taking of northern fur seals, NMFS is publishing the annual fur seal subsistence harvests on St. George and St. Paul Islands, Alaska (the Pribilof Islands) for 2011-2013 and the annual estimates of fur seal subsistence harvests for 2014-2016. NMFS estimates the annual subsistence needs for 2014-2016 are 1,645-2,000 fur seals on St. Paul and 300-500 fur seals on St. George.

This action closes the American plaice Trimester Total Allowable Catch Area to Northeast multispecies common pool trawl vessels for the remainder of Trimester 1, through August 31, 2014. The closure is required by regulation because the common pool fishery has caught 120 percent of its Trimester 1 quota for American plaice. This closure is intended to prevent the overharvest of the common pool's allocation for this stock. Because the common pool catch of American plaice is not limited to the American plaice Trimester Total Allowable Catch Area, this action also reduces possession and trip limit for the American plaice stock to zero for all common pool vessels through August 31, 2014, in order to prevent the overharvest of the common pool's allocation of American plaice.