National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration October 26, 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) Devil's Hole Research Planning Group will meet to coordinate research in the proposed Devil's Hole Spawning Special Management Zone.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for groundfish by vessels using trawl gear in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA), except for directed fishing for pollock by vessels using pelagic trawl gear in those portions of the GOA open to directed fishing for pollock. This closure also does not apply to fishing by vessels participating in the cooperative fishery in the Rockfish Program for the Central GOA. This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2016 Pacific halibut prohibited species catch limit specified for vessels using trawl gear in the GOA.

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold a meeting of a Fishery Ecosystem Plan (FEP) II Managed Species Section Writing Team in St. Petersburg, FL.

The SEDAR 50 assessment of the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico stock of Blueline Tilefish will consist of a series of workshops and webinars: Stock Identification (ID) Work Group Meeting; Data Workshop; Assessment Workshop and Webinars; and a Review Workshop.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council will hold three public hearings in November 2016 to solicit public input on a request by the State of New Jersey to designate 13 of its artificial reef sites located in federal waters as Special Management Zones (SMZ). The Council is also soliciting written comments on the NJ SMZ request through 11:59 p.m. on Friday November 25, 2016.

NMFS is implementing annual catch limits (ACL) and, where necessary, other annual reference points (overfishing limits (OFL) and acceptable biological catches (ABC)) for certain stocks in the monitored and prohibited harvest species categories under the Coastal Pelagic Species (CPS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The ACLs are: Jack mackerel, 31,000 metric tons (mt); northern subpopulation of northern anchovy, 9,750 mt; central subpopulation of northern anchovy, 25,000 mt; and krill, zero. Additionally, an OFL of 39,000 mt, an ABC of 9,750 mt and an annual catch target (ACT) of 1,500 mt are being implemented for the northern subpopulation of northern anchovy. This rule is intended to conserve and manage these stocks off the U.S. West Coast. If the ACL for any one of these stocks is reached, then fishing for that stock will be closed until it reopens at the start of the next fishing season.