National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration September 22, 2017 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold its 127th Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) meeting, American Samoa Archipelago Fishery Ecosystem Plan Advisory Panel (AP), American Samoa Regional Ecosystem Advisory Committee (REAC), Executive and Budget Standing Committee, Pelagic and International Standing Committee and its 171st Council meeting to take actions on fishery management issues in the Western Pacific Region.

The Council's Information and Education AP will meet to address outreach efforts and communication needs. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

This notice announces receipt of an exempted fishing permit (EFP) application from the Alaska Seafood Cooperative (AKSC). If granted, this EFP would allow non-pelagic trawl catcher/processor operators targeting groundfish in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) and Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) to remove halibut from a trawl codend on the deck, and release those halibut back to the water in a timely manner to increase survivability. The proposed project would build on work conducted by the applicant under EFPs in 2009, 2012, and 2015 through 2017 to test methods for sorting halibut on deck of non-pelagic trawl catcher/processor vessels in the BSAI including methods to increase halibut survivability and ensure reliable catch accounting and personnel safety. The objective of the proposed project is to refine the few, remaining operational issues to yield robust methods which could be implemented to allow sorting of halibut on the deck of non- pelagic trawl vessels as a standard practice in the BSAI and GOA in the future. The specific objectives of the proposed project are to (1) continue the proven methods used in 2017 EFP operations in 2018 and 2019; (2) develop individual-vessel deck sorting safety protocols; (3) test methods for moving fish on deck to ensure a single flow of fish, which is essential for proper catch monitoring; and (4) expand the project to the GOA to standardize operations between the BSAI and GOA and evaluate the potential for increasing halibut survivability in the GOA. This experiment has the potential to promote the objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and the Northern Pacific Halibut Act.