2022 Federal Logbook Requirement for Pacific Coast Groundfish Non-Trawl Fisheries

This rule creates a federal requirement for certain vessels in the Pacific Coast Groundfish fishery target fishing for groundfish with non-trawl gear in federal waters off the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington, to complete and submit a non-trawl logbook to NOAA Fisheries via an electronic application. Specifically, this non-trawl logbook requirement applies to vessels participating in the directed open access and limited entry fixed gear sectors, as well as those vessels that fish with non-trawl gear in the Shorebased Individual Fishing Quota Program.

This rulemaking is promulgated in accordance with a Pacific Fishery Management Council action from their March 2022 meeting. The intent of this requirement is to collect valuable fishery-dependent information in non-trawl sectors with partial observer coverage, which would help better inform management of these fisheries.