Amendment 11 to the FMP for the Scallop Fishery Off Alaska

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) has submitted Amendments 78 and 65 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (BSAI), Amendments 73 and 65 to the FMP for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA), Amendments 16 and 12 to the FMP for Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands King and Tanner Crabs, Amendments 7, 9, and 11 to the FMP for the Scallop Fishery Off Alaska, and Amendments 7 and 8 to the FMP for Salmon Fisheries in the Exclusive Economic Zone Off the Coast of Alaska. These amendments, if approved, would revise the FMPs by identifying and authorizing protection measures for essential fish habitat (EFH) and habitat areas of particular concern (HAPCs) in all five FMPs and update the biological and management information in the scallop FMP. This action is necessary to revise the descriptions of EFH in the FMPs based on the best available scientific information and to protect areas that have important habitat features for the sustainability of managed fish stocks. This action also is necessary to provide an updated FMP for scallop fishery management.