Amendments 54 and 55 to the Fishery Management Plan for Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands King and Tanner Crabs

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) submitted Amendments 54 and 55 to the Fishery Management Plan for Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands King and Tanner Crabs (Crab FMP) to NMFS for review. If approved, Amendments 54 and 55 would revise two provisions of the Crab Rationalization Program (CR Program) to complete the following: 1) change active participation requirements for crab quota share (crab QS) established for vessel operators and crew; and 2) expand the exemptions for CR Program custom processing from processor use caps and remove the CR Program processor facility use cap.