The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has published final harvest specifications for the groundfish fisheries in the Gulf of Alaska(GOA) and Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI), according to Steven Pennoyer, Administrator, Alaska Region, NMFS. The harvest specifications for the GOA and BSAI groundfish fisheries were published in the Federal Register on February 18, 2000 (65 FR 8298 and 65 FR 8282, respectively).
The GOA harvest specifications published in the Federal Register contain an error that will be corrected immediately by NMFS. This correction will clarify that the pollock total allowable catch amounts specified for A and B seasons in the Western and Central Regulatory Areas and the Shelikof Strait sea lion conservation area are revised consistent with the revision to the interim harvest specifications published in the Federal Register on February 2, 2000 (65 FR 4892). The correction to the final GOA specifications will revise Tables 3 and 4 as noted below.
This information bulletin provides notice of a regulatory change. Do not rely upon it to guide you in complying with the regulatory change.
Table 3. Distribution of Pollock in the Western and Central Regulatory Areas of the Gulf of Alaska (W/C GOA); Biomass Distribution, Area Apportionments, and Seasonal Allowances of Annual TAC for the A and B Seasons in 2000.
| Statistical Area | Biomass percent | 2000 Annual TAC | Seasonal Allowance of Annual TAC1 | |
| C | D | |||
| 30% | 15% | |||
| Shelikof | 51.1 | 20,987 | 13,991 | 6,996 |
| Shumagin (610) | 27.4 | 32,340 | 7,498 | 3,749 |
| Chirikof1(620) | 2.0 | 13,372 | 546 | 273 |
| Kodiak1 (630) | 19.5 | 24,501 | 5,325 | 2,662 |
| TOTAL | 100.0 | 91,200 | 27,360 | 22,800 |
1A and B seasonal allowances in the Chirikof and Kodiak Districts are outside the Shelikof Strait defined at §679.20(b)(2)(iii)(B).
Table 4. Distribution of Pollock in the Western and Central Regulatory Areas of the Gulf of Alaska (W/C GOA); Biomass Distribution, Area Apportionments, and Seasonal Allowances OF Annual TAC for the C and D Seasons in 2000.
| Statistical Area | Biomass percent | 2000 Annual TAC | Seasonal Allowance of Annual TAC1 | |
| C | D | |||
| 30% | 25% | |||
| Shelikof | 20,987 | Not Apportioned | ||
| Shumagin (610) | 25 | 32,340 | >11,505 | 9,588 |
| Chirikof1(620) | 42 | 13,372 | 6,847 | 5,706 |
| Kodiak1 (630) | 33 | 24,501 | 9,008 | 7,506 |
| TOTAL | 100 | 91,200 | 27,360 | 22,800 |
1Emergency interim regulations (65 FR 3892, January 25, 2000) for pollock in the GOA which specify A and B season dates and harvest limitations, expire July 19, 2000, before the C and D seasons are scheduled to begin. Therefore, the C and D seasons are not authorized unless either the emergency rule is extended, or proposed and final rulemaking is completed.
