IB 02-96: Groundfish Fisheries off Alaska Open Under Interim Harvest Specifications and Steller Sea Lion Protection Measures

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announces the opening of the 2003 groundfish fisheries under interim harvest specifications and Steller sea lion protection measures. Interim harvest specifications are set by regulations as one quarter of each proposed annual harvest specification or the first seasonal allowance, depending on the species. The interim harvest specifications will remain effective until superceded by final harvest specifications, which normally occurs by mid-February. The Federal Register notices for the interim harvest specifications for the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area and for the Gulf of Alaska (67 FR 78733 and 67 FR 78739, December 26, 2002) are available on the NMFS Alaska Region website below.

The groundfish fisheries are required to be managed under the Steller sea lion protection measures. The final rule implementing these measures is filed for public inspection with the Office of the Federal Register as of December 31, 2002, is effective January 1, 2003, and will be available from the Alaska Region website after publication in the Federal Register on January 2, 2003. The protection measures are similar to requirements implemented in 2002 and include, temporal and spatial dispersion of fishing effort for pollock, Pacific cod, and Atka mackerel, and vessel monitoring systems for participants in the pollock and trawl Atka mackerel directed fisheries, and in the trawl, hook-and-line, and pot Pacific cod directed fisheries.

This information bulletin only provides notice of a regulatory change. For the purposes of complying with the regulatory change, you are advised to see the actual text in the Code of Federal Regulations or text in the Federal Register notice for harvest specifications. Federal Register notices and regulations may be viewed at the Alaska Region website.