NOAA Fisheries has published a proposed rule in the Federal Register (84 FR 9471). This rule proposes a tribal whiting allocation of 17.5 percent of the U.S. total allowable catch for 2019. The proposed tribal allocation is consistent with the request of the Makah Tribe, the only tribe that has expressed interest in participating in the 2019 fishery. This rule also proposes to require NOAA Fisheries to consider Chinook salmon bycatch before reapportioning whiting from the tribal to non-tribal sectors of the Pacific whiting fishery. This reconsideration meets a requirement of an Endangered Species Act biological opinion on salmonids catch in the Pacific Coast Groundfish fishery, which includes Pacific whiting.
Public comments on this rule are due April 1, 2019.
View the proposed rule and submit comments at www.regulations.gov by searching for Docket Number NOAA-NMFS-2019-0001.
