DRAFT Environmental Impact Statement and Regulatory Impact Review for a Proposed Amendment to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands Management Area - Bering Sea Chum Salmon Bycatch Management

This document is a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and Regulatory Impact Review. A DEIS provides assessments of the environmental impacts of an action and its reasonable alternatives as well as the economic benefits and costs of the action alternatives and their distribution. This DEIS was produced by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council and NOAA Fisheries Alaska Region to provide the analytical background for decision-making. It addresses the statutory requirements of the MSA, the National Environmental Policy Act, and Presidential Executive Order 12866.

This DEIS is an analysis of the environmental impacts of proposed management measures to minimize chum salmon bycatch (Oncorhynchus keta) in the Bering Sea pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus) fishery, particularly bycatch of chum salmon of western Alaska origin. The management measures being considered include:

• A limit on chum salmon bycatch;
• A limit on chum salmon bycatch that would apply only during lower chum salmon abundance;
• Additional chum salmon avoidance measures managed by formal fishermen agreements; and
• A limit on chum salmon bycatch that triggers a temporary closure of an area with historically higher rates of bycatch of chum salmon from Western Alaska.

NMFS will accept written comments from the public on the proposed alternatives in the DEIS until January 5, 2026.

Comments may be submitted electronically through the www.regulations.gov portal by entering NOAA-NMFS-2023-0089 in the search box, or by mail to:

Jonathan M. Kurland, Regional Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries Division, Alaska Region NMFS, P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802–1668.