Environmental Assessment for Amendment 56 to the FMP's for Groundfish of the BSAI and GOA
January 21, 1999
Analysis of FMP amendments to revise the definition of overfishing levels for groundfish species or species groups in these fishery management plans
This environmental assessment addresses a revision to the definition of overfishing for groundfish in these two fishery management plans. To comply with section 303(a) of the Sustainable Fisheries Act, maximum sustainable yield is treated as a limit, rather than a target. Overfishing is defined as any amount of fishing in access of prescribed maximum allowable rate. This maximum allowable rate is prescribed through a set of six tiers, which are listed in descending order of preference, corresponding to whether a given item of information is reliable for the purpose of this definition.