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Factors considered in determining that a 2014 Final Rule is consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act National Standards.

Program Summary: The western Alaska Community Development Quota Program (CDQ Program) provides western Alaska villages with the opportunity to participate and invest in fisheries in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands fisheries.

Analysis of the Final Rule to Prohibit the Use of Hired Masters for Sablefish Catcher Vessel Quota Shares Received by Transfer after February 12, 2010 Consistency of the Final Rule With National Standards 9 and 10 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act National Marine Fisheries Service, Alaska Region April 1, 2016 This analysis was prepared in response to a January 13, 2016, order from the United States District Court, Western District of Washington, regarding a 2014 final rule issued by NMFS (Fairweather Fish, Inc. et al. vs. Pritzker et al., Case No. 3:14-cv-05685-BHS). The final rule prohibits initial Quota recipients from using a hired master to harvest Individual Fishing Quota derived from sablefish catcher vessel Quota received by transfer after February 12, 2010. NMFS has determined that the Final Rule is consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act National Standards 9 (minimize bycatch and bycatch mortality) and 10 (promote safety at sea). This analysis describes the factors NMFS considered in determining that the Final Rule is consistent with National Standards 9 and 10. While the Final Rule is expected to have economic impacts on some Quota holders as described in the record associated with this action, the Final Rule is not expected to increase bycatch or bycatch mortality in the sablefish IFQ fishery overall or reduce the safety of human life at sea for persons participating on board a vessel in the sablefish IFQ fishery.

Technical Memo describing and analyzing the evolution of the Alaska region Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) and sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria) fisheries over the past 125 years. NOAA technical memorandum NMFS-F/AKR -17.

Prohibition of initial quota share recipients from using a hired master to harvest individual fishing quota derived from catcher vessel quota share received by transfer after February 12, 2010.

The Gulf of Alaska seamounts are a group of undersea mountains of volcanic origin rising from the ocean floor at depths of 3,200–4,000 m to within 400–800 m of the surface.

Sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria) are a commercially important fish species in the northeast Pacific Ocean. Found along the upper continental slope, in Alaska they are caught primarily by longlines. Catches in the Alaskan EEZ have averaged 15,000 mt in recent years with an annual value of about $100 million. The fishery has been managed by an Individual Fisheries Quota system since 1995. Fishery-independent longline surveys have been conducted annually since 1978 to assess the relative abundance of this valuable resource. The survey abundance indices are combined with age, length, and fishery data to estimate absolute abundance and recommend catch quotas with age-structured models. Since 1978, the U. S. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) has conducted annual longline surveys with Japan (Japan-U.S. cooperative longline survey, 1978-94) and alone (1987-present, domestic longline survey). The survey has covered the upper continental slope (1978-present) and selected gullies (1987present) of the Gulf of Alaska and the upper continental slope of the eastern Bering Sea (198294, biennially since 1997) and Aleutian Islands region (1980-94, biennially since 1996). A unique aspect of this survey is that the charter vessel retains most of the catch after the scientific data are recorded. The survey lasts three months. The survey is conducted jointly by two components of the AFSC: the Auke Bay Laboratory and the Resource Assessment and Conservation Engineering Division.

Analysis of management measures for the sablefish Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) fishery in the Gulf of Alaska.

Community reports for communities in the commercial IFQ Program

Prohibited use of hired masters to harvest Individual Fishing Quota derived from sablefish catcher vessel quota received by transfer after February 12, 2010: Consistency of the Final Rule With National Standards 9 and 10 of the Magnuson-Stevens Act