Publications

The implementation of the 2005 and 2006 final harvest specifications is necessary for the management of the groundfish fisheries and the conservation of marine resources, as required by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

Analysis of an action to amend halibut Individual Fishing Quota and Community Development Quota regulations that define regulatory fishing areas for these programs under the authority of both NOAA Fisheries and International Pacific Halibut Commission.

Analysis of a regulatory amendment. This amendment would streamline the review and approval processes of quota transfers, eligible vessels, and alternative fishing plans for the Western Alaska Community Development Quota (CDQ) Program.

On August 23, 2004, the Southwest and Northwest Regions requested that the Southwest and Northwest Fisheries Science Centers conduct an update of the Status Review for North American Green Sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris) (Adams et al. 2002).

This Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis evaluates the impacts of the Crab Rationalization Program for the King and Tanner fisheries in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands on small entities.

Subsistence harvest report for northern fur seals in St. George and St. Paul Islands of Alaska.

The Humpback Whale North American Conservation Action Plan resulted from a trinational workshop in San Francisco, California in March 2004 and benefited from the in-depth review of an extensive list of wildlife experts from diverse backgrounds.

Publication prepared by the Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation

Over 34,000 age 0–2 juvenile sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria) were tagged and released in southeast Alaska waters during 1985–2005. The data set resulting from this tagging study was unusual because of its time span (20 years) and because age could be reliably inferred from release length (i.e., tagged and released fish were of known age); thus, age-specific movement patterns could be examined. The depth-and area-related recovery patterns supported the concepts that sablefish move to deeper water with age and migrate counterclockwise in the Gulf of Alaska. Availability to the fishery increased rapidly for fish of younger ages, peaked at age 5 to 6, and then gradually declined as sablefish moved deeper with age. Decreased availability with age may occur because of lower fishing effort in deep water and could have substantial implications for sablefish stock assessments because “dome-shaped” availability influences the reliability of abundance estimates. The area-related recovery pattern was not affected by year-class strength; i.e., there was no significant density-dependent relationship.

The HCP for Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District is a multi-species agreement with a 50-year term.