"Alaska Groundfish"

The purpose of the first section, Ecosystem Assessment, is to summarize historical climate and fishing effects on the eastern Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska ecosystems using information from the other two sections and stock assessment reports. In future drafts, the Ecosystem Assessment section will also provide an assessment of the possible future effects of climate and fishing on ecosystem structure and function.

The purpose of the first section, Ecosystem Assessment, is to summarize historical climate and fishing effects on the eastern Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska ecosystems using information from the other two sections and stock assessment reports. In future drafts, the Ecosystem Assessment section will also provide an assessment of the possible future effects of climate and fishing on ecosystem structure and function.

Since 1995, the North Pacific Fishery Management Councils (NPFMC) Groundfish Plan Teams have prepared a separate Ecosystem Considerations section to the annual SAFE report. The intent of the Ecosystems Considerations section is to provide the Council with information about the effects of fishing from an ecosystem perspective, and the effects of environmental change on fish stocks. The effects of fishing on ecosystems have not been incorporated into most stock assessments, in part due to data limitations. Most single species models cannot directly incorporate the breadth and complexity of much of this information. ABC recommendations may or may not reflect discussion regarding ecosystem considerations. This information is useful for effective fishery management and maintaining sustainability of marine ecosystems. The Ecosystems Considerations chapter attempts to bridge this gap by identifying specific ecosystem concerns that should be considered by fishery managers, particularly during the annual process of setting catch limits on groundfish.

This Regulatory Impact Review evaluates the costs and benefits of a proposed harvest restriction for participants in the harvest limit area Atka mackerel fishery in the Aleutian Islands.

This Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (FRFA) evaluates the small entity impacts of a amendment to change the Gulf of Alaska FMP to move skates from the “other species” category to the “target species” category.

Analysis of alternative actions to address the issue of the improved retention and improved utilization (IR/IU) of yellowfin sole and rock sole in BSAI groundfish fisheries and shallow-water flatfish in GOA groundfish fisheries (Flatfish IR/IU).