The final rule requires operators of hook-and-line vessels fishing for Pacific halibut in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area and the Gulf of Alaska to conduct fishing operations in a specified manner and to employ specified bird avoidance techniques to reduce seabird bycatch and incidental seabird mortality. The action is necessary to mitigate hook-and-line fishery interactions with the short-tailed albatross, an endangered species protected under the Endangered Species Act, and other species.

Environmental Assessment

Alaska, Gulf of

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)