Final Draft Environmental Assessment/Regulatory Impact Review/Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis for a Regulatory Amendment to Revise Regulations for Seabird Avoidance Measures in the Hook-and-line Fisheries off Alaska in International Pacific Halibut Commission Area 4E

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Final Draft Environmental Assessment/Regulatory Impact Review/Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis for a Regulatory Amendment to Revise Regulations for Seabird Avoidance Measures in the Hook-and-line Fisheries off Alaska in International Pacific Halibut Commission Area 4E

2006

Details

Corporate Authors:

National Marine Fisheries Service (U.S.)
NOAA Program & Office:

NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) ; AKR (Alaska Region)
Description:

This Environmental Assessment/Regulatory Impact Review/Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis analyzes the impacts of potential revisions to seabird avoidance measures used in the hook-and-line fisheries conducted in the Bering Sea. This proposed action is based on a review of satellite tagging studies depicting endangered short-tailed albatrosses’ usage of Bering Sea habitat and hook-and-line fisheries’ spatial and temporal harvest of Pacific halibut and Pacific cod in the eastern Bering Sea. This seabird/fisheries interaction analysis concludes that the requirement of using seabird avoidance measures in a portion of IPHC Area 4E may be unnecessary due to limited usage of this area by seabirds of conservation concern, and in particular, a low probability of fishing vessels encountering short-tailed albatrosses. Alternatives in this analysis eliminate or modify the required use of seabird avoidance measures for different vessel size classes in IPHC Area 4E. The objective of this proposed regulatory amendment is to improve the efficiency of current seabird avoidance requirements by relieving unnecessary regulatory burden and its associated costs in areas where the incidental take of short-tailed albatrosses and other species of conservation concern is extremely low.
Keywords:

Albatrosses Endangered Species Environmental Impact Analysis Fisheries Fishing Boats Habitat Harvesting Law And Legislation Marine Habitat Conservation Pacific Cod Pacific Halibut Sea Birds Endangered Species Environmental Impact Analysis Fishing Boats Law And Legislation Marine Habitat Conservation Pacific Cod Pacific Halibut Sea Birds
Document Type:

Environmental Assessment
Place as Subject:

Cook Inlet (Alaska)
Name as Subject:

ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc. ; Union Oil Company of California ; ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc. ; Union Oil Company of California
Rights Information:

Public Domain
Compliance:

Library
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha256:e9087639c38fea0c9e73c3f545d9a499040de2e722f2508c5876ad0862684fd9
Download URL:

https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/19191/noaa_19191_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 778.84 KB ]

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