Environmental Assessment / Final Regulatory Impact Review for Amendment 101 to the Fishery Management Plan for groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska, allow the use of pot longline gear in the Gulf of Alaska sablefish individual fishing quota fishery

Balsiger, James W.

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Environmental Assessment / Final Regulatory Impact Review for Amendment 101 to the Fishery Management Plan for groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska, allow the use of pot longline gear in the Gulf of Alaska sablefish individual fishing quota fishery

Supporting Files

2016
By Balsiger, James W.

Details

Alternative Title:

Amendment 101 to the Fishery Management Plan for groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska, allow the use of pot longline gear in the Gulf of Alaska sablefish individual fishing quota fishery ; GOA Sablefish IFQ Pot Longline Gear - October 2016
Personal Author:

Balsiger, James W.
Corporate Authors:

United States, National Marine Fisheries Service., Alaska Regional Office, ; North Pacific Fishery Management Council ; United States, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration., Office of General Counsel,
NOAA Program & Office:

NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) ; AKR (Alaska Region) ; NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act)
Description:

This analysis of management measures applies exclusively to the sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria) Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) fishery in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). The considered measures include: (1) redefine legal gear to include pot longline gear, subject to a pot limit enforced by pot-identification tags, (2) require that pot longline gear be moved or tended within a certain amount of time after being set, or removed from the fishing grounds when making a sablefish delivery, (3) require marking of pot longline gear, and (4) require retention of Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) if sufficient IFQ is held by fishermen to cover the halibut IFQ caught using pot longline gear. The action would minimize whale and seabird interactions with fishing gear, and adverse impacts on the sablefish IFQ fleet from depredation by sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) and killer whales (Orcinus orca). Depredation negatively impacts the sablefish IFQ fleet through reduced catch rates and increased operating costs. Depredation also has negative consequences for the whales through increased risk of vessel strike, gear entanglement, and altered foraging strategies. An additional management concern stems from the impact that whale depredation may have on the accuracy of fish stock abundance indices..
Keywords:

Environmental Impact Analysis Equipment And Supplies Fisheries Fishery Policy Government Policy Longlining (Fisheries) Sablefish Fisheries Sustainable Fisheries Environmental Impact Analysis Equipment And Supplies Fishery Policy Government Policy Sablefish Fisheries Sustainable Fisheries
Document Type:

Environmental Assessment
Place as Subject:

Alaska ; Alaska, Gulf of (Alaska)
Rights Information:

Public Domain
Compliance:

Submitted
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha-512:945a948c73e7c29fdf8cc79b7f72e367afcf2c2c4cc33835b688ea035669a4a44b5b40a8982383e5d8087f959c73bcd23c2209caf593f23f2198bd25e7a83061
Download URL:

https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/21188/noaa_21188_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 6.68 MB ]

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