Purpose and Need

Amendment 11a and GOA Amendment 16 was proposed in response to a need for better information from catcher/processors and mothership processor vessels in order to sufficiently address fishery management problems, enforce current regulations, and meet the conservation goals identified in the FMPs. The amendment intended to add to the currently required weekly catch reports by catcher/processors and motherships: information on the number of cartons and unit net weight of a carton of processed fish by species; a Product Transfer Report; and a Cargo Transfer/Offloading Log. 

The purpose of the amendment also was to redefine the definition of prohibited species and respecify the other three species categories, and to institute some regulatory changes that would affect the public comment period. Several other minor regulatory changes were made specific only to the Gulf of Alaska FMP. 

Analysis

An EA/RIR/IRFA was prepared for Amendment 11a, which determined that there was no significant environmental impact as a result of this action..

Regulation Summary

The regulations implemented the following provisions to the BSAI FMP: 

1) Augmented the current catcher/processor and mothership reporting requirements with at-sea transfer information, specifically, a Cargo Transfer/Off-Loading Log and Product Transfer Report;

2) Revised the definition of prohibited species to include Pacific salmonids, Pacific herring, Pacific halibut, king crab, Tanner crab, and steelhead trout. Respecified the other three categories: 

1. Target speciesBpollock, Pacific cod, flounders, rockfish, and sablefish
2. Other speciesBAtka mackerel, squid, sculpins, sharks, skates, eulachon, smelts, capelin, and octopus
3. Non-specified speciesBthose species taken incidentally in the groundfish fisheries but are not managed by the FMP. No catch records are required;

3)  Required the public comment period for proposed annual specifications and prohibited species catch limits to be 30 days following the date of filing of the notice for public inspection with the Office of the Federal Register.

Results

Since the amendment was passed, the four species categories have remained intact, and the "optimum yield" concept is applied to all except the prohibited species category. The prohibited species group has maintained the definition listed in the amendment. A single total allowable catch still exists for the other species group which currently includes smelts, octopus, sharks, skates, and sculpins; squid and Atka mackerel were moved to the target species group in 1993.  In 1998, a final rule on forage fishes was published which removed smelts from the other species category and placed them in a separate Forage Fish category beginning in 1999.  

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Sibling Amendments