Purpose and Need

The original GOA FMP (43 FR 17242; April 21, 1978) set domestic annual harvest (DAH) estimates, optimum yields (OY), and the total allowable level of foreign fishing (TALFF) in order to balance fishing effort between domestic and foreign fleets. During the first year of implementation, reporting accuracy improved and new catch data was available from NMFS on the total domestic harvest and processing capabilities. Because implementing regulations for Amendment 1 stipulated that the FMP was only effective through November 1979, another amendment was needed to extend the FMP for the next fishing year. Certain stock assessment data was not available prior to the expiration of the current plan, so the amendment would simply rollover the optimum yields in the original plan (as amended), with a few minor exceptions. 

New data from the 1977 and 1978 trawl surveys and 1979 Soviet surveys indicated increasingly abundant stocks of Pacific cod, much higher than the estimates used to set the 1978 optimum yield (OY). The domestic trawl surveys estimated maximum sustainable yield (MSY) at 88,000 mt, and the Soviet surveys estimated 67,600 mt. On that basis, the Council recommended an increase in the Pacific cod OY from the current 34,800 mt.  Previous estimates for Atka mackerel, based on Soviet hydroacoustic surveys, were also low compared to new data from Soviet trawl surveys. Thus, the Council recommended that the Atka mackerel OY also be increased. 

Industry had recommended the Council establish a Gulf-wide OY for thornyhead rockfish (genus Sebastolobus), a species historically taken incidental to the foreign sablefish longline fishery. The species was not previously reported as thornyhead rockfish (a.k.a. “idiot” rockfish) or assessed against the “other rockfish” category, so new reporting of the substantial bycatch of idiot rockfish meant foreign harvesters were quickly meeting the relatively small “other rockfish” quota and were threatened with early closure. The final concern addressed in Amendment 7 dealt with joint venture operations and the need to improve the equitable distribution of the catch between foreign and domestic processors.

Analysis

An 11-page environmental assessment (final draft dated September 19, 1979) was prepared. Four alternatives were considered, including no action. Taking no action would have ceased all fishing, as the current plan expired October 31, 1979. The second alternative (the status quo) would have maintained the current optimum yields, an option deemed unacceptable in light of new biological information. The third alternative not chosen would have imposed more restrictive regulations on the foreign and domestic fleets, without appreciable benefit to the resource or the U.S. fishery. The preferred actions would remove unnecessary regulations while maintaining a conservative management regime and providing for both domestic expansion and the needs of foreign fisheries.

Regulation Summary

The regulations implemented the following provisions:

1) Extend the FMP through October 31, 1980;

2) Implement the provisions of the Processor Preference Amendment (PL 95-354), which would establish a mechanism to periodically review and reassess the domestic annual harvest and the reserve to TALFF;

3) Increase the Pacific cod OY from 34,800 mt to 60,000 mt and increase the Atka mackerel OY from 26,800 mt to 28,700 mt;

4) Create a new category and a Gulf-wide OY of 3,750 mt for thornyhead rockfish; and

5) Create new domestic reporting requirements to facilitate better estimates of domestic annual harvesting and processing capabilities.

A sixth measure would have established that the Council would consider, on a case-by-case basis, the possibility of time and area closures to joint venture operations to allow a domestic processor to process the catch. This provision was disapproved by the Secretary.

Results

The amendment extended the management actions in the FMP and increased the optimum yields for two species, allowing for a larger harvest but also remaining biologically conservative. The Council also adopted provisions that would better safeguard the expanding domestic harvesters and processors, and started considering additional closures to joint ventures so that new domestic processors could be fully utilized. These were incremental changes that would begin to replace foreign effort with domestic effort.