Essential Fish Habitat Archives

Sullivan reintroduces sweeping bill targeting bycatch, seafloor impacts

July 8, 2026 — U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) has reintroduced the Bycatch Reduction Act, legislation that would expand federal efforts to reduce bycatch, limit seafloor impacts from trawl gear, improve fisheries monitoring and increase transparency in fishery management.

According to Sullivan’s office, the bill builds on recommendations from the Alaska Salmon Task Force, which was created through legislation he authored and signed into law in 2022.

The proposal would establish new standards and monitoring requirements designed to keep both midwater and bottom trawl nets off the seafloor, require proven salmon excluder devices on pollock vessels, invest in salmon tagging and genetic sampling, expand ecosystem research, and create a new flume tank testing facility to evaluate fishing gear under simulated ocean conditions. The bill also would reauthorize NOAA’s Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program and encourage fishermen to test new gear and technologies aimed at reducing bycatch and habitat impacts.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

President Trump Declares ‘National Scallops Day’ as NOAA Prioritizes Opening Northern Edge and Permit Stacking

July 2, 2026— President Donald Trump declared “National Scallops Day,” tying the designation to a NOAA Fisheries announcement that the agency has prioritized expanding access for the Atlantic sea scallop fleet on the Northern Edge of Georges Bank and advancing a long-sought permit-stacking policy.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the action would “open up the Northern Edge of Georges Bank to Scallops Fishing,” predicting “millions more pounds” of wild scallops for American consumers and more jobs in East Coast fishing ports, including New Bedford, Massachusetts; Cape May, New Jersey; and Norfolk, Virginia. This comes as part of a broader Trump Administration effort to expand domestic seafood production and reverse restrictions imposed by prior administrations.

The President’s statement came the same day NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Eugenio Piñeiro Soler released a region-by-region list of regulatory priorities under Executive Order 14276, “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness.” In the New England section of that announcement, NOAA listed two major scallop actions: “Implement rotational access for the Northern Edge scallop fishery” and “Implement Scallop Permit Stacking.” Administrator Piñeiro Soler described them as “regulatory actions we have prioritized.”

The April 2025 executive order directed the Commerce Department and NOAA Fisheries to work with regional fishery management councils to reduce regulatory burdens, increase domestic seafood production, improve access, stabilize markets, and enhance profitability for U.S. fishing businesses. NOAA said Thursday it received input from 787 individuals and organizations before prioritizing the actions announced by Piñeiro Soler.

“The Fisheries Survival Fund, which has represented Atlantic scallop fishermen since 1998, has been working throughout the Executive Order process to reopen the Northern Edge. We very much appreciate President Trump’s and NOAA’s directive to NMFS and the Council to reopen this historically vital fishing ground after 35 years,” stated Eric Hansen, chairman of the Fund’s board. “We will work hard to help make a productive, responsible opening become a reality. To the fleet, please be aware the area is not currently open, but we are thankful the process has begun.”

The Sustainable Scalloping Fund, a scallop industry group active in Washington and New Bedford, praised the announcement, saying the opening of the Northern Edge and the move toward permit stacking were two reforms it had sought since its inception.

“Permit stacking will let scallop permit holders consolidate operations, cut costs, and fish more safely and efficiently,” the group said in a statement. “Opening the Northern Edge returns the fleet to a productive, well-managed resource that has stayed closed for years.”

SSF President John Lees said the decision reflected direct engagement between fishermen and the White House. The group said Lees had carried the issues to senior White House officials and advocated for them directly with the president.

“We are grateful to President Trump and his team for listening to the men and women of the scallop fleet and acting on their behalf,” Lees said. “Permit stacking and Northern Edge access will make our fishery more competitive, more sustainable, and more valuable to the American families who depend on it. This is what it looks like when Washington puts American fishermen first.”

The Northern Edge of Georges Bank has been the subject of a long-running debate within New England fisheries management. The New England Fishery Management Council previously considered a framework action that would have revised habitat management restrictions and created rotational scallop access areas in the region. Council materials described the Northern Edge as roughly including the Closed Area II Habitat Management Area and the adjacent Northern Flank of Georges Bank, and said the habitat restrictions there were intended to minimize fishing impacts on essential fish habitat for multiple species, including scallops, groundfish, herring, monkfish and skates.

Council materials also reflected concerns that opening the area could affect long-term scallop yield because dense scallop aggregations on the Northern Edge may serve as a larval source for other scallop grounds, including the Southern Flank of Georges Bank, the Great South Channel and Nantucket Lightship.

NOAA’s announcement did not provide a detailed schedule for implementation, catch projections, or final management measures for the Northern Edge or permit stacking. Piñeiro Soler said some priorities may implicate other statutory requirements and that NOAA Fisheries would work with the councils to determine how to advance them.

Opinion: Fisheries need science, not opinions

June 10, 2026 — There’s an old saying that “when an argument depends on a lie, it’s the lie that’s doing the work, not the argument.” Lies work because they discard nuance, science and the complexity of issues to paint a clear narrative to further an outcome. Reading the recent op-ed (“Alaska’s ‘midwater’ trawl fleet needs to fish like one,” May 28) by a group of well-funded nonprofits, with 2024 revenue of around $87 million, it’s easy to see the power of such a narrative.

The inconvenient truth these NGOs wish to skirt is that the science is actually very clear: Habitat impacts from pelagic trawl gear are minimal, temporary in nature and well managed. Since 2005, managers have evaluated impacts on essential fish habitat, or EFH, in Alaska. These EFH evaluations are peer-reviewed by scientists every five years, and for two decades, the science has shown that the disturbance by all fishing gear is less than 5% in the Bering Sea and less than 1% in the Gulf of Alaska.

The science is also clear that where and how trawling occurs matters. While it is true that trawling can have a negative impact, the degree of that impact depends on the type of habitat, disturbance from storms and currents, and the design and use of the trawl gear.

Read the full article at Anchorage Daily News

Reminder: Mid-Atlantic Council Solicits Public Input on Essential Fish Habitat Amendment

December 2, 2025 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council will hold five public hearings to gather public input on a draft amendment to update Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) descriptions and maps for all 14 Council-managed species. The first hearing will be held by webinar today, December 2, at 6:00 p.m.

More information about the proposed EFH updates can be found in the Public Hearing Document and on the Amendment Webpage. An interactive EFH Demo App allows users to view EFH by species and life stage, compare current and proposed EFH designations, and explore the underlying data and methodology. Click here to watch a video walkthrough of the app’s main features.

Comments may be submitted at any of the following public hearings. Two hearings will focus on specific species, while others will be “all species” sessions. If you are only interested in a particular species, we encourage you to join one of the species focus webinars.

December 2, 2025, 6:00 p.m. (Webinar) – All Species: Open Discussion – Registration
December 9, 2025, 6:00 p.m. (Webinar) – Focus: Summer Flounder, Scup, Black Sea Bass, Bluefish, and Spiny Dogfish – Registration
January 6, 2026, 6:00 p.m. (Webinar) – Focus: Mackerels, Squids, Butterfish, Tilefishes, Surfclam, and Ocean Quahog – Registration
January 13, 2026, 6:00 p.m. (Webinar) – All Species: Open Discussion –Registration
February 3, 2026, 6:30 p.m. (In-Person) – Westin Crystal City (1800 Richmond Hwy, Arlington, VA 22202). All Species: Open Discussion.

Written comments are being accepted until Tuesday, February 11, 2026.

Questions? Contact Jessica Coakley at jcoakley@mafmc.org or (302) 526-5252.

Mid-Atlantic Council Solicits Public Input on Essential Fish Habitat Amendment

November 18, 2025 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council will hold five public hearings to gather public input on a draft amendment to modify Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) designations and descriptions for 14 of the Council’s managed species. Hearings will be held between December 2, 2025 and February 3, 2026, and written comments will be accepted through February 11, 2026.

EFH is defined as “those waters and substrates necessary to fish for spawning, breeding, feeding, or growth to maturity.” Regional fishery management councils are required to identify and describe EFH for each species managed under a federal FMP. Once Councils have identified EFH, federal agencies must consult with NOAA Fisheries regarding whether their actions may adversely affect EFH.

In April 2025, the Council completed a review of EFH designations in collaboration with the New England Fishery Management Council. Based on the information and methods developed during this review, the Council is proposing to revise EFH designations and descriptions for its entire portfolio of managed species. These updates incorporate fish abundance data from multiple inshore and offshore surveys, as well as environmental data from several sources. Additional details can be found in the in the Public Hearing Document and on the Amendment Webpage.

Members of the public are invited to comment on any aspect of the draft amendment. Following a review of comments received, the Council will select a preferred alternative and submit the amendment to NOAA Fisheries for review and rulemaking.

Public Hearings

Comments may be submitted at any of the following public hearings. Two of the hearings will focus on specific species, while others will be “all species” sessions. If you are only interested in a particular species, we encourage you to join one of the species focus webinars.

December 2, 2025, 6:00 p.m. Webinar Registration. All Species: Open Discussion.
December 9, 2025, 6:00 p.m. Webinar Registration. Focus: Summer Flounder, Scup, Black Sea Bass, Bluefish, and Spiny Dogfish.
January 6, 2026, 6:00 p.m. Webinar Registration. Focus: Mackerels, Squids, Butterfish, Tilefishes, Surfclam, and Ocean Quahog.
January 13, 2026, 6:00 p.m. Webinar Registration. All Species: Open Discussion.
February 3, 2026, 6:30 p.m. In-Person: Westin Crystal City (1800 Richmond Hwy, Arlington, VA 22202). All Species: Open Discussion.

Written Comments

Written comments may be submitted by any of the following methods. Comments must be received by Tuesday, February 11, 2026.

Email to jcoakley@mafmc.org (use subject “EFH Amendment”)
Online at https://www.mafmc.org/comments/efh-amendment
Mail to Chris Moore, Ph.D., Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, 800 North State Street, Suite 201, Dover, DE 19901. Mark the outside of the envelope “EFH Amendment.”

NEFMC Initiates Action for HAPC in Southern New England; Discusses Great South Channel Habitat Management Area

February 18, 2022 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council will be developing a Habitat Area of Particular Concern (HAPC) in Southern New England to place additional conservation focus on Council-managed species that rely on essential fish habitat (EFH) within this area, which is south of Cape Cod.

During its February 1-3, 2022 webinar meeting, the Council initiated a framework adjustment to pursue the new HAPC. It also:

Discussed the Great South Channel Habitat Management Area (HMA) and the clam industry’s request for additional access to the HMA beyond the current three exemption areas;

Received a summary of the white paper titled “Habitat Management Considerations for the Northern Edge of Georges Bank,” which will help inform future discussions if the Council decides to consider habitat management changes on the Northern Edge as a work priority down the road;
Received an update on offshore wind activities in the Greater Atlantic Region (see presentation);
Was informed that the Council was finalizing its comment letter on the Amitié Subsea Cable project, which runs between Massachusetts and France and the United Kingdom; and
Agreed to submit a comment letter on the Running Tide Technology project, which proposes to grow kelp on the northwestern portion of Fippennies Ledge in the Gulf of Maine.

Read the full release from the NEFMC

Alaskan Indigenous leaders fear impacts on salmon streams by mining project

January 27, 2022 — For Indigenous tribes living in Alaska’s remote Yukon-Kuskokwim region, southwest of the state, the future is bleak and uncertain. Tribal councils worry that plans to construct a 6,474-hectare (15,990 acres) open-pit gold mine near the Kuskokwim River watershed will have grave impacts on salmon habitats, their traditional ways of life and their health.

“This development could possibly destroy our livelihood, rivers and sea mammals that we depend on,” said Fred Phillips, representative of the Indigenous Village of Kwigillingok tribal council. According to him, tribes are not willing to take the risk.

The Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta (YKD) drainage is part of a rich biome encompassing coastal wetlands, tundra and mountains that supports the subsistence lifestyle of three distinct Alaskan Native groups; The Yup’ik, Cup’ik and Athabascan. To access the remote region, one needs to go by boat when the Kuskokwim River is flowing, or truck, snow machine and four-wheeler when the river is frozen.

Draining into the Bering Sea to the west, the Kuskokwim River, and many of its tributaries, are designated as Essential Fish Habitat (EFH), under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act for Pacific Salmon. This is a legislation that manages marine fisheries in US waters.

The sprawling river is a vital source of food for the 38 communities that reside alongside it, serving as a running ground for the chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta), coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) and sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka). Given the remoteness of the region, the communities rely on subsistence fishing. Salmon makes up more than 50 percent of the tribe’s annual diet.

Read the full story at Mongabay

LINDA BEHNKEN & MIKE CONROY: Setting Biden’s seafood policy table

February 16, 2021 — Fishermen have been invited to be partners with the Biden administration on ocean policy and we are prepared to engage. Hard work, honest dialog and commitments to justice and equity will ensure that we remain at the table and not on the menu.

January’s executive order tackling climate change includes ambitious provisions that set agencies on a course to climate mitigation. Most importantly for America’s commercial fishing families, the order established two parallel processes to secure direct input from fishermen on, respectively the appropriate ways to conserve 30 percent of U.S. lands and waters by 2030, an initiative known as 30×30, and ways to make our fisheries more resilient to climate change.

Fishing communities are precisely where policymakers should look for durable ocean-based climate solutions. Here are some starting points.

Today’s ocean is increasingly industrialized and our coasts are more densely occupied than ever. The historic pattern of ocean and coastal development exacerbated by climate change has resulted in reduced protections for fish habitat and serial declines of functional working waterfront. The administration has the ability to reverse both trends.

The U.S. should strengthen existing fisheries habitat protection processes by requiring federal agencies to avoid, minimize and mitigate impacts to Essential Fish Habitat (EFH). EFH consultations are regularly conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), yet NOAA’s recommendations are routinely ignored by other agencies. Executive action requiring permitting agencies to incorporate NOAA’s EFH conservation recommendations into their decisions would significantly benefit fish habitat, fisheries and biodiversity.

Read the full opinion piece at The Hill

Summary of Action Items for the 178th Meeting of the WPRFMC

June 5, 2019 — The following was published by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:

The 178th meeting of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council will convene June 25-27, 2019, at the Laniakea YWCA, Fuller Hall, Honolulu, Hawai’i. The Council will consider and may take action on the issues summarized below, including any public comments on them. Written public comments should be received by the Council’s executive director by 5 p.m. (Hawai’i time), Thursday, June 20, 2019, by postal mail, fax or email as indicated below. After June 20, it is the submitter’s responsibility to provide at least 40 copies of the written comment to Council staff at the Council meeting.

Mail: Ms. Kitty M. Simonds
Executive Director
Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council
1164 Bishop Street, Suite 1400
Honolulu, HI 96813

FAX: (808) 522-8226
E-mail: info.wpcouncil@noaa.gov

Action Item Summaries
A
1. Specifying Harvest Limits for the Main Hawaiian Islands Kona Crab

The Council will consider specifying multi-year harvest limits for the main Hawaiian Island Kona crab for fishing years 2020-2023. The best scientific information available is the 2019 benchmark stock assessment with catch projection to 2026[1]. Based on this updated information, the maximum sustainable yield was estimated to be at 73,609 pounds and the overfishing limit at 33,989 pounds. The Council’s P* and SEEM* Working Groups and the Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) evaluated the scientific, social, ecological, economic, and management uncertainties and recommended a risk level for the Council to consider. The SEEM* working group used a new standardized process developed by the Social Science Planning Committee (SSPC), in which the social, ecological, and economic dimension is used to determine the risk of overfishing, and the monitoring and compliance/management criteria are used to determine management uncertainty. The risk of overfishing informs the Council’s consideration of annual catch limit (ACL) specification, and the management uncertainty informs the Council’s consideration in setting the annual catch target (ACT).

The Council will evaluate the following options:
1) No Action. No harvest limits will be specified for fishing year 2020-2023.
2) Specify the previous harvest limit at 3,500 pounds using the 2015 assessment (Thomas et al. 2015) for fishing year 2020-2023.
3) Specify the ACL equal to the acceptable biological catch (ABC) at P*=38 percent at 30,802 pounds and set an ACT at P*=30 percent at 28,324 pounds based on the P* and SEEM* Analysis using the 2019 benchmark stock assessment.
4) Specify the ACL equal to the ABC at P*=38 percent at 30,802 pounds and set an ACT 10 percent lower than the SEEM* analysis at P*=20 percent at 25,491 pounds using the 2019 benchmark stock assessment
5) Specify the ACL equal to the ABC at P*=38 percent at 30,802 pounds and set an ACT 20 percent lower than the SEEM* analysis at P*=10 percent at 21,243 pounds using the 2019 benchmark stock assessment

At its 178th meeting, the Council will consider taking final action to specify the harvest limits and the accountability measure that will prevent the fishery from overfishing the stock.

citation
[1]Kapur MR, Fitchett MD, Yau AJ, Carvalho F. 2019. 2018 Benchmark Stock Assessment of Main Hawaiian Islands Kona Crab. NOAA Tech Memo. NMFS-PIFSC-77, 114 p. doi:10.25923/7wf2-f040

B
2. Hawai’i Fishery Ecosystem Plan Amendment to Precious Coral Essential Fish Habitat

The Council at its 173rd meeting in June 2018 directed staff to develop options to redefine essential fish habitat (EFH) and any habitat areas of particular concern (HAPC) for precious corals in Hawai’i for Council consideration for a Fishery Ecosystem Plan (FEP) amendment. EFH information was reviewed through the 2015 and 2016 annual Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation (SAFE) report cycles and an options paper was developed for the 174th meeting in October 2018.

New observations of precious corals have occurred throughout the region, with research concentrated in the Hawai’i Archipelago. Observations in the territories and of the larval phase of precious corals are rare or nonexistent. However, new information exists to refine the habitat characteristics and geographic extent of deep- and shallow-water precious coral EFH in the Hawai’i Archipelago. Narrative information on which the EFH designations are based and information to fulfill the EFH requirements of fishery management plans may also be used to update the archipelagic FEPs. The redefinition of precious corals EFH is framed in three separate actions: refinement of deep-water species complex EFH; refinement of shallow-water precious coral species complex EFH; and update of the narrative information.

The Council at its 174th meeting reviewed the following options for each of the three actions:
Action 1 – Update EFH for deep-water precious coral species
Options
1) No change (status quo)
2) Revise EFH by depth range
3) Refine the geographic boundary of existing precious coral beds
4) Refine the geographic boundary of existing beds and add new beds

Action 2 – Update EFH for shallow-water precious coral species:
Options
1) No change (status quo)
2) Update geographic extent and habitat characteristics.

Action 3 – Update EFH narrative information
Options
1) Update the FEP narrative information on EFH
2) Do not update the FEP narrative information on EFH

The Council took initial action at its 174th meeting directing staff to prepare an amendment to the Hawai’i FEP to revise the Precious Corals EFH and selected the following preliminary preferred options:

Action 1 – Option 4: Refine the geographic boundary of existing beds and add new beds.
Action 2 – Option 2: Update geographic extent and habitat characteristics.
Action 3 – Option 1: Update the FEP narrative information on EFH.
At its 178th meeting, the Council will consider taking final action to amend the Precious Coral EFH section of the Hawai’i FEP.

C
3. Managing Loggerhead and Leatherback Sea Turtle Interactions in the Hawai’i-Based Shallow-Set Longline Fishery

The Council at its 173rd meeting in June 2018 recommended amending the Pelagic FEP to establish a management framework for the Hawai’i shallow-set longline fishery that consists of 1) annual limits on the number North Pacific loggerhead and leatherback turtle interactions consistent with the anticipated level of annual interactions that is set forth in the current valid biological opinion (BiOp) and 2) individual trip interaction limits for loggerhead and leatherback turtles. The Council also recommended specifications under the framework as follows: 1) annual limits of 37 North Pacific loggerhead turtles and 21 leatherback turtles; and 2) individual trip limit of five North Pacific loggerhead turtles.

The Council’s recommendation for specifying the loggerhead and leatherback turtle annual limits was based on the anticipated level of interactions analyzed in the biological evaluation (BE) initiating reconsultation of the Hawai’i shallow-set longline fishery under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 7 consultation process. As part of its recommendation, the Council noted that it would review its recommendation if the new BiOp from the ongoing consultation results in a jeopardy decision or otherwise results in a different incidental take statement for North Pacific loggerheads or leatherbacks. The new BiOp was originally scheduled to be completed by Oct. 31, 2018, but the draft was not completed in time for the October SSC and Council meeting. Following the October meetings, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Pacific Islands Regional Office (PIRO) set a new timeline to deliver the draft BiOp by Jan. 31, 2019, and a final BiOp by Feb. 28, 2019. Due to the federal government shutdown, the draft BiOp timeline was further delayed to March 25, 2019.

At its October 2018 meeting, the SSC received a presentation from the NMFS Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) on the population viability analysis (PVA) for loggerhead and leatherback turtles prepared for the ongoing Section 7 consultation. The modeling was conducted in response to a request by the PIRO Protected Resources Division for the purpose of examining the long-term viability of the species. PVA results indicate that the North Pacific loggerhead population has a mean estimated population growth rate of 2.4 precent, while the Western Pacific leatherback turtle population has a mean estimated population growth rate of 5.3 percent. The growth rates reflect long-term population trends based on nesting beach data representing approximately 52 percent of the North Pacific loggerhead turtle population and approximately 85 percent of the Western Pacific leatherback turtle population.

The Council at its 174th meeting in October 2018 reviewed the approach to the assessment for the BiOp and considered the SSC’s report regarding the PVA. The Council recommended convening an interim Council meeting, if needed, to review draft BiOp and consider any revisions to its June 2018 recommendations based on the BiOp and stated that it will reconsider a specification of leatherback individual trip limits if necessary.

The Council convened its 175th Meeting on Dec. 17, 2018, to consider final action on additional mitigation measures for the Western Pacific leatherback turtles in advance of the draft BiOp completion, taking into consideration the results of the PVA model indicating a continuing long-term declining trend of the population. The Council deferred action until the draft BiOp and more complete information on the impacts of the fishery on the Western Pacific leatherback turtles are available to fully inform the Council decision.

The draft BiOp was provided to the Council on March 28, 2019. The Council convened its 177th meeting on April 12, 2019, to review its recommendations on the management framework from the 173rd meeting for consistency with the draft BiOp and to consider taking final action on the management framework. The draft BiOp concluded that the shallow-set longline fishery is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of ESA-listed species, including loggerhead and leatherback turtles. However, the draft BiOp also contained Reasonable and Prudent Measures (RPMs) that were inconsistent with the Council’s recommended framework. The Council at its 177th meeting maintained its management framework recommendation from the 173rd Council meeting, additionally recommended an individual trip limit of two leatherback turtles and requested that NMFS consider revising the RPMs for consistency with the Council recommended action.

At its 178th meeting, the Council will review the final BiOp for consistency with the 177th meeting recommendations and may consider taking additional final action if any discrepancies remain with the previously recommended action.

D
4. US Participating Territory Longline Bigeye Catch/Allocation Limits

Bigeye tuna comprises a Pacific-wide population that is internationally managed and assessed as separate stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) and Eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO) by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Association (IATTC), respectively. The best scientific information available indicates that both stocks are not subject to overfishing nor are they overfished, according to the stock status determination reference points in the FEP for Pelagic Fisheries of the Western Pacific Region. The scientific bodies of the WCPFC and IATTC will consider new benchmark stock assessments for both stocks in 2020.

In December 2018, the WCPFC agreed on CMM 2018-01, which limits the US longline bigeye tuna catch in the WCPO to 3,554 metric tons (mt) in 2019 and 2020. CMM 2018-01 does not establish an individual limit on the amount of bigeye tuna that may be harvested annually in the Convention Area by Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Participating Territories, including American Samoa, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). Limits are not provided to the SIDS and Participating Territories in recognition of their fisheries development aspirations.

In 2014, Amendment 7 to the Council’s Pelagic FEP was approved and implemented (50 CFR 665.819). It established the territorial catch/effort and allocation limit measure that provides NMFS with authority to:
Specify annual catch or effort limits for a US Participating Territory, as recommended by the Council, not to exceed any WCPFC-adopted limits;
Specify a limit recommended by the Council authorizing a US Participating Territory to allocate a portion of that specified catch or effort limit to eligible US vessels through a specified fishing agreement; and
Review and approve specified fishing agreements for consistency with the Pelagic FEP and other applicable laws.

The Council must annually review the conservation status of the fishery resource, the needs of fishing communities dependent on the particular fishery resource and consistency with the Pelagics FEP and other applicable laws in considering its recommendations for territorial catch, effort and allocation limits as well as its review of specified fishing agreements. Amendment 7 also established a territorial longline bigeye tuna catch limit of 2,000 mt for each territory and an allocation limit of 1,000 mt for each territory. At its 173rd meeting in June 2018, the Council took final action to modify the territorial catch/effort and allocation limit measure and implementing regulations. Should NMFS approve the action, it will amend the Pelagic FEP to remove the requirement for establishing separate total catch or effort limits for the US Participating Territories in order to establish an allocation limit and also would allow multi-year limits. The Council would annually review any established limits to determine whether the best available scientific information or the needs of fishing communities warrant modifying or rescinding such limits.

At its 178th meeting, the Council will consider recommending territorial bigeye tuna catch and/or allocation limits to take effect beginning in 2020, given the Council’s recommended modification of the territorial catch, effort and allocation limit measure. The Council will consider the following options:
1. No catch or allocation limits (no action)
2. 2,000 mt catch and 1,000 mt allocation limits
3. No catch limit and up to 2,000 mt allocation limits

The Council will also consider the fishing years in which the limits will take effect or expire, in consideration of the requirement for annual review, availability of new scientific information and potential for multi-year limits.

NOAA Fisheries Seeks Comments on Notice of Availability for the New England Fishery Management Council’s Omnibus Essential Fish Habitat Amendment 2

October 6, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Today, we published a Notice of Availability for the New England Fishery Management Council’s Omnibus Essential Fish Habitat Amendment 2.

We are seeking public comment on an action that would:

Revise the essential fish habitat designations for all New England Fishery Management Council-managed species and life stages;
Add Habitat Areas of Particular Concern to highlight especially important habitat areas;
Revise the spatial management system within the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, and the southern New England area;
Establish two Dedicated Habitat Research Areas;
Revise or implement seasonal spawning protection measures; and
Add system for reviewing and updating the proposed measures.

Read the Notice as published in the Federal Register, and submit your comments through the online portal. You may also submit comments through regular mail to: John Bullard, Regional Administrator, Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930.

The comment period is open through December 5, 2017.