October 23, 2017 — The Following was released by the NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries seeks comments on a proposed rule that would make minor modifications to improve and simplify administration of the golden tilefish fishery.

The proposed changes under Framework 2 to the Tilefish Fishery Management Plan include:

• Eliminating the interactive voice response (IVR) reporting requirement;
• Limiting the recreational golden tilefish fishery to rod and reel only, with up to 5 hooks per rod;
• Requiring commercial golden tilefish to be landed with the head attached;
• Limiting commercial incidental landings to the lesser of 500 lb or 50 percent of the weight of all fish onboard;
• Prohibiting tilefish individual fishing quota (IFQ) vessels from fishing more than one IFQ allocation at a time; and
• Adjusting how assumed discards are accounted for during the specifications process.

Read the proposed rule as published in the Federal Register, and the draft Environmental Assessment and preliminary Regulatory Impact Review (EA/RIR).

You may submit your comments through the online portal or via 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 November 7, 2017.

Questions? Contact Jennifer Goebel, Regional Office, at 978-281-9175