USA: NOAA finalizes NPFMC decision to implement flexible catch limits for Alaska’s halibut fishery

NOAA Fisheries issued a final rule effective 1 January, 2024, to implement Amendment 123 to the fishery management plan for groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) management area. The final rule amends regulations governing limits on Pacific halibut, linking the halibut prohibited species catch limit for Amendment 80 commercial groundfish trawl fleet in the BSAI groundfish fisheries to halibut abundance. The Amendment 80 sector is a fleet of nearly 20 catcher-processor vessels in the Bering Sea that target Pacific cod, Pacific Ocean perch, Atka mackerel, rock, yellowfin, and flathead sole. The BSAI fishery management plan has previously set the annual halibut mortality prohibited species catch limit for Amendment 80 sector at 1,745 metric tons (metric tons), as halibut is incidentally taken as a bycatch in groundfish fisheries.NOAA said the rule is expected to reduce halibut mortality and may result in additional harvest opportunities in the commercial halibut ...