Aleutian Islands Area, Amendment 61 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska

• Main Authors: Tanner Crab, National Marine, Fisheries Service, James W. Balsiger, North Pacific, Fishery Management Council
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2002
• Subjects: Bering Sea; Gulf of Alaska; Pacific; Alaska; Aleutian Islands; Tanner crab
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.159.4950; http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/sustainablefisheries/afa/eis2002.pdf

Abstract: On October 21, 1998, the President signed into law the American Fisheries Act (AFA) which mandated sweeping changes to the conservation and management program for the pollock fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) and to a lesser extent, affected the management programs for the other groundfish fisheries of the BSAI the groundfish fisheries of the Gulf of Alaska, the king and Tanner crab fisheries of the BSAI, and the scallop fishery off Alaska. Under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976, the Council has prepared Amendments 61/61/13/8 to implement the provisions of the AFA in the groundfish, crab and scallop fisheries off Alaska. The purpose of Amendments 61/61/13/8 is to incorporate the relevant provisions of the AFA into the FMPs and establish a comprehensive management program to implement the AFA. The purpose of this Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is to provide decision makers and the public with an evaluation of the environmental and economic effects of the management program that would be implemented under proposed Amendments 61/61/13/8, as well as the effects of possible alternative management programs to implement the AFA. It is intended that this EIS serve as the central environmental document for management measures developed by the National Marine Fisheries Service and the North Pacific Fishery