December 2011[this page intentionally left blank] FMP for Groundfish of the GOA Executive Summary Executive Summary

• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bering Sea; Dixon Entrance; Gulf of Alaska; Pacific; Alaska; Aleutian Islands
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.227.9475; http://209.112.168.2/npfmc/PDFdocuments/fmp/GOA/GOA.pdf

This Fishery Management Plan (FMP) governs groundfish fisheries of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). The FMP management area is the United States (U.S.) exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the North Pacific Ocean, exclusive of the Bering Sea, between the eastern Aleutian Islands at 170 � W. longitude and Dixon Entrance at 132�40 ' W. longitude. The FMP covers fisheries for all stocks of finfish except salmon, steelhead, Pacific halibut, Pacific herring, and tuna. This FMP was implemented on December 1, 1978. Since that time, it has been amended over sixty times, and its focus has changed from the regulation of mainly foreign fisheries to the management of fully domestic groundfish fisheries. This new version of the FMP has been revised to remove or update obsolete references to foreign fishery management measures, as well as outdated catch data and other scientific information. The FMP has also been reorganized to provide readers with a clear understanding of the GOA groundfish fishery and conservation and management measures promulgated by the FMP. ES.1 Management Policy The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) is the primary domestic legislation governing management of the nation’s marine fisheries. In 1996, the