INFORMATION BULLETIN (00-81)         August 29, 2000     
 Sustainable Fisheries Division       7:50 a.m.               
 907-586-7228                           

                                
              NMFS CLOSES THE PACIFIC COD FISHERY
      FOR CERTAIN VESSELS USING HOOK-AND-LINE OR POT GEAR
             IN THE BERING SEA AND ALEUTIAN ISLANDS

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is closing directed
fishing for Pacific cod for catcher vessels 60 feet or longer in
length overall (LOA) using hook-and-line gear and vessels 60 feet
or longer in LOA using pot gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian
Islands management area (BSAI), effective 12 noon, Alaska local
time, September 1, 2000, according to James W. Balsiger,
Administrator, Alaska Region, NMFS. 
 
This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2000 total
allowable catch of Pacific cod allocated to catcher vessels 60
feet or longer in LOA using hook-and-line gear and vessels 60
feet or longer in LOA using pot gear in this area and is issued
pursuant to  679.20(d)(1)(iii).  

After the effective date of this closure the maximum retainable
bycatch amounts at 50 CFR 679.20(e) and (f) apply at any time
during a trip.

This information bulletin provides notice of a regulatory change. 
Do not rely upon it to guide you in complying with the regulatory
change.