NOAA Fisheries

Beluga Whales

• 74 FR 35136, July 20, 2009. Final Rule to issue regulations to govern the unintentional taking of marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to Phase II of the POA’s Marine Terminal Redevelopment Project for the period July 2009 through July 2014. Effective July 15, 2009.

Community Development Quota (CDQ)

• 74 FR 11881, March 20, 2009. NMFS opens directed fishing for sablefish with fixed gear managed under the Individual Fishing Quota Program. The season opens 1200 hrs, Alaska local time (A.l.t.), March 21, 2009, and closes 1200 hrs, A.l.t., November 15, 2009. This period is the same as the 2009 IFQ and Community Development Quota season for Pacific halibut.

Crab

• 74 FR 41092, August 14, 2009. Final rule to implement Amendment 28 to the FMP for BSAI King and Tanner Crabs to allow postdelivery transfers of all types of individual fishing quota and individual processing quota to cover overages. Effective September 14, 2009.
• 74 FR 25449, May 28, 2009. Final rule to implement Amendment 27 to modify IPQ use caps in specific fisheries and exempt certain custom processing from IPQ use caps in the Fishery Management Plan for BSAI King and Tanner Crabs. Effective June 29, 2009.
• 74 FR 1631, January 13, 2009. Action to correct the regulatory text of a final rule published on December 15, 2008 (73 FR 76136). Effective January 14, 2009.

Exempted Fishing Permits

• 74 FR 42786, August 25, 2009. New and revised definitions for certain regulatory terms, and procedural and technical changes to the regulations addressing scientific research activities, exempted fishing, and exempted educational activities under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. Effective September 24, 2009.

Experimental Fishing Permits

• 74 FR 42786, August 25, 2009. New and revised definitions for certain regulatory terms, and procedural and technical changes to the regulations addressing scientific research activities, exempted fishing, and exempted educational activities under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. Effective September 24, 2009.

GOA Rationalization

• 74 FR 42178, August 21, 2009. Final rule to implement Amendment 90 to the FMP for Groundfish of the BSAI and Amendment 78 to the FMP for Groundfish of the GOA to amend the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Amendment 80 Program and the Central Gulf of Alaska Rockfish Program to allow post-delivery transfers of cooperative quota to cover overages. Effective September 21, 2009.

Groundfish Harvest Specifications and Management

• 74 FR 42178, August 21, 2009. Final rule to implement Amendment 90 to the FMP for Groundfish of the BSAI and Amendment 78 to the FMP for Groundfish of the GOA to amend the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Amendment 80 Program and the Central Gulf of Alaska Rockfish Program to allow post-delivery transfers of cooperative quota to cover overages. Effective September 21, 2009.
• 74 FR 1080, August 14, 2009. Final rule to implement Amendment 92 to the FMP for Groundfish of the BSAI and Amendment 82 to the FMP for Groundfish of the GOA to remove trawl gear endorsements on licenses issued under the license limitation program in specific management areas if those licenses have not been used on vessels that met minimum recent landing requirements using trawl gear. Effective September 14, 2009
• 74 FR 34701, July 17, 2009. Final rule to implement Amendments 62/62 and increase the number of times per year that an American Fisheries Act (AFA) stationary floating processor (SFP) may move within State of Alaska waters in the Bering Sea subarea to process pollock. Effective August 17, 2009.
• 74 FR 19021, April 27, 2009. Temporary rule to reallocate the projected unused amount of Pacific cod from vessels using jig gear to catcher vessels less than 60 feet (< 18.3 meters (m)) length overall (LOA) using hook-and-line or pot gear in the BSAI to allow the B season apportionment of the 2009 total allowable catch of Pacific cod to be harvested. Effective April 22, 2009.
• 74 FR 18156, April 21, 2009. Final rule to prohibit a catcher vessel from landing more than 300,000 lb (136 mt) of unprocessed pollock during a calendar day, and from landing a cumulative amount of unprocessed pollock from any Gulf of Alaska reporting area that exceeds 300,000 lb multiplied by the number of calendar days the pollock fishery is open to directed fishing in a season. Effective May 21, 2009.
• 74 FR 17113, April 14, 2009. Correction to the preamble to a final rule published on January 21, 2009 (74 FR 3446). This correction is necessary to summarize and respond to public comments received on the proposed rule. No changes to the requirements of the final rule result from this correction. Effective April 14, 2009.
• 74 FR 13348, March 27, 2009. Final rule to revise the maximum retainable amounts of groundfish using arrowtooth flounder as a basis species in the Gulf of Alaska. Effective March 27, 2009.
• 74 FR 13355, March 27, 2009. Final rule eliminating seabird avoidance requirements for vessels less than or equal to 55 ft (16.8 m) length overall in the the hook–and–line groundfish and halibut fisheries in International Pacific Halibut Commission Area 4E. Effective April 27, 2009.
• 74 FR 11041, March 17, 2009. Correction to Gulf of Alaska 2009 and 2010 Groundfish Harvest Specifications.
• 74 FR 9965, March 9, 2009. Temporary rule, reallocation of projected unused amounts of Pacific cod from vessels using jig gear to catcher vessels less than 60 feet LOA using pot or hook-and-line gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands.
• 74 FR 7333, February 17, 2009. Final 2009 and 2010 harvest specifications, reserves and apportionments thereof, Pacific halibut prohibited species catch limits, and associated management measures for the groundfish fishery of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). Effective at 1200 hrs, Alaska local time (A.l.t.), February 17, 2009, through 2400 hrs, A.l.t., December 31, 2010.
• 74 FR 7359, February 17, 2009. Final 2009 and 2010 harvest specifications and prohibited species catch allowances for the groundfish fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI). Effective from 1200 hrs, Alaska local time (A.l.t.), February 17, 2009, through 2400 hrs, A.l.t., December 31, 2010.
• 74 FR 3449, January 21, 2009. Temporary rule to rescind the trawl closure in the Chiniak Gully Research Area. Effective 1200 hrs, A.l.t., August 1, 2009, through 1200 hrs, A.l.t., September 20, 2009.
• 74 FR 3446, January 21, 2009. Regulatory amendment to exempt fishermen using dinglebar fishing gear in federal waters of the Gulf of Alaska from the requirement to carry a vessel monitoring system. Effective February 20, 2009.
• 74 FR 1631, January 13, 2009. Action to correct the regulatory text of a final rule published on December 15, 2008 (73 FR 76136). Effective January 14, 2009.
• 74 FR 866, January 9, 2009. Document to correct the comment period and the date for the adjustment of the 2009 total allowable catch amount for the Bering Sea pollock fishery that published in the Federal Register on January 2, 2009 (74 FR 38). Effective December 29, 2008, through December 31, 2009. Comments must be received no later than January 13, 2009.
• 74 FR 233, January 5, 2009. Final rule to adjust the 2009 total allowable catch (TAC) amounts for the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) pollock and Pacific cod fisheries. Effective January 5, 2009, until the effective date of the final 2009 and 2010 harvest specifications for GOA groundfish. Comments must be received by January 20, 2009.
• 74 FR 38, January 2, 2009. Final rule to adjust the 2009 total allowable catch amount (TAC) for the Bering Sea pollock fishery. Effective December 29, 2008, through December 31, 2009.
• 73 FR 80307, December 31, 2008. Final rule to implement Amendment 73 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the BSAI and Amendment 77 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the GOA to remove dark rockfish (Sebastes ciliatus) from both fishery management plans. Effective January 30, 2009.

Halibut

• 74 FR 18657, April 24, 2009. Correction to the text of Final Rule (74 FR 11681) published on March 19, 2009, that implemented annual management measures governing the Pacific halibut fishery. Effective April 24, 2009.
• 74 FR 13355, March 27, 2009. Final rule eliminating seabird avoidance requirements for vessels less than or equal to 55 ft (16.8 m) length overall in the the hook–and–line groundfish and halibut fisheries in International Pacific Halibut Commission Area 4E. Effective April 27, 2009.
• 74 FR 11681, March 19, 2009. Annual management measures for the Pacific halibut fishery, modifications to the Catch Sharing Plan (CSP) for Area 2A and regulations for 2009, and approval of the Area 2A CSP. Effective March 4, 2009 except for the measures in section 26 which are effective April 20, 2009. The 2009 management measures are effective until superseded by the 2010 management measures.

Halibut Charter Harvest Levels

• 74 FR 21194, May 6, 2009. Final rule to implement regulations to limit the harvest of Pacific halibut by guided sport charter vessel anglers in International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) Regulatory Area 2C of Southeast Alaska to one halibut per day. Effective June 5, 2009.

Individual Fishing Quota Program (IFQ)

• 74 FR 11881, March 20, 2009. NMFS opens directed fishing for sablefish with fixed gear managed under the Individual Fishing Quota Program. The season opens 1200 hrs, Alaska local time (A.l.t.), March 21, 2009, and closes 1200 hrs, A.l.t., November 15, 2009. This period is the same as the 2009 IFQ and Community Development Quota season for Pacific halibut.

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act

• 74 FR 3178, January 16, 2009. Final action to amend the guidelines for National Standard 1 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. This action is necessary to provide guidance on how to comply with new annual catch limit and accountability measure requirements for ending overfishing of fisheries managed by Federal fishery management plans.

Recordkeeping and Reporting

• 74 FR 8883, February 27, 2009. Final rule to update regulations in 50 CFR part 679 and remove regulations that have lapsed. Effective February 27, 2009.
• 74 FR 1631, January 13, 2009. Action to correct the regulatory text of a final rule published on December 15, 2008 (73 FR 76136). Effective January 14, 2009.

Seabird Bycatch Reduction and Avoidance Measures

• 74 FR 13355, March 27, 2009. Final rule eliminating seabird avoidance requirements for vessels less than or equal to 55 ft (16.8 m) length overall in the the hook–and–line groundfish and halibut fisheries in International Pacific Halibut Commission Area 4E. Effective April 27, 2009.