Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Authorizing Hook-and-Line Catcher Processors To Use Longline Pot Gear in the Bering Sea Greenland Turbot Fishery

NMFS proposes regulations that would authorize hook-and-line catcher/processors (C/Ps) to use longline pot gear when directed fishing for Greenland turbot in the Bering Sea (BS) subarea of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI). This proposed rule is necessary to improve efficiency, provide economic benefits for the hook-and-line C/P sector, and minimize potential fishery interactions with killer whales. This proposed rule would promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (BSAI FMP) and other applicable laws.