Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Emergency Interim Rules to Implement the American Fisheries Act; Extension of Expiration Dates

On January 5, 2000, and January 28, 2000, NMFS published emergency interim rules, effective through June 27, 2000, and July 20, 2000, respectively, that implemented major provisions of the American Fisheries Act (AFA) for the 2000 fishing year. This action revises and extends these two emergency interim rules through December 24, 2000, and January 16, 2001, respectively. This action also revises the 2000 final harvest specifications for the pollock fisheries off Alaska to make final allocations of pollock to inshore cooperatives. This emergency action is necessary to provide inshore pollock cooperatives with allocations of pollock for the second half of the 2000 fishing year as required by the AFA. This emergency action also is necessary to maintain sideboard restrictions to protect participants in other Alaska fisheries from negative impacts as a result of fishery cooperatives formed under the AFA.