Fisheries off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Annual Specifications and Management Measures; Trip Limit Adjustments; Pacific Halibut Fisheries; Corrections

NMFS announces changes in the following trip limits for the Pacific Coast groundfish fisheries: limited entry trawl gear fisheries for the DTS complex (Dover sole, thornyheads, and sablefish), splitnose rockfish, minor slope rockfish, chilipepper rockfish, yelloweye rockfish sublimit in minor shelf rockfish, and lingcod; limited entry fixed gear fisheries for splitnose rockfish, minor slope rockfish, minor nearshore rockfish, and sablefish; open access fisheries for minor slope rockfish, minor nearshore rockfish, and sablefish; yelloweye rockfish in pink shrimp fishery; and yellowtail rockfish in salmon troll fishery. These actions, which are authorized by the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP), are intended to help the fisheries achieve optimum yield (OY) while protecting overfished and depleted stocks. NMFS announces regulations for the retention of Pacific halibut landed incidentally in the limited entry primary longline sablefish fishery north of Pt. Chehalis, WA. Clarification is provided on the sublimit in the limited entry small footrope trawl fishery for yellowtail rockfish. This document also contains notification of a voluntary closed area for commercial fisheries off Washington, a correction to a CFR citation in the 2002 specifications and management measures that were published on March 7, 2002, and a correction to the trip limits in Table 4 for limited entry fixed gear minor rockfish south between 40 deg.10' N. and 34 deg.27' N. lat.