Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Annual Specifications; Pacific Whiting

This emergency rule establishes the 2002 fishery specifications for Pacific whiting (whiting) in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and state waters off the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and California as authorized by the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP). These specifications include the level of the acceptable biological catch (ABC), optimum yield (OY), tribal allocation, and allocations for the non-tribal commercial sectors. The intended effect of this action is to establish allowable harvest levels of whiting based on the best available scientific information. Table 1a and Section IV (B)(3) (the whiting specifications) of the annual specifications and management measures for the Pacific coast groundfish fishery, which was published in the Federal Register on March 7, 2002, are being revised by this emergency rule. With this Federal Register document NMFS announces that the whiting resource is considered overfished.