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

NMFS announces changes to commercial fisheries trip limits and rockfish conservation areas (RCAs), as well as recreational fisheries closures and prohibitions for the Pacific Coast groundfish fishery. Trip limit adjustments include changes to the limited entry trawl Dover sole, thornyhead, and sablefish (DTS) limits north of 40[deg]10' N. lat. This action also expands the commercial trawl and non-trawl RCAs as well as the areas closed to recreational fishing to provide more protection for overfished continental shelf species, particularly canary rockfish and lingcod. These changes will be effective for the trawl "A" platoon, as well as the trawl "B" platoon, on November 21, 2003. These actions, which are authorized by the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP), will allow fisheries access to more abundant groundfish stocks while protecting overfished and depleted stocks.