Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act Provisions; Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Modification of Access to the Eastern U.S./Canada Area

The Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS (Regional Administrator), has projected that the total allowable catch (TAC) for Georges Bank (GB) cod allocated for harvest from the Eastern U.S./ Canada Area will be fully harvested prior to the end of the fishing year if the rate of GB cod harvest remains at the current level. In response, this action limits all Northeast (NE) multispecies days-at- sea (DAS) vessels to one trip into the Eastern U.S./Canada Area per month through the end of the 2005 fishing year. In addition, this action requires all NE multispecies DAS vessels fishing in the Eastern U.S./Canada Area to use a haddock separator trawl for the remainder of the fishing year. This action is being taken to slow the rate of GB cod harvest from the Eastern U.S./Canada Area and to prolong access to the Eastern U.S./Canada Area throughout the 2005 fishing year and to help prevent over-harvesting the GB cod TAC from the Eastern U.S./Canada Area during the 2005 fishing year in accordance with the Magnuson- Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.