Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act Provisions; Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Modification of the Yellowtail Flounder Landing Limit for the U.S./Canada Management Area

NMFS announces that the Administrator, Northeast (NE) Region, NMFS (Regional Administrator), is modifying the Georges Bank (GB) yellowtail flounder trip limit from 1,500 lb (680.4 kg) per day up to a maximum of 15,000 lb (6,804.1 kg) per trip, to 15,000 lb (6,804.1 kg) per trip with no daily limit, for NE multispecies days-at-sea (DAS) vessels fishing in the U.S./Canada Management Area. This action is authorized by the regulations implementing Amendment 13 to the NE Multispecies Fishery Management Plan and is intended to prevent under- harvesting the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for GB yellowtail flounder while ensuring that the TAC will not be exceeded during the 2005 fishing year. This action is being taken to provide additional opportunities for vessels to fully harvest the GB yellowtail flounder TAC under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).