Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act Provisions; Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Modification of the Gear Restrictions and Georges Bank Yellowtail Flounder Trip Limits for the U.S./Canada Management Area

NMFS announces that the Administrator, Northeast (NE) Region, NMFS (Regional Administrator), is eliminating the haddock separator trawl requirement, which was temporarily implemented on June 19, 2006, for all limited access NE multispecies vessels fishing with trawl gear on a NE multispecies day-at-sea (DAS), and is reducing from 10,000 lb (4,536 kg) to 5,000 lb (2,268 kg) the trip limit for Georges Bank (GB) yellowtail flounder for all NE multispecies vessels fishing without a haddock separator trawl on a NE multispecies DAS in the Eastern U.S./ Canada Area. This temporary reduction in the GB yellowtail flounder trip limit is effective through April 30, 2007. A projection based on available catch and discard information indicates that removal of the haddock separator trawl requirement and establishment of a 5,000-lb (2,268 kg) trip limit for GB yellowtail flounder in the Eastern U.S./ Canada Area will help vessels achieve the total allowable catch (TAC) limits established for the shared U.S./Canada stocks of cod, haddock, and yellowtail flounder while preventing the GB yellowtail flounder TAC from being exceeded before the end of the 2006 fishing year on April 30, 2007. This action is therefore intended to provide increased opportunities to harvest the healthy Eastern GB haddock TAC and maximize the harvest of the GB yellowtail flounder. This action is authorized by the regulations implementing Framework 42 to the NE Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP) under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson- Stevens Act).