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

NMFS announces a temporary closure of the Eastern U.S./Canada Area to limited access Northeast (NE) multispecies days-at-sea (DAS) vessels and a prohibition on the harvest, possession, and landing of Georges Bank (GB) yellowtail flounder by all federally-permitted vessels within the entire U.S./Canada Management Area. Based upon vessel monitoring system (VMS) reports and other available information, the Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS (Regional Administrator) has projected that 100 percent of the fishing year (FY) 2009 total allowable catch (TAC) of GB yellowtail flounder allocated to be harvested from the U.S./Canada Management Area has been harvested. This action is being taken to prevent the FY 2009 TAC for GB yellowtail flounder in the U.S./Canada Management Area from being exceeded during FY 2009 in accordance with the regulations implemented under Amendment 13 to the NE Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP) and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.