Western Pacific Pelagic Fisheries; American Samoa Longline Gear Modifications To Reduce Turtle Interactions

This rule requires specific gear configuration for pelagic longline fishing in the South Pacific. The requirements apply to U.S. vessels longer than 40 ft (12.2 m) while fishing south of the Equator, and include minimum float line and branch line lengths, number of hooks between floats, and distance between floats and adjacent hooks. The rule also limits the number of swordfish taken. The action is intended to ensure that longline hooks fish deeper than 100 meters (m) to reduce interactions with Pacific green sea turtles. This final rule also makes administrative clarifications to the names of several tunas and marlins.