Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Trip Limit Adjustment and Trimester Total Allowable Catch Area Closure for the Common Pool Fishery

This action increases the trip limit for Southern New England/ Mid-Atlantic winter flounder for Northeast multispecies common pool vessels for the remainder of the 2014 fishing year and closes the Gulf of Maine Cod Trimester Total Allowable Catch Area for the remainder of Trimester 1, through August 31, 2014. Increasing the trip limit is intended to provide additional fishing opportunities and help allow the common pool fishery to catch its allowable quota for this stock. The closure is required because the common pool fishery has caught more than 90 percent of its Trimester 1 quota for Gulf of Maine cod. This closure is intended to prevent the overharvest of the common pool's allocation this stock.