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

This action closes the American plaice Trimester Total Allowable Catch Area to Northeast multispecies common pool trawl vessels for the remainder of Trimester 1, through August 31, 2014. The closure is required by regulation because the common pool fishery has caught 120 percent of its Trimester 1 quota for American plaice. This closure is intended to prevent the overharvest of the common pool's allocation for this stock. Because the common pool catch of American plaice is not limited to the American plaice Trimester Total Allowable Catch Area, this action also reduces possession and trip limit for the American plaice stock to zero for all common pool vessels through August 31, 2014, in order to prevent the overharvest of the common pool's allocation of American plaice.