Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Approval of Modifications to a Regulatory Exemption for Groundfish Sectors
Through this action, NMFS approves a change to a regulatory exemption for sector vessels in the Northeast multispecies fishery for fishing years 2017 and 2018. This action is necessary to respond to a request from sectors to change a previously approved exemption. The change is intended to increase the use of the sector exemption, which allows sector vessels to combine small-mesh exempted fishing trips and groundfish trips, and to provide sector vessels with additional fishing opportunities.