Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries Off West Coast States; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Pacific Fishery Management Plan; Amendment 28

In this rule NMFS implements Amendment 28 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan, changing closed areas that affect commercial vessels fishing with bottom contacting gear in Federal waters off of Washington, Oregon, and California under the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan. The final rule establishes new and revised areas closed to bottom trawling to conserve and protect Pacific coast groundfish essential fish habitat, and re-open areas that were closed to bottom trawling to rebuild previously-overfished groundfish stocks. Combined, these two changes increase protections for groundfish essential fish habitat and provide additional flexibility to participants fishing with bottom trawl gear in the groundfish trawl rationalization program. Amendment 28 also closes deep-water areas off the coast of California to bottom contacting gear to protect deep-water habitats, including deep-sea corals, under fishery management plan discretionary provisions in the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.