Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries Off West Coast States; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Non-trawl Logbook

This final rule creates a Federal requirement for certain vessels in the Pacific Coast Groundfish fishery target fishing for groundfish with non-trawl gear in Federal waters seaward of California, Oregon, and Washington, to complete and submit a non-trawl logbook to NMFS via an electronic application. Specifically, this non-trawl logbook requirement applies to vessels participating in the directed open access and limited entry fixed gear sectors, as well as those vessels that fish with non-trawl gear in the Shorebased Individual Fishing Quota Program. The intent of this requirement is to collect valuable fishery-dependent information in non- trawl sectors with partial observer coverage, which will help better inform management of these fisheries.