Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Revisions to the Economic Data Reports Requirements; Amendment 52 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Commercial King and Tanner Crab Fisheries of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands

NMFS issues regulations to implement Amendment 52 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Commercial King and Tanner Crab Fisheries of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (Crab FMP) and a regulatory amendment to revise regulations on Economic Data Reports (EDR) requirements for groundfish and crab fisheries off Alaska. This final rule removes third party data verification audits and blind formatting requirements from the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) crab fisheries EDR, the Bering Sea American Fisheries Act (AFA) pollock fishery Chinook Salmon EDR, and the BSAI Amendment 80 fisheries EDR. This action also eliminates the EDR requirements for the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) trawl fisheries. This final rule is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), the Crab FMP, the Fishery Management Plans for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska Management Area (GOA FMP) and for the Groundfish of the BSAI Management Area (BSAI FMP), and other applicable laws.