Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; Western Pacific Crustacean Fisheries; 1997 Harvest Guideline

NMFS announces a 1997 harvest guideline of 327,000 lobsters for the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) crustacean fishery. The guideline was calculated according to the formula in Amendment 9 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Crustacean Fisheries of the Western Pacific Region (FMP), and includes spiny and slipper lobster combined. This harvest guideline is for the 1997 fishing year, which begins July 1, 1997; however, the harvest guideline system will be adjusted before the beginning of the season to account for lobster mortality from discards of lobster by permit holders. The intent of this action is to prevent overfishing and achieve the objectives of the FMP.