Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; 1997 Management Measures for Nontrawl Sablefish

NMFS issues this final rule to implement management measures for the 1997 limited entry, fixed gear sablefish fishery north of 36 deg. N. lat. This rule also implements long-term changes to the management measures for this fishery and for the limited entry, fixed gear sablefish fishery south of 36 deg. N. lat. In addition to these regulatory measures, NMFS also announces a 1997 season start date of August 25 for the limited entry, fixed gear regular sablefish season north of 36 deg. N. lat., a season length of 9 days, a season end date of September 3, and an equal cumulative landing limit of 34,100 lbs. These actions are intended to provide qualified fixed gear fishers the opportunity to harvest the 1997 fixed gear allocation and to reduce the risk to human life and safety inherent in the current ``derby'' fishery.