Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; Western Pacific Crustacean Fisheries; Bank/Area-Specific Harvest Guidelines

NMFS issues a final rule to implement a regulatory amendment under the framework procedures of the Fishery Management Plan for the Crustacean Fisheries of the Western Pacific Region. This rule allocates the overall 1998 Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) harvest guideline of 286,000 lobsters (spiny and slipper combined) among three individual fishing banks and a fourth combined area. Specifically, no more than 70,000 lobsters may be harvested from Necker Island; no more than 20,000 lobsters may be harvested from Gardner Pinnacles; no more than 80,000 lobsters may be harvested from Maro Reef; and no more than 116,000 lobsters may be harvested from all the other remaining NWHI banks combined within Crustaceans Permit Area 1. This rule is intended to protect the lobster resources at each fishing ground, to obtain better data on the lobster stocks, and to conserve the resource.