Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Inseason Action to allow use of the Ruhle Trawl in the Eastern U.S./Canada Area

NMFS announces that the Administrator, Northeast (NE) Region, NMFS (Regional Administrator) has authorized the use of an additional type of fishing gear for use by vessels fishing under a Northeast (NE) multispecies Category A Day-at-Sea (DAS) in the Eastern U.S./Canada Area. This action is authorized by the regulations implementing Amendment 13 to the NE Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP) and is intended to prevent under-harvesting of the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for Eastern Georges Bank (GB) haddock while ensuring that the TAC of Eastern GB cod and GB yellowtail flounder will not be exceeded during the 2008 fishing year (FY). This action is being taken to provide additional opportunities for vessels to fully harvest the Eastern GB haddock TAC under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).