Commerce Department, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
This rulemaking implements gear marking requirements and entanglement risk reduction measures for portions of the Pacific coast groundfish fishery. This rulemaking consists of mandatory requirements and voluntary measures. These new requirements and voluntary measures are established pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). The intent of the gear marking requirements is to increase the likelihood of attributing entanglements to a specific fishery and gear type. The intent of the risk reduction measures is to reduce bycatch by decreasing the likelihood of marine animal entanglements with fishing line.
Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 50 CFR Part 660 [Docket No. 260925-0005] RIN 0648-BN00 AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: This rulemaking implements gear marking requirements and entanglement risk reduction measures for portions of the Pacific coast groundfish fishery. This rulemaking consists of mandatory requirements and voluntary measures. These new requirements and voluntary measures are established pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). The intent of the gear marking requirements is to increase the likelihood of attributing entanglements to a specific fishery and gear type. The intent of the risk reduction measures is to reduce bycatch by decreasing the likelihood of marine animal entanglements with fishing line. DATES: Effective date: This final rule is effective January 11, 2027, with the exception of §§ 660.219(a)(1) and 660.319(a)(1), which are effective October 13, 2026. Compliance date: The compliance date for §§ 660.219(b)(2) and 660.319(b)(2), is January 11, 2030. ADDRESSES: A plain language summary of this rulemaking and the supporting statement for the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) information collection is available at https://www.regulations.gov/​docket/​NOAA-NMFS-2024-0045 . Other information relevant to this …
Citation: 91 FR 64791
