Amendment 28 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan

Amendment 28 changes bottom trawl fishing closures to minimize adverse effects of fishing to Pacific Coast groundfish essential fish habitat (EFH), re-opens historically important fishing grounds to groundfish bottom trawling, and prohibits fishing with bottom-contacting gear in deep waters off California to protect deep-water ecosystems, including deep-sea corals. This final rule is effective on January 1, 2020.

Supporting Geo-Spatial Information

The subject closed areas are defined and enforced using latitude and longitude coordinates. Supporting materials below are for users wanting to visualize or plot associated geo-spatial information associated with Amendment 28 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan.

Data points for latitude and longitude coordinates of the subject closed areas, including EFH conservation areas, are available in additional formats. These files include all EFH conservation areas, some of which are proposed to be modified or are newly added by Amendment 28.

Coordinates outlining boundaries of EFH Conservation Areas are from Sections 660.76 through 660.79 of the final rule and existing regulations, and were converted to various formats to facilitate access and use by the public. The coordinate files and Geographic Information System (GIS) files were developed with the utmost care. However, they are not legal boundaries and any discrepancies between these files and the Federal Register will be resolved in favor of the Federal Register.

More Information

• Groundfish Closed Areas
• West Coast Essential Fish Habitat
• Feature Story: Rebound in Groundfish Leads to New Flexibility for Fishermen, Protection for Deep-Sea Corals
• Story Map: West Coast Groundfish Amendment 28: Where Conservation Meets Opportunity
• Compliance Guide