On October 25, 2021, NOAA Fisheries published an Emergency Rule in the Federal Register (86 FR 58810) to extend temporary measures that allow at-sea Pacific whiting processing vessels to operate as both a mothership (MS) and a catcher-processor (C/P) during the 2021 Pacific whiting fishery. These emergency measures were originally authorized until November 10, 2021. This temporary rule extends the emergency measures through December 31, 2021. This rule is effective immediately.
This emergency rule temporarily (until December 31, 2021) allows eligible at-sea pacific whiting MS and C/P vessels to operate as both types of processing vessels during the 2021 Pacific whiting season, but not on the same fishing trip. In the event a processing vessel must cease or change operations, resulting from, or to avoid, a COVID-19 outbreak onboard, these emergency measures will provide flexibility to allow other vessels to process catch that at-sea whiting catcher-vessels would not otherwise be able to deliver as a result. This action would help promote health and human safety by allowing processing vessels to quarantine, while minimizing economic harm to at-sea whiting catcher-vessels while they operate under continued risk and economic uncertainty during the ongoing pandemic. This action does not change any other elements of the at-sea Pacific whiting fishery.
To view these measures, this emergency rule can be found in the Federal Register.
For further information and the compliance guide published for the original emergency rule, visit our webpage.
