Environmental Assessment For the Issuance of an Exempted Fishing Permit for Developing and Testing Gear for Hook-and-line Rockfish Fisheries in the Southeast Outside District of the Gulf of Alaska, February 2004
Exempted Fishing Permit to allow for the development and testing of hook-and-line gear for harvesting rockfish species
This Environmental Assessment analyzes the potential impacts of issuing an exempted fishing permit to allow for the development and testing of hook-and-line gear for harvesting rockfish species in the Southeast Outside District of the Gulf of Alaska. The purpose of the EPP is to provide exemptions from:
- the halibut prohibited species catch limit
- individual fishing quota retention requirements
- certain fishery closures
- maximum retainable amounts of bycatch in the rockfish fishery
These exemptions will allow the project to be conducted efficiently and without impacting other hook-and-line fisheries. The project is intended to improve the harvest of rockfish species in the SEO, a currently underutilized species group. The analysis found no significant impacts on the human environment for this action.