Environmental Assessment for Annual Catch Limit Specifications and Accountability Measures for Pacific Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Fisheries in 2012 and 2013

Download or read book Environmental Assessment for Annual Catch Limit Specifications and Accountability Measures for Pacific Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Fisheries in 2012 and 2013 written by and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "NMFS proposes to specify an annual catch limit (ACL) and accountability measures (AM) for each coral reef ecosystem stock and stock complex in American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Hawaii. The ACLs and AMs will be applicable in fishing years 2012 and 2013, which run from January 1 to December 31. The purpose of this action is to comply with provisions of the fishery ecosystem plans (FEP) for American Samoa, the Mariana Archipelago, and Hawaii which require NMFS to specify an ACL for each stock and stock complex in the western Pacific coral reef ecosystem fisheries and implement AMs that prevent ACLs from being exceeded, and correct or mitigate overages should they occur. The ACL specifications and AMs were developed by the Council using The best available scientific information and were coordinated with the public. The ACLs and AMs are intended to provide for long-term sustainability of the coral reef fisheries of the western Pacific. NMFS prepared an environmental assessment (EA) to consider the effects of the proposed specifications on the environment. The ACL specifications are not accompanied by in-season closures, but rather, by AMs that call for a post-season fishery review of the fishery to determine whether an ACL was exceeded, and, if so, additional consideration of whether stocks were adversely affected, and the possibility of adjusting the ACL. Because there is no in-season management measure (such as a fishery closure should an ACL be reached), the manner in which the coral reef fisheries of the region are conducted is not likely to change. Future evaluations of the fishery and ACL adjustments are expected to prevent any of the fish stocks from being subject to overfishing or becoming overfished"--Cover letter; Portfolio comprised of three related PDF documents digitized and organized by: NOAA Office of Program Planning and Integration (PPI) National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) staff.