Dan Hull, Chairman
Chris Oliver, Executive Director
SUBJECT: title
CGOA Tanner Crab Habitat Protection Measures - Discussion paper
end
STAFF CONTACT: Jim Armstrong
ACTION REQUIRED: recommended action
Review discussion paper.
BACKGROUND:
At its December 2016 meeting, the Council directed staff to prepare a discussion paper summarizing the Council’s actions to protect Tanner crab (Chinoecetes bairdi) habitat in the Central Gulf of Alaska (CGOA) and include information on the abundance and distribution of Tanner crab. The rationale for the motion was the question of trawl fishery impacts on Tanner crab and crab habitat to determine if additional management measures may be warranted.
In the attached discussion paper, background information on actions taken by the Council to protect Tanner crab are reviewed as well as updated information on stock abundance and distribution. Those actions come primarily from Amendment 89 to the GOA Groundfish FMP, the supporting analysis for which is also attached.
Although the December 2016 motion referred to “crab”, all the surrounding discussion was related to Tanner crab, and so the information provided in the attached discussion paper focuses solely on Tanner crab.