Dan Hull, Chairman
David Witherell, Executive Director
SUBJECT:title
BSAI Groundfish SAFE Report and 2018/2019 Harvest Specifications
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STAFF CONTACT: Diana Stram (NPFMC)
ACTION REQUIRED:recommended action
1. Review the 2017 Ecosystem Considerations report for the Eastern Bering Sea.
2. Approve the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands Groundfish Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation Report.
3. Recommend final BSAI groundfish harvest specifications for 2018 and 2019, including:
* Overfishing Level (OFL) and Acceptable Biological Catch (ABC) for all stocks. [SSC]
* Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for all stocks, taking into account the State waters Pacific cod fishery.
* Annual ABC reserve for three flatfish species.
* Prohibited Species Catch (PSC) limits and seasonal apportionments of Pacific halibut, red king crab, Tanner crab, C. opilio crab, and herring to target fishery categories.
* Halibut discard mortality rates (DMRs).
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BACKGROUND:
At this meeting, the Council will review the Ecosystem Considerations report for the Eastern Bering Sea; adopt the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands (BSAI) Groundfish Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation (SAFE) Report; and make final recommendations on groundfish harvest specifications, PSC limits and halibut DMRs, to manage the 2018 and 2019 BSAI groundfish fisheries. Upon publication in the Federal Register, the 2018/2019 final harvest specifications will replace harvest specifications adopted last year for the start of the 2018 fisheries.
BSAI SAFE and Ecosystem Considerations reports. The BSAI Groundfish Plan Team met in Seattle on November 13-17, 2017 to prepare the BSAI Groundfish SAFE report. The SAFE report forms the basis for BSAI groundfish harvest specifications for the next two fishing years. The SAFE introduction summarizes the Plan Team recommendations for each stock/complex. The hyperlinks to the full report, and the Eastern Bering Sea Ecosystem Considerations report (which was reviewed by the Plan Team in...
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