Pursuant to a recommendation of the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the National Marine Fisheries Service is proposing to change the management framework for Pacific mackerel to allow specifications to be set biennially instead of on an annual basis from the 2017 fishing season forward. The purpose of this change is to use available agency resources in the most efficient and effective manner while satisfying the goals and objectives of the fishery management plan. The Coastal Pelagic Species Fishery Management Plan states that each year the Secretary will publish in the Federal Register the final specifications for all stocks in the actively managed stock category, which includes Pacific mackerel. Therefore, based on recommendations from the Council at their annual June meeting each year the National Marine Fisheries Service implements regulations that set the annual quota for the Pacific mackerel fishing season that begins July 1 and ends June 30. These annual quotas are based in large part on the results of annual stock assessments that provide biomass estimates from which the quota is calculated. Over recent years it has been determined that because little new information has been informing the stock assessments from one year to the next, and the fact that catch has remained well the below the enacted quotas, indicating that the population's sustainability is not presently being compromised by fishing pressure, that annual management of the Pacific mackerel stock is not necessary to manage the stock in a sustainable manner.