The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) proposes to extend a moratorium on harvesting deep-water gold corals in the U.S. exclusive economic zone in the Pacific Islands Region (generally 3200 nm offshore). The proposed action is consistent with a recommendation from the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) at their 194th meeting in March 2023. NMFS would implement this action pursuant to the rulemaking authority under Section 303(c) and 304(b) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. In 2008, the Council and NMFS established a 5-year moratorium throughout the Western Pacific Region (i.e., American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Hawaii, and the Pacific Remote Island Areas). NMFS and the Council extended the moratorium in 2013 and 2018, based on new information that gold corals may grow more slowly and are more susceptible to overharvest than was previously known. The current moratorium expired on June 30, 2023, and the Council recommended that NMFS extend the moratorium for another five years, through June 30, 2028. This extension would provide additional time for recent information on gold coral to be assessed, and for the Council to consider a long-term management strategy that will ensure the sustainability of the subject fishery. The fishery was dormant prior to the establishment of the moratorium in 2008, and there has been no expressed interest in the fishery by stakeholders at Council meetings, so there are no economic impacts expected from the proposed action.