0648-BO22 202510 The Regulatory Plan and the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions 0648 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA 0600 Department of Commerce DOC Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Sablefish Managed Under the Individual Fishing Quota Program; Season Opening and Closing Time

In response to a request from the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, NMFS reviewed regulations that specify the time of day for opening directed fishing for sablefish managed under the Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) Program and intends to propose regulatory changes to allow the Regional Administrator to annually set the season opening and closing time for sablefish. This change would be consistent with the current process for setting the opening and closing dates annually. Currently, NMFS annually establishes the sablefish season opening and closing dates through an announcement in the Federal Register, taking into consideration the opening date of the halibut season for the purposes of reducing bycatch and regulatory discards between the two fisheries, which are both managed under the IFQ Program. Regulations, however, establish a fixed time for season openings and closings. This action is needed to modify regulations to allow NMFS to annually set the time of the season opening and closing for sablefish to maintain consistency with the halibut IFQ season, which is established annually by the International Pacific Halibut Commission. Establishing the sablefish season start time annually would be consistent with setting the opening and closing dates annually and would ensure that NMFS has the flexibility needed to set the opening of the sablefish fishery (both date and time) to coincide with the halibut fishery. This action is being developed under section 305(d) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act to update regulations implementing the Fishery Management Plans (FMPs) for Groundfish Fisheries of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area and the Gulf of Alaska Management Area. Section 3.5.1 states that, in consultation with the Council, the Secretary will establish all fishing seasons in regulations. An administrative update is needed to the regulations governing the sablefish IFQ season start time to ensure continued coordination of the halibut and sablefish season opening and closing times in addition to the opening and closing dates.

]]> Substantive, Nonsignificant First Time Published in The Unified Agenda Proposed Rule Stage No No Not subject to, not significant 50 CFR 679 16 USC 1801 No NPRM 07/00/2026 No Businesses None No No No No Jon Kurland Regional Administrator, Alaska Region 0648 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA 907 586-7638 jon.kurland@noaa.gov 709 West Ninth Street, Juneau AK 99801