# Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Final 2000 Harvest Specifications for Groundfish; Correction
**AGENCY:**
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
**ACTION:**
Final 2000 harvest specifications; correction.
**SUMMARY:**
NMFS published final 2000 harvest specifications for the groundfish fishery of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) on February 18, 2000. These final 2000 harvest specifications for the GOA inadvertently omitted changes made by previous rulemaking. Therefore, NMFS is correcting the published final 2000 total allowable catch amounts (TACs) specified for pollock in the Western and Central Regulatory Areas of the Gulf of Alaska (W/C GOA).
**DATES:**
Effective February 15, 2000, through 2400 hrs A.l.t. December 31, 2000.
**FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:**
Sue Salveson, 907-586-7228.
**SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:**
NMFS manages the groundfish fishery in the GOA exclusive economic zone according to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (FMP) prepared by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council under authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. Regulations governing fishing by U.S. vessels in accordance with the FMP appear at subpart H of 50 CFR part 600 and 50 CFR part 679.
On January 3, 2000, NMFS published interim 2000 pollock TACs (65 FR 65). For pollock, the interim TAC consists of the entire A season allocation. These interim pollock TACs were not further apportioned by time and area. On January 25, 2000, NMFS published an emergency rule implementing Steller sea lion protection measures (65 FR 3892). The emergency rule amended the original interim TACs for pollock in the W/C GOA by revising the TAC levels to account for the best available scientific information and apportioned the TACs by area for the A season.
On January 27, 2000, NMFS issued an inseason adjustment amending the time and area apportionments of the W/C GOA interim pollock TACs (65 FR 4892, February 2, 2000). The amended interim TAC apportionments reflected a revised procedure for more accurately allocating pollock as authorized under the emergency rule.
NMFS published the final 2000 harvest specifications for the GOA groundfish fishery on February 18, 2000 (65 FR 8298). Inadvertently, the changes to the A season TACs and apportionments made by the emergency rule and the inseason adjustment to the emergency rule for the W/C GOA pollock TACs were omitted from the final 2000 harvest specifications for the GOA groundfish fishery.
**Correction**
In the rule to implement the Final 2000 Harvest Specifications for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska, published on February 18, 2000 (65 FR 8298), FR Doc. 00-3910, the following corrections are made to the TAC amounts specified for pollock in the W/C GOA.
1. On page 8301, in Table 1, the entire entry “Pollock” and footnote 2 are correctly revised to read as follows:
| Species | Area | ABC | TAC | Initial TAC Overfishing |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Pollock | | | | |
| Shumagin | (610) | 32,340 | 32,340 | |
| Chirikof | (620) | 13,372 | 13,372 | |
| Kodiak | (630) | 24,501 | 24,501 | |
| Shelikof | | 20,987 | 20,987 | |
| WYK | (640) | 2,340 | 2,340 | |
| Subtotal | W/C/WYK | 93,540 | 93,540 | 130,760 |
| SEO | (650) | 6,460 | 6,460 | 8,610 |
| Total | | 100,000 | 100,000 | 139,370 |
| | | | | |
| * * * * * * * | | | | |
2. On page 8304, Table 3 is correctly revised to read as follows:
| Statistical area | Biomass percent | 2000 Annual TAC | Seasonal Allowances of Annual TAC | A | (30%) | B | (15%) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Shelikof | 51.1 | 20,987 | 13,991 | 6,996 | | | |
| Shumagin 610) | 27.4 | 32,340 | 7,498 | 3,749 | | | |
| Chirik of
(620) | 2.0 | 13,372 | 546 | 273 | | | |
| Kodiak
(630) | 19.5 | 24,501 | 5,325 | 2,662 | | | |
| TOTAL | 100.0 | 91,200 | 27,360 | 13,680 | | | |
**Classification**
This action is required by § 679.20 and is exempt from review under E.O. 12866.
**Authority:**
16 U.S.C. 1801 *et**seq* .
Dated: February 25, 2000.
Andrew A. Rosenberg,
Deputy Asst. Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.