"Amendment 93 would amend the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Amendment 80 Program to modify the criteria for forming and participating in a harvesting cooperative. This action is necessary to encourage greater participation in harvesting cooperatives, and provide for more precise total allowable catch management. This action is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the Fishery Fishery Plan, and other applicable law. The Environmental Assessment did not identify any significant environmental impacts that would result from Amendment 93. The Environmental Assessment provides decision makers and the public with an evaluation of the environmental, social, and economic effects of the proposed action"--Cover letter; Portfolio comprised of three related PDF documents digitized and organized by: NOAA Office of Program Planning and Integration (PPI) National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) staff.

This Environmental Assessment/Regulatory Impact Review/Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (EA/RIR/IRFA) evaluates the environmental impacts, costs and benefits, and small entity impacts of a proposed regulatory amendment to increase the maximum retainable amounts of selected groundfish in the arrowtooth flounder and Kamchatka flounder fishery in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). The purpose of the proposed amendment is to reduce the amount of regulatory discards of otherwise marketable groundfish in the developing arrowtooth and Kamchatka flounder fishery and to allow the Amendment 80 fleet to retain those regulatory discards thereby reducing waste. The proposed action also would revise regulations at 50 CFR part 679 to accommodate the North Pacific Fishery Management Council's removal of Kamchatka flounder from the arrowtooth flounder complex in the BSAI. This EA/RIR/IRFA addresses the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act, Presidential Executive Order 12866, and the Regulatory Flexibility Act.

This Environmental Assessment/Regulatory Impact Review/Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis analyzes alternatives to include three species of grenadiers (giant, Pacific, and popeye grenadiers) in the groundfish fishery management plans (FMPs). The groundfish fisheries in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands and the Gulf of Alaska incidentally catch grenadiers while harvesting target groundfish. This action would amend the FMPs for groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands and the Gulf of Alaska to include grenadiers in the FMPs as either "in the fishery" or an "ecosystem component." The purpose of this action is to improve the reporting and catch accounting of grenadiers in order to provide additional protection for grenadiers from the potential adverse effects of groundfish fisheries off Alaska. This proposed action is necessary to limit and monitor the incidental catch of grenadiers in the groundfish fisheries.

This document evaluates alternatives to allow vessels with Federal Fisheries Permits (FFPs) to transit walrus protection areas at Round Island and Cape Peirce from April 1 through August 15 while tendering herring or salmon or delivering groundfish to trampers or processors. The purpose of this action is to maintain suitable protection for walruses on Round Island and Cape Peirce, restore access to vessels with FFPs serving as tenders for the northern Bristol Bay herring and salmon fisheries to the routes used by tenders before implementation of GOA FMP Amendment 83, to allow vessels delivering groundfish access to the route north of Round Island, and to reduce the likelihood of disturbance to walrus on Hagemeister Island and Cape Peirce. Alternatives include: 1) no action – vessels with FFPs remain excluded from the walrus protection area, 2) open portion of the Round Island walrus protection area to transit with three options of increasing distance and 3) open portion of the Cape Peirce walrus protection area to transit. Three transit options are considered under Alternative 2: 1) open up to 3 nm from Round Island, 2) open up to 4.5 nm from Round Island, and 3) open up to 6 nm from Round Island. The Council recommended Alternative 2, Option 1 and Alternative 3 as the Preferred Alternative. None of the alternatives analyzed, including the Preferred Alternative, are likely to result in significant impacts to the human environment of northern Bristol Bay, or to result in significant economic impacts to individuals or entities in northern Bristol Bay.