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Reallocation of Pacific Sardine
LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA - NMFS announces that the reallocation of Pacific sardine that normally occurs on October 1 of each year has been implemented before October 1 by an emergency rule. The action was taken to minimize the negative economic impact of closing sardine fisheries north of Monterey, California while additional fish is available for harvest. The rule was filed with the Federal Register on September 20, 2002. The rule is effective on filing, and will be published on September 26, 2002. Section 5.2.2 of the Coastal Pelagic Species Fishery Management Plan (FMP) requires that a review of the fishery be conducted 9 months after the beginning of the fishing season and any unharvested portion of the harvest guideline totaled and divided equally between Subarea A (Pt. Piedras Blancas to the Canadian border) and Subarea B (Pt. Piedras Blancas to the Mexican border). However, this year, the allocation to Subarea A was harvested by September 14,2002, and the fishery was closed (67 FR 58733). At its September 2002 meeting, the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) received a report on the status of the sardine fishery and heard public comments regarding the effects of closing the fishery in Subarea A and waiting for reallocation to occur on October 1. The fishing industry in the Pacific northwest has the capacity and the markets to continue fishing operations. Weather conditions tend to deteriorate in the Pacific northwest this time of year; therefore, delaying reallocation will have a negative economic impact on the industry at a time when there is adequate resource available for all users. Based on this information, the Council determined, by majority vote, that an emergency existed and recommended to NMFS that emergency action be taken to reallocate the available resource before the date specified in the FMP. A total of 39,481 mt has been landed in Subarea A. A total of 31,671 mt has been landed in Subarea B. Based on this data, 47,290 mt remains of the 118,442 mt harvest guideline. Therefore, 23,645 mt is allocated north of Pt. Piedras Blancas (Subarea A) and 23,645 mt is allocated south of Pt. Piedras Blancas (Subarea B).
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