Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act Provisions; Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fisheries; Amendment 16

NMFS announces that the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council has submitted Amendment 16 to the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery Management Plan, incorporating the Environmental Assessment and the Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, for review by the Secretary of Commerce, and is requesting comments from the public. Amendment 16 would establish a deep-sea coral protection area in Mid-Atlantic waters where fishing vessels would be prohibited from using most fishing gear that contacts the ocean bottom. The Council developed Amendment 16 to protect deep- sea corals under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act's discretionary provision for deep-sea coral protection. The coral protection measures would prevent expansion of fisheries using ocean bottom-tending fishing gear in areas where there is a high likelihood of deep-sea coral presence and would prevent damage to deep- sea corals in areas where they been observed.