Environmental Assessment for an Electronic Monitoring Regulatory Amendment to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan

This action considers changes to the monitoring requirements in the Pacific Coast groundfish trawl fishery to reduce costs and increase operational flexibility for groundfish vessels without adversely affecting conservation. The Pacific Coast groundfish fishery occurs off the west coast of the United States and includes a range of vessels that use midwater trawl gear, bottom trawl gear, fish pots, and hook and line to target demersal and pelagic species managed under the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP). This action pertains to the limited entry trawl portion of the groundfish fishery, which is managed under a catch share program called the Trawl Rationalization Program. The catch share program currently requires all vessels participating in the program to have 100-percent at-sea and dockside observer coverage to monitor fishing activities at sea and all offloads. This action considers allowing some vessels in the trawl fishery, specifically midwater trawl vessels and fixed gear (pot and hook and line) vessels, to use electronic monitoring (video cameras and associated sensors) in place of human observers to meet at-sea monitoring requirements. There are no significant impacts expected from this action.