Bottomfish Fishery Management Plan

The Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Bottomfish and Seamount Groundfish Fisheries in the Western Pacific Region became effective on August 27, 1986 (51 FR 27413). Initial bottomfish fishery management measures prohibited certain destructive fishing techniques, including explosives, poisons, trawl nets, and bottom-set gillnets; established a moratorium on the commercial harvest of seamount groundfish stocks at the Hancock Seamounts, and implemented a permit system for fishing for bottomfish in the waters of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI). The plan also established a management framework that provided for regulatory adjustments to be made, such as catch limits, size limits, area or seasonal closures, fishing effort limitations, fishing gear restrictions, access limitations, permit and/or catch reporting requirements, as well as a rules-related notice system. The following tables contain management measures, including amendments, framework actions, and NMFS-initiated regulations.  Annual Reports can be found at the very bottom.