Environmental Assessment and Economic Analysis for 44 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Groundfish Fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area and Amendment 44 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Groundfish Fishery of the Gulf of Alaska to Redefine Acceptable Biological Catch and Overfishing

Reviews by NMFS' Overfishing Definitions Review Panel (ODRP) and the Council's Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) have indicated that the definitions of "acceptable biological catch" and "overfishing" contained in the fishery management plans for groundfish of the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska could and should be improved. Suggestions for improvement include the following: A) greater imprecision in parameter estimates should correspond to more conservative fishing mortality rates; B) for a stock below its target abundance level, fishing mortality rates should vary directly with biomass and ultimately fall to zero should the stock become critically depleted; and C) a buffer should be maintained between acceptable biological catch and the overfishing level.