Final amendment 40 to the fishery management plan for the reef fish resources of the Gulf of Mexico : including final environmental impact statement, fishery impact statement, regulatory impact review, and regulatory flexibility act analysis Reef Fish Amendment 40 Recreational Red Snapper Sector Separation

This FEIS is prepared pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act to assess the environmental impacts associated with a regulatory action. The FEIS analyzes the impacts of a reasonable range of alternatives intended to establish a federal for-hire: other recreational red snapper allocation. The purpose of this action is to define distinct private angling and federal for-hire components of the recreational red snapper fishery and allocate red snapper resources between the components of the recreational sector to provide a basis for increased flexibility in future management of the recreational sector, and minimize the chance for recreational quota overruns which could jeopardize the rebuilding of the red snapper stock.