Seafood.com News [KUCB], April 18, 2012
By Alexandra Gutierrez
Wednesday the federal government took its first step in preparing an environmental impact statement on commercial fishing restrictions in the western Aleutians. Members of the public can now offer official comment on how Steller sea lion protection measures have affected them. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration closed the Atka mackerel and Pacific cod fisheries in 2011 in an effort to limit food competition with an endangered stock of Steller sea lions. After a protracted legal battle, a federal judge determined that the regulations were appropriate, but that NOAA erred in not evaluating the impacts to the human environment through an impact statement. NOAA must now complete a statement by 2014, a process which could change the way those fisheries are managed.
The written comment period will close on October 15. NOAA will also hear testimony on the issue at the North Pacific Fishery Management Council’s October meeting.
See also Federal Register Notice from April 17, 2012 on the BSAI Stellar sea lion EIS