NOAA Fisheries Announces Common Pool Area Closure for Gulf of Maine Cod
Effective at 4:15 pm on July 27, 2023 –
Statistical areas 513 and 514 are closed for the remainder of Trimester 1, through August 31, 2023. This closure applies to all common pool vessels fishing on a groundfish trip with trawl, sink gillnet, or longline/hook gear, including handgear vessels. The closure is required because 90 percent of the Trimester 1 Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for Gulf of Maine (GOM) cod has been caught. This area will reopen at the beginning of Trimester 2, at 0001 hours, September 1, 2023.
If you have crossed the vessel monitoring system demarcation line and are currently at sea on a groundfish trip, you may complete your trip in all or part of the closed areas. If you have set gillnet gear prior to July 27, 2023, you may complete your trip to retrieve that gear.
For more details, read the notice as filed this afternoon in the Federal Register and the permit holder bulletin.
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