Decision on Fishing in Cook Inlet EEZ Goes to Feds
Members of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council took no action during its April meetings regarding amending the fishery management plan for salmon in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) waters off of Cook Inlet.
The inaction now puts the decision in the hands of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).
NMFS’ Alaska Regional Administrator Jon Kurland said his agency is now tasked with coming up with a plan to revise that fishery management plan, which was written by the federal fisheries council.
Marine Fisheries Service members had intended to amend the salmon management plan for management of all salmon fishing in the federal waters of upper Cook Inlet.
Federal management must be consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, consistent with...