The Federal Fisheries Permit (FFP) is required for vessels of the United States which are used to fish for groundfish in the Gulf of Alaska or Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands. This permit is also required for vessels used to fish for any non-groundfish species and that are required to retain any bycatch of groundfish under 50 CFR Part 679. Non-groundfish species includes but is not limited to halibut, crab, salmon, scallops, and herring. "Fishing" is a broad term and includes, for example: harvesting, processing, tendering, support, etc. These are non-transferable, three year permits, issued on request and without charge to vessel owners. The Federal Processor Permit (FPP) is required for stationary floating processors (processing vessels that operate solely within Alaska State waters). The permit also is required for shoreside processors that receive and/or process groundfish harvested from Federal waters (or from any Federally-permitted vessels). FPPs are non-transferable, three year permits, issued to owners on request and without charge.

As of January 1, 2000 a Federal License Limitation Program (LLP) license is required for vessels participating in directed fishing for LLP groundfish species in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) or Bering Sea Aleutian Islands (BSAI), or fishing in any BSAI LLP crab fisheries. A vessel must be named on an original LLP license that is onboard the vessel. Exceptions are explained below. The LLP is authorized in Federal regulations at 50 CFR 679.4(k), definitions relevant to the program are at 679.2, and prohibitions are at 679.7. The LLP license requirement is in addition to all other permits or licenses required by federal regulations. The LLP is a Federal program and LLP licenses are not required for participation in fisheries that occur in the waters of the State of Alaska. There are four exceptions to the LLP license requirement: 1. vessels that do not exceed 26 feet in Length Overall (LOA) in the GOA; 2. vessels that do not exceed 32 feet LOA in the BSAI; 3. vessels that do not exceed 60 feet LOA and that are using jig gear (but no more than 5 jig machines, one line per machine, and 15 hooks per line) are exempt from the LLP requirements in the BSAI; and, 4. certain vessels constructed for, and used exclusively in, Community Development Quota fisheries.

This limited access system limits the number of charter vessels that may participate in the guided sport fishery for halibut in area 2C and 3A. NMFS issues a charter halibut permit to a licensed charter fishing business owner based on his or her past participation in the charter halibut fishery and to a Community Quota Entity representing specific rural communities. All charter halibut permit holders are subject to limits on the number of permits they may hold and on the number of charter vessel anglers who may catch and retain halibut on permitted charter vessels. Permits will be issues as transferable or non-transferable and will have an area endorsement.

Beginning in 2014, the the halibut Catch Sharing Plan (CSP) authorizes annual transfers of commercial halibut IFQ as guided angler fish (GAF) to charter halibut permit holders for harvest in the charter halibut fishery. GAF offers charter halibut permit holders in Area 2C or Area 3A an opportunity to lease a limited amount of IFQ from commercial quota share (QS) holders to allow charter clients to harvest halibut in addition to, or instead of, the halibut harvested under the daily bag limit for charter anglers. Charter anglers using GAF are subject to the harvest limits in place for unguided sport anglers in that area. Information about GAF landings are submitted electronically through eFish, NMFS' integrated online system, and include details on when and where the GAF were caught, the number and length of fish, as well as permit, vessel, license, and logbook details.

NOAA Fisheries implemented a license limitation program for the trawl and fixed gear sectors of Pacific Coast commercial groundfish fishery on January 1, 1993. The agency issued federal fishing permits based on vessel catch histories. This limited entry program was designed to control the capacity of the groundfish fishing fleet by limiting the number of fishing vessels, limiting the number of vessels using each of the three specified gear types (trawl, trap/pot, longline), and limiting increases in harvest capacity by limiting vessel length. The Pacific Coast Groundfish Limited Entry Permit (LEP) authorizes the holder (owner of a vessel) to participate in the federal limited entry groundfish fishery in waters off of Washington, Oregon, and California. NOAA Fisheries no longer issues new LEPs. Any new entrant to the groundfish LEP fishery, must either purchase or lease an existing LEP. In addition, as part of the shorebased IFQ Fishery, NOAA Fisheries issues First Receiver Site Licenses (FRSL).

NMFS is mandated by the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) to collect reports of marine mammal stranding events. This particular catalogue item is specific to the endangered Cook Inlet beluga whale population.

NOAA Fisheries Alaska Regional Office and Alaska Fisheries Science Center’s Auke Bay Laboratories designed the Nearshore Fish Atlas of Alaska (NFA) to provide access to available data on the distribution, relative abundance, and habitat use of nearshore fishes in Alaska. The NFA is a spatially explicit, unified database of numerous nearshore catch datasets collected by various agencies and organizations in Alaska over the past several decades. The compiled datasets are from dozens of studies with different objectives and gear types (e.g., beach seines, purse seines, and trawls). The online NFA application has spatial and tabular tools for extensive searching, filtering, and downloading fully attributed data.

This data set contains biological resource data for seals and sea lions in Cook Inlet and Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. Vector points in this data set represent locations of haulout and rookery sites. Species-specific abundance, seasonality, status, life history, and source information are stored in relational data tables (described below) designed to be used in conjunction with this spatial data layer. See also the M_MAMMAL (Marine Mammal Polygons) data layer, part of the larger Cook Inlet and Kenai Peninsula ESI database, for additional marine mammal information.This data set comprises a portion of the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) data for Cook Inlet and Kenai Peninsula. ESI data characterize the marine and coastal environments and wildlife by their sensitivity to spilled oil. The ESI data include information for three main components: shoreline habitats, sensitive biological resources, and human-use resources.

This feature class depicts the boundaries of Non-Trawl Rockfish Conservation Areas as defined in the Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries Off West Coast States; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; 2023-2024 Biennial Specifications and Management Measures; Inseason Adjustments (89 FR 22342, April 1, 2024)https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/04/01/2024-06775/magnuson-stevens-act-provisions-fisheries-off-west-coast-states-pacific-coast-groundfish-fishery?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdeliveryThe following descriptions highlight the cumulative adjustments incorporated in this feature class:November 2023 Inseason ActionBetween 42 N. lat. and 36 N. lat., the Non-Trawl RCA shoreward boundary has been extended to the State/Federal boundary.The 100-150 fm lines around Santa Barbara Island, San Nicolas Island, and Cortes and Tanner Banks will be part of the Non-Trawl RCA.March 2024 Inseason Action Between 37° 07' N. lat. and 36° N. lat., the Non-Trawl RCA shoreward boundary has been changed from the State/Federal boundary to the 50 fm depth contour. The feature class naming convention reflects the date (YYYYMMDD) that the RCAs were published in the Federal Register (FR).