The Regulatory Reform agenda and requirements in Executive Order (E.O.) 13771 and E.O. 13777 require NMFS, as part of the Department of Commerce, to evaluate existing regulations and make recommendations regarding repeal, replacement, or modification, consistent with applicable law. As the fishery management plans and associated regulations for the conservation and management of the federally managed fisheries off Alaska were developed by the Council, NMFS requested that the Council assist in review of these regulations and provide recommendations to NMFS. To facilitate the review, NMFS prepared a discussion paper that provides information about the regulations under the Council’s authority, existing regulatory review processes (through the Council process and those conducted separately at the regional office), and some recommended regulatory revisions that have been identified through these processes.
The Council reviewed the discussion paper, and by extension the regulations under its authority, at the April 2018 meeting. Through the Council process, regulations are continuously reviewed and revised to reflect current conservation and management needs, as reflected in the Council’s current list of ongoing projects, some of which include components that reduce the burden of existing regulations. The Council also supports NMFS continuing to remove recordkeeping and reporting requirements that are no longer necessary, and to simplify or reduce the burden of existing requirements.
Staff contact is Diana Evans.
