NMFS closes Central Gulf Pacific ocean perch incidental retention at noon Oct. 14

Pacific ocean perch caught on the incidental allowance in the central Gulf of Alaska have to be treated like a prohibited species for most of the fleet. National Marine Fisheries Service information bulletin IB 26-44, issued Oct. 13, 2026, prohibits retention of that incidental catch allowance in the Central Regulatory Area effective noon Alaska local time on Oct. 14. Alaska Region Administrator Jonathan M. Kurland issued the action because the 2026 total allowable catch apportioned as the incidental catch allowance will soon be reached or already has been. The authority cited is 50 CFR 679.20(d)(2).

The ban does not apply to vessels checked in to the Central GOA Rockfish Program that are fishing with a rockfish cooperative quota permit. For the rest of the year, those incidental Pacific ocean perch must be handled as a prohibited species under § 679.21(a), with the exceptions written into the bulletin: catcher vessels using hook-and-line, pot, or jig gear as described in § 679.20(j), and catcher vessels using trawl gear in the electronic monitoring program as described in § 679.21(a)(2). While the prohibition is in effect, the requirements at § 679.20(j)(4) apply.

The bulletin is the notice. NMFS says the binding text is the Federal Register action. This central-Gulf incidental-retention ban is separate from the western Gulf directed Pacific ocean perch closure in Statistical Area 610.

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: NOAA Fisheries — IB 26-44 (Oct. 13, 2026; effective noon Alaska time Oct. 14, 2026).