The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) is requesting information from the public on ways to reduce fishing related mortality of Bristol Bay red king crab (BBRKC) and Eastern Bering Sea (EBS) snow crab. Information from fishery participants is critical to that effort and, therefore, the Council is seeking public input. Individuals, companies, and organizations that participate in directed crab fisheries or groundfish fisheries which encounter BBRKC and/or EBS snow crab are invited to submit written comments to the Council for review at the October 2022 meeting.

The deadline for submission is Friday, September 23, 2022. Submitting a comment is strictly voluntary and does not preclude anyone from submitting a written comment to the Council's October 2022 meeting agenda in the typical manner (the deadline for which is September 30, 2022) or providing oral testimony during the meeting.

In an April 2022 motion on BBRKC and a June 2022 motion on EBS snow crab, the Council identified three areas of particular interest for public input. The following list is a guide for stakeholders; it does not limit the scope of information an individual, company, or organization would like to provide to the Council.

1. Voluntary measures for implementation in 2023 and beyond to avoid BBRKC and/or EBS snow crab and reduce crab mortality in the non-directed fisheries.

2. Measures in the directed crab fishery to reduce discard mortality of BBRKC and/or EBS snow crab.

3. Description of research that would inform development of more flexible and effective spatial management measures; gear modifications to reduce impacts on the BBRKC and/or EBS snow crab stocks, or to evaluate unobserved mortality in the trawl sector.

For further information or any questions related to BBRKC, contact Sam Cunningham (sam.cunningham@noaa.gov). For information or questions related to EBS snow crab contact Sarah Rheinsmith (sarah.rheinsmith@noaa.gov) and Jon McCracken (jon.mccracken@noaa.gov).