Unalaska, AK – The National Marine Fisheries Service is taking public comment on its final environmental impact statement for groundfish harvests in Alaska. The 455-page document is the last stage before final approval of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council's annual harvest level assessment for the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands region and the Gulf of Alaska.

Up to this year, these assessments have been an annual part of the fisheries regulation process, mostly looking at the numbers decided upon by the council. Ben Muse, an economist for the NMFS Alaska Region, says that this year's EIS is a little different, in that it tries to look at the methods used by the council, and how the impact of the catch limits stretches across the entire ecosystem of the region.

"It teases out the impacts of various alternative harvest strategies on a wide range of ecosystem components," Muse said. "It addresses social and economic impacts as well--I think that's very important to me, in looking at the interconnections here."

Public comment is open on the EIS for 30 days. It's available online on the NMFS website, or at libraries throughout the state.