Catch sharing plans (CSP) may be developed by the appropriate regional fishery management council, and approved by NMFS, for portions of the fishery. Any approved catch sharing plan may be obtained from the Director, Northwest Region, or the Director, Alaska Region.

(a) The catch sharing plan for area 2A provides a framework that shall be applied to the annual Area 2A total allowable catch (TAC) adopted by the Commission, and shall be implemented through domestic and Commission regulations, which will be published in the Federal Register each year before March 15. The Area 2A CSP allocates halibut among the treaty Indian fishery, segments of the non-Indian commercial fishery, and segments of the recreational fishery.

(1) Each year, before January 1, NMFS will publish a proposal to govern the recreational fishery under the CSP for the following year and will seek public comment. The comment period will extend until after the Commission's annual meeting, so the public will have the opportunity to consider the final area 2A total allowable catch (TAC) before submitting comments. After the Commission's annual meeting and review of public comments, NMFS will publish in the Federal Register the final rule governing sport fishing in area 2A. Annual management measures may be adjusted inseason by NMFS.

(2) A portion of the commercial TAC is allocated as incidental catch in the salmon troll fishery in Area 2A. Each year the landing restrictions necessary to keep the fishery within its allocation will be recommended by the Pacific Fishery Management Council at its spring meetings, and will be published in the Federal Register along with the annual salmon management measures.

(3) The commercial longline fishery in area 2A is governed by the annual management measures published pursuant to §§ 300.62 and 300.63.

(4) The treaty Indian fishery is governed by § 300.64 and tribal regulations. The annual quota for the fishery will be announced with the Commission regulations under § 300.62

(b) The catch sharing plan for area 4 allocates the annual TAC among area 4 subarea, and will be implemented by the Commission in management measures published pursuant to § 300.62.