Lead Agency National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

This document contains an Environmental Assessment (EA), Regulatory Impact Review (RIR), and Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA) for two actions. The EA and IRFA analyze the impacts of the Federal actions to: 1) establishing the 2004 harvest specifications for groundfish target species in the groundfish fisheries of the Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands, and Gulf of Alaska fishery management areas and 2) the impacts of Amendment 63 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska to manage skates as a separate species group from the “other species” complex. The RIR analyzes the significance of Amendment 63. The analyses in this document address the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Presidential Executive Order 12866 (E.O. 12866) and the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA). (This page is blank)