Comment from Jonathan Knight

I am directing my comments to section 14 of the proposed rule particularly the final paragraph of that section, 'NMFS proposes to broaden the definition of the Ruhle Trawl such that, if implemented as proposed, the mid- size Eliminator would meet the definition of a Ruhle trawl'. Redefining the Ruhle trawl as suggested will facilitate a greater acceptance of the trawl in the haddock fishery and yield benefits to the users of the trawl that they were not able to take advantage of under the previous definition. Primarily, the dropping of the rigid sweep requirements enables fishermen to select the sweep configuration that suits the vessel and bottom type with no loss in by-catch reduction. Similarly, eliminating the requirement for a minimum kite area would allow more flexibility, but reducing the requirement to 1.8sq. m. is something that fishermen can live with. I sincerely hope that NMFS will go forward with the changes as suggested.