NOAA Fisheries, SFD, West Coast Region Groundfish Conservation Areas Geodatabase

This geodatabase contains spatial data for NOAA's West Coast Region (WCR) Groundfish Conservation Areas (GCA). GCA's are conservation areas created or modified and enforced to control catch of groundfish or protected species (https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-50/chapter-VI/part-660/subpart-C/section-660.11).The geodatabase contains the following feature datasets, each containing feature classes that depict the spatial representation of a GCA:YRCA - Yelloweye Rockfish Conservation AreasGEA -Groundfish Exclusion AreasCCA - Cowcod Conservation AreasRCA - Rockfish Conservation AreasWithin each feature dataset, the feature class naming convention reflects the 1) type of area (YRCA, GEA, CCA, or RCA), 2) the name of the area and 3) the date (YYYYMMDD) that the conservation area was published in the Federal Register (FR). For example GEA_Potato_Bank_20231201Version 1 Last Update: 12/2024