Commissioner Robert Spottswood said the "limited" harvest should help the agency better determine the overall stock of the fish in the next three to five years.

"This stock is rebuilding," Spottswood said. "We're hearing that it can easily sustain this very small harvest of fish. We're going to learn something from it. And more importantly, we're going to give some access that we can give safely and sustainably back to the stakeholders that own the resource. And I believe it's time we do so."