Pacific Fishery Management Council

September 2010 Briefing Book Available on Website

skrause — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 17:17:58 +0000

The Briefing Book for the September 2010 Council meeting has been posted to the Council’s website on the “Current Briefing Book” webpage. The Briefing Book contains “situation summaries” (brief summaries that provide background for each agenda item), reports and materials for each agenda item, and written public comment.

Proposed Components Rule for Groundfish Amendment 20 (Trawl Rationalization) Published in the Federal Register

skrause — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 20:05:55 +0000

On August 31, 2010, the proposed components rule for the Amendment 20 trawl rationalization (catch shares) program was published in the Federal Register. This is the last of three rules which will implement the trawl rationalization program that was approved by NMFS on August 9, 2010. The comment period on this proposed rule will close on September 30, 2010. It is expected that starting in 2011, groundfish trawl limited entry vessels will be required to have individual fishing quota to participate in the shoreside fishery and that whiting mothership catcher vessels and catcher processors will be required to have endorsements on their trawl permits that allow them to participate in a a co-op system for each of their sectors, respectively.

Groundfish DEIS for 2011-2012 Proposed Harvest Specifications Available

skrause — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 22:38:06 +0000

Notice of Availability

The document Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for Proposed Harvest Specifications and Management Measures for the 2011-2012 Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery and Amendment 16-5 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Plan to Adopt a Rebuilding Plan for Petrale Sole, dated August 2010 has been posted to the Council’s groundfish upcoming harvest specifications webpage.

Summer newsletter now available

jgilden — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 19:20:03 +0000

The summer edition of the Pacific Council News is now available on our website.

Notice of Pacific Sardine Directed Fishing Closure

skrause — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 18:36:22 +0000

This notice announces that through rulemaking in the Federal Register the directed harvest/fishing of Pacific sardine off the coasts of Washington, Oregon and California will be closed effective 12:01 AM, Thursday morning, July 22, 2010. Fishing vessels with Pacific sardine on board taken in the directed harvest fishery must be at shore/dock and in the process of offloading at the time of closure.

Please download the Pacific Sardine Directed Fishing Closure Notice for all of the details.

Groundfish Amendment 20 Final EIS Released

skrause — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 19:12:58 +0000

Amendment 20 Final EIS Released

On June 25, 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency published a Notice of Availability for the “Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for Rationalization of the Pacific Coast Groundfish Limited Entry Trawl Fishery”. A 30-day cooling off period commenced, ending July 26, 2010.

Visit the Amendment 20 webpage to get the FEIS document and to get more details.

Groundfish Amendment 21 Final EIS Released

skrause — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 19:10:17 +0000

Amendment 21 Final EIS Released: June 2010; 30-Day Cooling Off Period Ends July 26, 2010

On June 25, 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency published a Notice of Availability for the “Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for Allocation of Harvest Opportunity between Sectors of the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery”.

Visit the Amendment 21 webpage to view the document and to get more details.

June 2010 Council Meeting Decisions

skrause — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 19:07:03 +0000

The June 2010 Council Meeting Decision Document is now available. The Council Decision Document is a basic summary of decisions made at Council meetings.

Download the June 2010 Council Decisions Document (PDF)
For previous decisions, visit the Council Meeting Decisions Archives Webpage

NMFS Proposes Measures to Initiate Implementation of Groundfish Amendments 20 and 21

skrause — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 22:27:20 +0000

The proposed measures to initiate implementation of Amendments 20 and 21 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan was published by the Office of the Federal Register on June 10, 2010. Visit the Council’s Groundfish Fishery Management Plan Amendment 20 webpage to download the proposed measures to initiate implementation of Amendments 20 and 21.

The public comment period for the above amendment package will end on July 12, 2010. Instructions for submitting public comments are included in the Federal Register notice.

Updated hydrokinetics database posted

jgilden — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 19:35:41 +0000

An updated version of the Council’s wave and tidal energy database has been posted here. There have been no new projects added since the database was last posted in April, although some projects, like the Reedsport OPT project and the Humboldt WaveConnect project (PGE), are moving ahead.