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The Council took final action to approve FMP Amendment 18 at the November 2005 Council meeting based on the preferred alternative in the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan Bycatch Mitigation Program Final Environmental Impact Statement (Bycatch Program FEIS). The preferred alternative contains the following elements:
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Amend the fishery management plan (FMP) to require the use of current bycatch minimization measures.
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Amend the FMP to fully describe the current standardized bycatch reporting methodology.
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Amend the FMP to incorporate the Groundfish Strategic Plan goal of reducing overcapacity in all commercial fisheries.
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Implement a sector-specific bycatch accounting methodology.
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Support the future use of individual fishing quota (IFQ) programs for appropriate fishery sectors.
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Authorize the use of sector-specific total catch cap programs to reduce bycatch of overfished (depleted) species in appropriate sectors of the fishery. These programs could include monitoring standards, full retention programs, and individual vessel incentives for exemption from caps.
Amendment 18 was approved by NMFS on September 6, 2006 [download the approval letter].
The preface to the amendatory language explains and guides the reader through the proposed changes to the groundfish FMP. Key sections addressing bycatch mitigation measures from the bycatch FEIS include:
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Section 2.1, Goals and Objectives for Managing the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery: modification of Goal 3 and Objectives 8, 9, and 12.
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Section 2.2, Operational Definition of Terms: definition of a total catch limit.
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Section 6.4, Standardized Total Catch Reporting and Compliance Monitoring Program.
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Section 6.5, Bycatch Mitigation Program.
Other sections of Chapter 6, describing procedures for establishing and adjusting management measures (Section 6.2) and the range of measures available to the Council (Section 6.6-6.9), have broad applicability and thus may also apply to bycatch mitigation.
PFMC
09/08/06
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