Highly Migratory Species: Fishery Management Plan and Amendments

The following Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP) was originally published combined with the final environmental impact statement (FEIS) in August 2003. NMFS partially approved the FMP in February 2004. Amendment 1, which addresses bigeye tuna overfishing, also reorganized the FMP to excerpt elements specific to the FMP, as adopted and approved. Descriptive material in the original combined FMP/DEIS has been moved to a series of appendices. The amended FMP and appendices are available for download in PDF format below. Both the current FMP and the August 2003 FMP/FEIS are available in PDF format on CD-ROM; contact Dr. Kit Dahl to request copies (email: Kit.Dahl@noaa.gov, phone: (503) 820-2280 ext. 422 or toll free 1-866-806-7204).

Download the Fishery Management Plan for U.S. West Coast Fisheries for Highly Migratory Species, as amended (June 2007)

  • Appendix A: Description of the Fisheries, part 1: text and tables
  • Appendix A: Description of the Fisheries, part 2: figures
  • Appendix B: Status of the Management Unit Stocks at the Time of FMP Adoption
  • Appendix C: Bycatch in HMS Fisheries
  • Appendix D: Interactions of HMS Fishing Gears with Protected Species
  • Appendix E: Management Regime at the Time of FMP Adoption
  • Appendix F: U.S. West Coast Highly Migratory Species Life History Accounts and Essential Fish Habitat
  • Appendix G: Status of Affected Species and Critical Habitat in the Area of HMS Fisheries
  • Appendix H: Costs Involved in Managing Highly Migratory Species

NMFS actions related to FMP implementation

  • April 7, 2004: Final rule to establish a number of conservation and management measures for the fisheries managed under the HMS FMP.
  • March 11, 2004: Final rule to prohibit shallow longline sets targeting swordfish east of 150° W longitude by vessels managed under the HMS FMP.
  • February 4, 2004: NMFS partially approves the FMP. (View the approval letter.)

HMS Management Plan Amendments

Amendment 1

June 2007
NMFS notified the Pacific Council and the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (WPFMC) that they must take action to address overfishing of bigeye tuna. In response, the Council moved to begin work on Amendment 1 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for U.S. West Coast Fisheries for Highly Migratory Species (HMS). NMFS Southwest Region agreed to take lead responsibility on developing the amendment package for Council consideration.

At their November 2006 meeting, the Council adopted a preferred alternative from a range of alternatives presented at that meeting (see Agenda Item C.4.a, Attachment 1 below). The preferred alternative adopts recommendations to the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) contained in Amendment 14 to the WPFMC’s Pelagics FMP, prepared by the WPFMC to address bigeye tuna Pacific-wide.

In addition to recommendations to immediately end overfishing, the amendment authorizes the development of a process for communicating advice and coordinating with the IATTC, WPFMC, and, as necessary, the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, similar to the process outlined in Amendment 14 to the Pelagics FMP. This process has been adopted as a separate Council Operating Procedure rather than being specified in the HMS FMP. Amendment 1 also reorganizes the current FMP, which in its prior form was combined with the Final Environmental Impact Statement evaluating the effects of its implementation. The reorganized FMP creates a more concise document containing the management program elements required by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. Section 4.5.1 describes measures to immediately end overfishing of bigeye tuna. Section 5.3 contains language authorizing the development of the aforementioned procedure to communicate with other fishery management organizations.

NMFS began Secretarial review of the amendment in March 2007, as required by the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Amendment 1 was approved on June 7, 2007.

HMS Plan Amendments in Development

Amendment 2

The Council is currently developing an FMP amendment to address revised National Standard 1 guidelines as described in the Final Rule published on January 16, 2009 (74 FR 3178). The Council is scheduled to adopt a range of alternatives for public review at their April 2010 meeting and take final action in June 2010.

Last modified: 01/25/2010