Monday, February 18th, 2013
The Council has made available the DRAFT Research and Data Needs document (February 2013) which has been revised in response to comments since September 2012. Visit the Council’s Research and Data Needs webpage for the document and details.
Wednesday, February 6th, 2013
The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) and its advisory bodies will meet March 6-11, 2013 in Tacoma, Washington to address issues related to salmon, Pacific halibut, groundfish, coastal pelagic species, highly migratory species, and habitat matters.
Please visit the “Current Council Meeting” webpage for the meeting notice and agenda details.
Friday, February 1st, 2013
The Pacific Council has received a letter from Denis Stevens, Counsel General of Canada in Seattle, outlining the Canadian Government’s views on the U.S.-Canada Albacore Treaty. A fishing regime for 2013, pursuant to the Treaty, is under negotiation by the U.S. and Canadian governments. Three Canadian proposals relevant to the negotiations, first put forward May 23, 2012, are attached to the letter.
Thursday, January 24th, 2013
NOAA has made available for public review, their Draft Division Enforcement Priorities for 2013 document. This document is available through the NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement, Enforcement Priorities website for the next 60 days.
Please email NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement your comments at enforcementpriorities@noaa.gov or mail them to:
NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement
Attention: Tracy Dunn
8484 Georgia Avenue, Suite 415
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Tuesday, December 11th, 2012
The Pacific Fishery Management Council’s (Council) Highly Migratory Species Management Team (HMSMT) will hold a work session, which is open to the public. The HMSMT work session will be held January 23-25, 2013 and will begin at 8:30 a.m. each day, and continue until business is completed.
The HMSMT will discuss work assignments to be delivered at the March 2013 Council meeting in Tacoma, Washington. The Council directed the HMSMT to determine if any changes can be made to the closure dates for, and/or the southern boundary of, the Pacific Leatherback Conservation Area (PLCA) in order to enhance fishing opportunity in the California drift gillnet fishery. Since the PLCA was established to reduce the take of endangered leatherback sea turtles in this fishery, other mitigation measures may be considered to compensate for any additional fishing opportunity. Specifically, the HMSMT will consider a regulatory limit on the annual number of incidental take interactions allowed in the fishery. This regulatory approach has been used successfully in the Hawaii-based shallow-set pelagic longline fishery to limit takes of leatherback and loggerhead sea turtles.
The HMSMT will also begin work on the next Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation document, which is prepared annually, summarizing information from the previous year. Informational topics may also be discussed, time permitting.
The meetings will be held at the following location:
Large Conference Room, Torrey Pines Court
National Marine Fisheries Service
Southwest Fisheries Science Center
3333 North Torrey Pines Court
La Jolla, California 92037
858-546-7000
The meeting is physically accessible to people with disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids should be directed to Mr. Kris Kleinschmidt at 503-820-2280, at least five days prior to the meeting date.
For further information about the work session, please contact Dr. Kit Dahl at 503-820-2280, ext. 422; toll free 1-866-806-7204.
Thursday, November 8th, 2012
Appointments to Council Advisory Bodies
At its November meeting, the Council made the following appointments for the 2013-2015 advisory body term. For more information on the nomination process and those nominated, see the November briefing book materials.
Coastal Pelagic Species Advisory Subpanel
California Commercial Seats
Oregon Commercial Seat
Washington Commercial Seat
California Processor Seat
Oregon Processor Seat
Washington Processor Seat
California Sport/Charter Seat
Conservation Seat
California Seats
Oregon Seats
Washington Seats
Fixed Gear At-Large Seats
Bottom Trawl Seat
Mid-Water Trawl Seat
Trawl At-Large Seats
Open Access South of Cape Mendocino Seat
Open Access North of Cape Mendocino Seat
Processors At-Large Seats
At-Sea Processor Seat
California Charter South of Point Conception Seat
California Charter North of Point Conception Seat
Oregon Charter Seat
Washington Charter Seat
Sport Fisheries At-Large Seats
Conservation Seat
Tribal Seat
Highly Migratory Species Advisory Subpanel
Commercial Troll Seat
Commercial Purse Seine Seat
Commercial Gillnet Seat
Commercial Fisheries At-Large Seats
Processor South of Cape Mendocino Seat
Processor North of Cape Mendocino Seat
California Charter Seat
Washington/Oregon Charter Seat
Private Sport Seat
Conservation Seat
Public At-Large
California Troll Seat
Oregon Troll Seat
Washington Troll Seat
Commercial Gillnet Seat
Processor Seat
California Charter Seat
Oregon Charter Seat
Washington Charter Seat
California Sport Seat
Oregon Sport Seat
Washington Sport Seat
Idaho Sport Seat
Washington Tribal Seat
California Tribal Seat
Conservation Seat
Commercial Fishery Seat
Sport Fishery Seat
Conservation Seat
Northwest or Columbia River Tribal Seat
California Tribal Seat
Public At-Large
Scientific and Statistical Committee
Coastal Pelagic Species Management Team
Tribal Seat
Monday, November 5th, 2012
Just a Reminder! If you ever wonder what agenda item the Council is on during a Council meeting, wonder no more. The status of the Council meeting agenda is posted on Twitter at @PFMCagenda. See how to sign up for cell phone notifications here. You can also follow the regular Council Twitter feed at @PacificCouncil.
Wednesday, October 17th, 2012
The Briefing Book for the November 2012 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.
Wednesday, October 17th, 2012
The proceedings of the 2011 U.S. West Coast Swordfish Workshop: Working Towards Sustainability are now available online at the Workshop website: http://swr.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfws/index.html or directly at: http://swr.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfws/proceedings.html
Monday, October 15th, 2012
The U.S. Coast Guard would like to remind all fishing vessel owners and operators regarding an upcoming change to fishing vessel safety requirements, involving new mandates established by the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010. Beginning October 16th, 2012, all commercial fishing, fish tender and fish processing vessels that operate (or transit) more than 3 nautical miles offshore must be able to demonstrate full compliance with the existing fishing industry vessel safety regulations found in 46 C.F.R. Part 28, via a mandatory safety examination. While there are a few options of how to demonstrate this compliance, having a current Commercial Fishing Vessel Safety Decal (not more than 2 years old), is the most straightforward method. For further information regarding this change, please see the following link: http://www.uscg.mil/d13/cfvs/. The website contains a copy of the letter from U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters with information regarding this change, as well as a Commercial Fishing Vessel Safety Checklist Generator, which will allow vessel owners to see what equipment their vessels are required to have. The website also provides contact information for local Coast Guard Fishing Vessel Safety Coordinators and Dockside Examiners.
For further information, please contact Mr. Dan Hardin (Coast Guard District 13 Fishing Vessel Safety Coordinator): 206-220-7226; daniel.e.hardin@uscg.mil.
