Tuesday, September 7th, 2010
The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) is seeking a qualified candidate to serve in a nonvoting position on its Groundfish Allocation Committee (GAC) to represent the conservation community. Visit the Council’s Advisory Body Vacancies webpage for further information. The deadline to submit nominations is October 13, 2010.
Wednesday, September 1st, 2010
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.
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010
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.
Wednesday, August 18th, 2010
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.
Tuesday, August 17th, 2010
The Pacific Fishery Management Council and its advisory bodies will meet September 10-16 in Boise, Idaho, to address issues related to salmon, Pacific halibut, groundfish, coastal pelagic species, highly migratory species, habitat matters, and marine protected areas. Visit the Current Council Meeting webpage for more details. Please note, some advisory bodies will begin meeting on September 10, Council session begins September 11.
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010
The summer edition of the Pacific Council News is now available on our website.
Thursday, June 24th, 2010
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.
Thursday, June 24th, 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.
Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010
The June 2010 Council Meeting Decision Document is now available. The Council Decision Document is a basic summary of decisions made at Council meetings.
Saturday, June 12th, 2010
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.
