Habitat and communities blog

Request for Nominations: At-Large Position on the Scientific and Statistical Committee

Thursday, January 12th, 2012

Request for Nominations for an At-Large Position on the Scientific and Statistical Committee

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) is seeking qualified candidates to consider for an at-large position on its Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC). The successful candidate will serve out the remainder of the 2010-2012 Council advisory body term. Please see the Council’s Advisory Body Vacancies webpage for all the specifics. The deadline to submit nominations is February 8, 2012.

Posted in Coastal Pelagic Species, Ecosystem-based management, Groundfish, Habitat and communities, Highly migratory species, Pacific halibut, Salmon

Groundfish Essential Fish Habitat Review Committee to Hold Work Session

Wednesday, December 14th, 2011

The Pacific Fishery Management Council’s (Council) Ad Hoc Groundfish Essential Fish Habitat Review Committee (EFHRC) will hold a work session January 17-18, 2012. The meeting will be held in Portland, Oregon, and is open to the public.

The purpose of the work session is to continue developing the Phase I report on the review of information relevant to EFH for Pacific Coast groundfish stocks. The Phase I report is designed to compile new and newly-available information, and compare it with the suite of information that was used to establish the current groundfish EFH designations. The EFHRC is scheduled to report to the Council at its April 1-6, 2012 meeting in Seattle, Washington.

Dates/times: January 17-18, 2012. Start times are 10:00 a.m. the first day, and 8:30 a.m. the second day. The meeting will continue until 5:00 p.m. or until business is concluded each day.

The meeting will be held in Portland at the following location:

Embassy Suites Portland Airport
7900 NE 82nd Avenue
Pine II Room
Portland, OR 97220
Telephone: 503-460-3000
Driving Directions

Additional Information

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, please contact Mr. Kerry Griffin at (503) 820-2280 ext. 409.

A draft agenda and other materials will be available in advance of the work session.

Posted in Groundfish, Groundfish, Habitat and communities, Habitat and communities

Winter Newsletter Now Available

Thursday, December 8th, 2011

The Winter issue of the Pacific Council News is now available. Please visit the Council’s Newsletters webpage for details.

Posted in Coastal Pelagic Species, Ecosystem-based management, Groundfish, Habitat and communities, Highly migratory species, Hot topics, Pacific halibut, Salmon

Annual Banquet to Honor Mark Cedergreen, Jerry Mallet, and Rod Moore

Wednesday, October 12th, 2011

At each November PFMC meeting, the Council honors its outgoing members for their contributions to west coast fisheries management. This year Mr. Mark Cedergreen, Mr. Jerry Mallet, and Mr. Rod Moore will be honored for their service. The banquet will take place on Wednesday, November 2, 2011. Please see the Banquet Flyer for participation details. Reservations need to be made by October 26, 2011.

You may also contact Ms. Renee Dorval at 503-820-2280 ext. 420 if you have further questions or to make reservations.

Posted in Council Meetings, Groundfish, Habitat and communities

November 1-7, 2011 Council Meeting Notice and Agenda Available

Tuesday, October 11th, 2011

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) and its advisory bodies will meet November 1-7, 2011 in Costa Mesa, California to address issues related to salmon, Pacific halibut, groundfish, coastal pelagic species, highly migratory species, habitat matters, and ecosystem based management. Please visit the “Current Council Meeting” webpage for the meeting notice and agenda details.

Posted in Council Meetings, Ecosystem-based management, Groundfish, Groundfish, Habitat and communities, Highly migratory species, Hot topics, Pacific halibut, Salmon

Elwha Dam removal begins on Saturday

Wednesday, September 14th, 2011

The process of removing Washington’s Elwha and Glines Canyon dams begins this Saturday in Olympic National Park. George Pess of the NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center gave a presentation to the Council’s Habitat Committee yesterday, including a nifty animation showing how the Elwha and Glines dams will be removed.

For more information, see the following links:

Tags: dams, elwha, Salmon
Posted in Ecosystem-based management, Habitat and communities, Salmon

September Council Meeting to be Streamed Live on Internet

Thursday, September 8th, 2011

The September 12-19, 2011 meeting of the Pacific Fishery Management Council will be streamed live on the internet. The live audio will be broadcast starting with the “Open Session” scheduled to start Wednesday, September 14 at 9:30 a.m. Pacific time. Get the September meeting agenda.

To Listen to the Meeting

To listen and view the powerpoint presentations, go to the PFMC Live Meeting link. Please note that your name and email address will be required to join the meeting.

Alternate Instructions to Join the Meeting

If you are unable to join the meeting through the above link, then please follow these steps:

Copy this address and paste it into your web browser:
https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/pacificfishery/join (This Will Launch the “launch.rtc” file)
Enter the Following Information:

Meeting ID: BD7K3S
Entry Code: (Leave This Field Blank)
Location: Choose the following:
https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/pacificfishery

Choose “Join”

Technical Contact

For more information on how to use the Microsoft Live Meeting live streaming service, please see the Quick Reference Guide. You may also send an email to Sandra for additional assistance.

For MacIntosh — If you have never installed the “Live Meeting Web Access Client” on your workstation, please email Sandra.Krause@noaa.gov for those instructions. Please note, the “Live Meeting Web Access Client” does not provide for audio, but you may view the PowerPoint presentations and the agenda flow of the meeting.

Meeting and Content Expiration

After this meeting is over, you may revisit the meeting (“join the meeting”) to listen to the recordings and view the PowerPoint documents presented during the meeting. All Recordings and PowerPoint documents will be deleted from the meeting on December 18, 2011. (Maximum amount of time allowed by Microsoft Live Meeting Service).

If you need your own personal audio copies of recorded Council meeting CDs (MP3 or WAV formats), please contact our recorder, Mr. Craig Hess, Martin Enterprises, phone (360) 425-7507.

Posted in Council Meetings, Groundfish, Habitat and communities, Highly migratory species, Pacific halibut, Salmon

Ecosystem Plan Development Team to Hold a Work Session via Conference Call on the Schedule and Plans for Developing a Fishery Ecosystem Plan

Monday, August 29th, 2011

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) will convene a meeting via conference call of the Ecosystem Plan Development Team (EPDT) that is open to the public. Please note, this is not a public hearing; it is a work session for the primary purpose of drafting a report and recommendations to the Council on the Schedule and Plans for Developing a Fishery Ecosystem Plan (FEP).

The EPDT will meet on Wednesday, September 21, 2011 and Thursday, September 22, 2011 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. each day, or when business for each day is completed.

Public listening stations will be available at the following locations:

Pacific Fishery Management Council
Small Conference Room
7700 NE Ambassador Place, Suite 101
Portland, Oregon 97220
503-820-2280
OR toll free at 866-806-7204
Driving Directions

National Marine Fisheries Service
Southwest Fisheries Science Center
Conference Room
110 Shaffer Road
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
831-420-3900

Driving Directions

The EPDT will primarily address Council requests from the June 2011 Council meeting where the Council approved a draft purpose and need statement and moved to develop an ecosystem plan that is primarily advisory in nature with the potential for expanding the plan to include regulatory authority in the future. The Council recommended continued management of fisheries through existing fishery management plans (FMPs), including potential future management measures for forage fish species. The Council also tasked the EPDT with developing a list of West Coast species that are not currently included in any FMP, that are not under State management, are not listed under the Endangered Species Act, or are species that could be the target of future fishery exploitation.

For further information, please contact Mr. Mike Burner at (503) 820-2280 ext. 414.

Posted in Aquaculture, Coastal Pelagic Species, Ecosystem-based management, Ecosystem-based management, Groundfish, Habitat and communities, Highly migratory species, Meetings and Events, Pacific halibut, Salmon

September 12-19, 2011 Council Meeting Notice and Agenda Available

Friday, August 19th, 2011

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) and its advisory bodies will meet September 12-19, 2011 in San Mateo, California to address issues related to groundfish, highly migratory species, salmon, Pacific halibut, and habitat matters. Please visit the “Current Council Meeting” webpage for the meeting notice and agenda details.

Posted in Council Meetings, Groundfish, Habitat and communities, Highly migratory species, Hot topics, Pacific halibut, Salmon, Uncategorized