Friday, November 30th, 2012

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold an online webinar to develop alternatives for determining the status of groundfish stocks based on results of data-moderate assessments.  The online Groundfish Status Determination Criteria for Data-Moderate Stocks webinar is open to the public, although space for online access is limited to the first 100 participants.

The Groundfish Status Determination Criteria for Data-Moderate Stocks webinar will commence at 9 a.m. PST, Friday, December 21, 2012 and continue until noon or as necessary to complete business for the day.

The purpose of the Groundfish Status Determination Criteria for Data-Moderate Stocks webinar is to develop alternative status determination criteria for stocks that are assessed using new data-moderate methods adopted last year for use in the 2013 assessment cycle.  No management actions will be decided in this workshop.  Any recommendations developed at the workshop will be submitted for consideration by the Council at its March 2013 meeting in Tacoma, Washington.

NEW! Webinar Materials

• Assessment Methods for Data-Moderate Stocks (Report of the Methodology Review Panel Meeting), 26-29 June 2012
• PowerPoint Presentation: Determining Status of Data Moderate Stocks, Webinar Presentation, December 21, 2012

Webinar Reservations

To attend the Groundfish Status Determination Criteria for Data-Moderate Stocks webinar, please reserve your seat by visiting https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/260816698.  If requested, enter your name, email address, and the webinar id, which is 260-816-698.  Once registered, participants will receive a confirmation e-mail message that contains detailed information about viewing the event.  To only join the audio teleconference of the Groundfish Status Determination Criteria for Data-Moderate Stocks webinar from the U.S. or Canada, call the toll number 1-415-655-0051 (note: this is not a toll-free number) and use the access code 260-374-057 when prompted.

Public Listening Stations

Public listening stations for the Groundfish Status Determination Criteria for Data-Moderate Stocks webinar will also be available at the following locations:

Southwest Fisheries Science Center
Large Conference Room (Room 188)
110 Shaffer Rd.
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Driving Directions

Pacific Fishery Management Council
Large Conference Room
7700 N.E. Ambassador Place, Suite 101
Portland, OR 97220-1384
Driving Directions

Northwest Fisheries Science Center
Auditorium
2725 Montlake Blvd. E.
Seattle, WA 98112
Driving Directions

Members of the general public who are not National Marine Fisheries Service employees need to provide photo identification to attend the webinar at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center.  Foreign nationals without green cards intending to attend the webinar at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center must notify Dr. Jim Hastie (206-860-3412) at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center at least one week prior to the webinar.

Public comments during the webinar will only be received from attendees at one of the three public listening stations, although participants who have pre-registered can listen in on the proceedings online from remote locations.

Additional Information

For further information regarding the webinar subject matter, as well as questions about the public listening stations, please contact Mr. John DeVore (503-820-2280). If you have technical questions regarding GoToMeeting, please contact Sandra at 503-820-2419.

If you would like to be notified of future meetings via email, please sign up for the PFMC E-Mail Notification List.

This Council E-Mail Notification List will announce when our newsletters, meeting notices, Notices of Availability for documents, and other Council activities are posted to the Council website.

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.

Posted in Groundfish, Groundfish

Sunday, November 4th, 2012

Groundfish Inseason Actions from November 2012 Meeting

The Council considered recent information on ongoing fisheries and recommended the following adjustments:

The Council recommended adjustments to the proposed sablefish trip limits for the 2013 limited entry and open access fixed gear fisheries for sablefish north of 36° N. latitude. For the limited entry fishery, the limits will change from “1,100 lbs per week, not to exceed 4,200 lbs per 2 months” to “950 lbs per week, not to exceed 2,850 lbs per 2 months” for Periods 1-6. For the open access fishery, the limits will change from “300 lb per day or one landing per week up to 610 lb per week, not to exceed 1,220 per 2 months” for Periods 1-6 to “300 lb per day or one landing per week up to 700 lb, not to exceed 1,400 per 2 month” for Periods 1-5 and “300 lb per day or one landing per week up to 300 lb, not to exceed 600 lbs per 2 months” for Period 6.

Additionally, the Council recommended changes to the Washington recreational fisheries for 2013 to reduce yelloweye rockfish mortality: For Marine Areas 3 (La Push) and 4 (Neah Bay), restrict the recreational bottomfish fishery to the area shoreward of 20 fathoms from May 1 to September 30, except on days open to the halibut fishery. On days that the halibut fishery is open, no bottomfish except lingcod, Pacific cod, and sablefish can be retained seaward of 20 fathoms.

Posted in Groundfish, Groundfish

Tuesday, September 18th, 2012

Groundfish Inseason Actions from September 2012 Meeting

The Council considered recent information on ongoing fisheries and recommended the following adjustments:

• Commercial Sablefish South of 36° N. latitude: Increase the trip limits in the open access fixed gear sablefish daily trip limit (DTL) fishery south of 36° N. lat. from “300 pounds per day, or one landing per week of up to 1,350 lb, not to exceed 2,700 pounds per two months” to “350 pounds per day, or one landing per week of up to 1,750 pounds, not to exceed 3,500 pounds per two months” starting November 1 through the end of the year.
• California Recreational: Prohibit recreational fishing in the Southern Management Area (south of 34°27′ N. lat.) seaward of a boundary line approximating the 50 fm depth contour, as soon as possible through the end of the year.

Posted in Groundfish, Groundfish

Friday, September 14th, 2012

District Court upholds West Coast groundfish trawl rationalization program with favorable ruling on PCFAA appeal challenging the program. Download the Opinion, Filed September 10, 2012.

Posted in Groundfish, Groundfish

Thursday, September 13th, 2012

The Pacific Fishery Management Council’s (Council) Groundfish Management Team (GMT) will hold a work session which is open to the public.

The GMT meeting will be held Tuesday, October 2, 2012 from 1 p.m. until business for the day is completed. The GMT meeting will reconvene Wednesday, October 3 through Thursday, October 4 from 8:30 a.m. until business for each day has been completed.

The primary purpose of the GMT working meeting is to develop recommendations regarding the use of descending devices to recompress rockfish encountered in west coast recreational fisheries. Further, the GMT will discuss potential survival estimates for cowcod and yelloweye rockfish released using descending devices.  The GMT may also address other assignments relating to groundfish management.  No management actions will be decided by the GMT.  The GMT’s task will be to develop recommendations for consideration by the Council at its November meeting in Costa Mesa, California.

The meeting will be held at the following location:

Pacific Fishery Management Council
Large Conference Room
7700 NE Ambassador Place, Suite 101
Portland, OR, 97220-1384
Telephone: 503-820-2280

If you have further questions regarding the GMT meeting, please contact Ms. Kelly Ames or >Mr. John DeVore at 503-820-2280 or 1-866-806-7204.

This 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.

Posted in Groundfish, Groundfish