In April 2021 the Council initiated the process to consider modifying the non-trawl rockfish conservation area (NT-RCA) to reflect the current status of groundfish populations and industry needs. The (NT-RCA) is a contiguous area closure specific to the groundfish non-trawl sector that extends the length of the West Coast and is bounded by specific latitude […]
On July 9, 2019, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) notified the Council that the northern subpopulation of Pacific sardine is overfished. The Council is obligated to develop a rebuilding plan, which must be implemented within two years of the notification (i.e., July 9, 2021). NMFS determined that the stock was overfished based on a 2019 […]
The California Current Ecosystem (which extends from the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula up to waters off Vancouver Island) supports the economies and social fabric of at least 125 communities in California, Oregon and Washington. As fish populations and the ecosystems that sustain them change in response to climate shifts, there may be profound […]
In 2019, the Council decided to move forward with the transition of management authority of the Area 2A Non-Indian Commercial Directed Pacific Halibut Fishery (directed fishery) fishery from IPHC to the Council and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). In April 2019 the Council was provided with a scoping report that outlined tasks and considerations that […]
Based on issues identified in its first review of the trawl catch share program (review of Amendment 20 to the FMP), the Council undertook a number of follow-on actions (see Section 5.0 of the review document, completed in November 2017). One of these issues was related to gear switching in the shoreside individual fishing quoa […]
Finding cost efficiencies and flexibility for monitoring the trawl rationalization program is a Council priority. In this regard, using at-sea electronic monitoring (EM) to reduce observer costs has been a major focus. In addition, the potential use of EM in lieu of an observer can create a flexible option for vessel operations. In 2014, 2016, […]