Action Type: FMP Amendment

  • Action in Development: FMP Amendment – Sardine Stock Definition Revision

    In November 2025, the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) scoped an action to revise the stock definition specified in the Coastal Pelagic Species Fishery Management Plan’s (CPS FMP) Fishery Management Unit (FMU; Table 1-1 in the CPS FMP). The Council scoped this action to re-evaluate the FMU for sardine due to newly published research on…

  • Groundfish FMP Amendment 35: Stock Definitions for Blackspotted, Chilipepper, Redbanded, Rougheye, Widow, Yelloweye, and Yellowtail Rockfishes, and English Sole

    Amendment 35 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP) was completed in November 2024. Under Amendment 35, 7 stocks for 8 managed groundfish species were adopted. Amendment 35 defines stock units, including geographic delineations within the jurisdiction of the FMP, for blackspotted, chilipepper, redbanded, rougheye, widow, yelloweye, and yellowtail rockfishes, and English sole.…

  • Limited Entry Fixed Gear Follow On Actions

    The Council began its second review of the Limited Entry Fixed Gear (LEFG) permit stacking program (i.e., primary tier fishery) in September 2020. In June 2022, the Council completed its review with adoption of the final report, including research and data needs and recommendation for program changes. In March 2023, under Workload and New Management Measure…

  • FMP Amendment 23: Revised Pacific Sardine Rebuilding Plan

    On July 9, 2019, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) notified the Council that the northern subpopulation of Pacific sardine is overfished as the estimated stock size fell below the minimum stock size threshold of 50,000 metric tons. The Council is obligated to develop a rebuilding plan, which must be implemented within two years of the…

  • HMS FMP Amendment 8: Incorporating Essential Fish Habitat Modifications

    The Council initiated a review of HMS essential fish habitat (EFH) provisions in 2020 and took final action approving Amendment 8, which incorporates new and newly available information on EFH into the FMP, at its November 2023 meeting. Periodic EFH reviews are required by the EFH regulations at 50 CFR 600 Subpart J, and this…

  • CPS FMP Amendment 22: EFH

    At its June 2023 meeting, the Council took final action on essential fish habitat (EFH) provisions for CPS stocks. The Council adopted a new CPS FMP Appendix, which includes updated EFH identification and descriptions, life history summaries, fishing and non-fishing impacts, research and information needs, and new maps. The Council highlighted the need for additional…

  • Groundfish Harvest Specifications and Management Measures for 2025-26 (including Amendment 33):

    The Council adopted its final preferred alternatives (FPA) for the 2025-26 harvest specifications and management measure process at their June 2024 meeting. This action also included adoption of a rebuilding plan for California quillback rockfish. The following summarizes the FPA.   1.1 Harvest Specifications The Council adopted default harvest control rules (HCRs) to calculate harvest specifications…

  • Amendment 34: Coral Research and Restoration

    A Draft Restoration Plan and NEPA Evaluation for the YFD-70 Dry Dock (“Draft Restoration Plan”) was released by NOAA for public comment in December 2022 and the public comment period closed March 15, 2023. The Draft Restoration Plan is the result of a Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) process that began after the dry dock…

  • Salmon FMP Amendment 24: Chinook salmon abundance threshold for SRKW

    The intent of Amendment 24 is to clarify the technical process for reviewing updates to the models used to determine the Chinook salmon abundance threshold that may trigger additional management measures to limit the impact of ocean salmon fisheries on Southern Resident killer whales (SRKW). The whales are listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA)…

  • Salmon FMP Amendment 23: SONCC coho conservation objective updated

    Salmon FMP Amendment 23 updated the description of the conservation objective (revised Harvest Control Rule) for Council-managed salmon fisheries on Southern Oregon/Northern California Coast (SONCC) natural coho.  Amendment 23 replaced the current HCR with two new HCRs.  The first limits total fishery exploitation rates (ERs) on each of five individual representative population units within the…

  • Amendment 32: Non-trawl area management measures

    In November 2019, the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) directed the Groundfish Advisory Subpanel (GAP) to develop the scope of action and draft a purpose and need statement for non-trawl area management during the GAP’s March and April 2020 meetings.  The GAP then submitted Informational Report 4 in June 2020 for Council consideration and scheduling…

  • Groundfish FMP Amendment 31: Phase 1 Stock Defintions

    Amendment 31 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP) was completed in June 2023. Under Amendment 31, 20 stocks for 14 managed groundfish species were adopted. Amendment 31 defines stock units, including geographic delineations within the jurisdiction of the FMP, for black rockfish, canary rockfish, copper rockfish, Dover sole, lingcod, Pacific spiny dogfish,…

  • Groundfish harvest specifications and management measures for 2023-2024 (including Amendment 30)

    Amendment 30 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP) was completed as part of the 2023-24 Groundfish Harvest Specifications and Management Measures. Under Amendment 30, a 2,000 mt threshold for shortbelly rockfish bycatch that would trigger Council review of the fishery was adopted.  The Council also adopted changes to the use of block…

  • Groundfish FMP Amendment 29 and the 2021-22 Groundfish Harvest Specifications and Management Measures

    Amendment 29 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP) was completed as part of the 2021-22 Groundfish Harvest Specifications and Management Measures. Under Amendment 29, changes to the allocations of widow rockfish, petrale sole, lingcod south of 40°10 N. lat, and the Slope Rockfish complex, including blackgill rockfish, south of 40°10′ N. lat.…

  • Amendment 21: Housekeeping” FMP Amendment

    In April 2022, the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) initiated a Coastal Pelagic Species Management Team (CPSMT) recommended administrative or “housekeeping” amendment of the CPS Fishery Management Plan (FMP). This idea had initially been proposed in June 2019 by the CPSMT when the Council was developing the management categories action (Amendment 20: Agenda Item F.4.a, Supplemental…

  • FMP Amendment 20: Management Categories

    Beginning in November 2018, the Council embarked on a process to consider removing the concept of categorizing CPS management unit species, specifically the nomenclature of “Active” and “Monitored” (Agenda Item E.5.a, CPSMT Report 1, November 2018). This action was prompted by a perceived lack of clarity regarding the meaning and use of the “Active” and…

  • Coastal Pelagic Species Amendment 19.: FMP amendments to address standardized bycatch reporting methodology requirements

    Federal regulations (50 CFR 600 Subpart R) require all FMPs establish a standardized reporting methodology to assess the amount and type of bycatch occurring in a fishery. The regulations implement Section 303(a)(11) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. FMPs must be consistent with the regulations by February 21, 2022. At the November 2020, June 2021, and September…

  • Salmon FMP Amendment 21: Fishery management measures included to limit impacts on Southern Resident Killer Whales

    In response to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) re-initiating Endangered Species Act (ESA) consultation on the effect of Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council)-area ocean salmon fisheries on Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW), the Council formed the Ad Hoc SRKW Workgroup (Workgroup) in April 2019.  The Workgroup was tasked with reassessing the effects of Council-area…

  • FMP Amendment 18: Rebuilding plan for Pacific sardine

    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…

  • Salmon FMP Amendment 20: Annual management schedule

    At its April 2019 meeting, the Council received a report from NMFS highlighting the challenge in completing the regulatory work needed to implement annual regulations for the ocean salmon fishery, based on the measures developed by the Council each year at its March and April meetings. NMFS encouraged the Council to adopt a long-term solution…

  • Groundfish FMP Amendment 28: Essential fish habitat

    Groundfish essential fish habitat, Rockfish Conservation Area modifications, and Magnuson-Stevens Act discretionary closures Amendment 28 includes a new configuration of areas closed to bottom trawling to protect essential fish habitat (EFH); it removes the trawl rockfish conservation area off Oregon and California; and it includes a deep water closure of groundfish bottom contact fishing in…

  • CPS FMP Amendment 17: Incidental catch allowance in the live bait fishery

    Amendment 17 to the coastal pelagic species (CPS) fishery management plan was approved by the Council in November 2018 and by the Secretary of Commerce in June 2019. Amendment 17 eliminates the predetermined incidental catch allowance in the live bait fishery when a CPS stock is overfished, and instead requires the Council to determine appropriate…

  • HMS FMP Amendment 6: Authorization of a deep-set buoy gear fishery

    The Council began scoping the authorization deep-set buoy gear (DSBG) to target swordfish in March 2016. It adopted a range of alternatives, including a preliminary preferred alternative in November 2018 and took final action to identify its preferred alternative in September 2019. During review of the Council final action NMFS identified several elements of the…

  • Groundfish FMP Amendment 26: Allocation of harvest opportunity between sectors of blackgill rockfish and other species managed in the slope rockfish complex south of 40°10′ N latitude

    In November 2015, the Council took final action to remove blackgill rockfish from the Slope Rockfish complex south of 40⁰ 10’ N. latitude and reallocate blackgill rockfish and the remaining species in the southern Slope Rockfish complex to trawl and non-trawl sectors as follows: No changes were recommended to the accumulation limit for these species.…