The Council is currently considering three management measures that would apply to vessels participating in the non-Tribal directed commercial Pacific halibut (DC halibut) fishery and vessels landing Pacific halibut in the DC halibut fishery and incidentally in the salmon troll fishery and primary sablefish fishery north of Point Chehalis, WA.

The measures under consideration are:

(1) Requiring all vessels participating in the DC halibut fishery to carry and operate a vessel monitoring system (VMS) unit;

(2) Requiring all vessels in the DC halibut fishery using bottom longline gear to use seabird avoidance gear when setting fishing gear; and

(3) Revising fish receiving ticket requirements to specify both the pounds and number (count) of Pacific halibut landed in the DC halibut fishery and incidentally in the salmon troll and primary sablefish fishery north of Point Chehalis are recorded.

The above actions were originally recommended by the Enforcement Consultants (EC). The EC were having trouble distinguishing between vessels that were keeping both Pacific halibut and groundfish (and therefore subject to VMS and streamer line requirements) and vessels not keeping groundfish (and therefore not subject to VMS and streamer line requirements). Because of the similarities between these two types of vessels and differences in regulatory requirements, the EC were having difficulty determining if closed area or streamer line violations were occurring. The Council recognized that if the VMS requirements in place for groundfish vessels are unenforceable, the intended benefits of closed areas and essential fish habitat may not be fully realized. The Council also recognized that, given the similarity in gear types used by these two groups of vessels, implementing seabird avoidance measure requirements on vessels not already subject to them could provide additional protections to seabirds.

In September 2024, the Council reviewed a draft analysis of the impacts of the above items (September Council Meeting, Agenda Item F.2, Attachment 1) and adopted a range of alternatives and preliminary preferred alternative for the requirement to implement seabird avoidance measure requirements (see September 20204 Decision Summary Document). The Council is anticipated to take final action in November 2024.