Category: News & events

  • SSC to review ecosystem indicators for Annual State of the CCE Report

    At the September 2019 Council meeting the SSC will review two indicators included in the 2019 Report, “stoplight” summary of ecosystem factors affecting salmon abundance and and one candidate a spatial indicator of bottom contact by trawl gear. The SSC will also review an ongoing ecosystem research leading to forecasts of albacore distribution and abundance…

  • Salmon Advisory Subpanel to Hold Webinar August 14, 2019

    The Pacific Fishery Management Council’s Salmon Advisory Subpanel (SAS) will hold a meeting to discuss and make recommendations on issues on the Council’s September 2019 meeting agenda.  This meeting will be held via webinar, which is open to the public.  The webinar will be held on Wednesday, August 14, 2019,  at 2 p.m. (Pacific Time)…

  • Salmon Technical Team and Model Evaluation Workgroup to Hold Webinar August 29, 2019

    The Pacific Fishery Management Council’s Salmon Technical Team (STT) and Model Evaluation Workgroup (MEW) will hold a joint meeting to discuss and make recommendations on issues on the Council’s September 2019 meeting agenda.  This meeting will be held via webinar, which is open to the public.  The webinar will be held on Thursday, August 29,…

  • Pacific Council News Summer 2019: Enforcement

    Coast Guard gives annual report on West Coast activities The U.S. Coast Guard’s Thirteenth and Eleventh Districts gave their annual presentation to the Council  in June. Some highlights are provided below; see the full report. In 2018, there were 877 fisheries boardings and 11 significant fisheries violations in West Coast waters. About a third of the boardings were…

  • Pacific Council News Summer 2019: Administrative and other stories

    Legislative report In June the Council has received a request from Senator Maria Cantwell for comment on HR 2236, the Forage Fish Conservation Act. The Council responded with a letter emphasizing the actions that the Council has already taken to protect forage fish species. HR 2236 would amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) to require Scientific and…

  • Pacific Council News Summer 2019: Habitat

    Habitat Report Jordan Cove letter In July the Council sent a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on the proposed Jordan Cove Liquified Natural Gas Terminal and Pipeline, which would transport liquified natural gas (LNG) 229 miles from near Klamath Falls, Oregon to the coastal export terminal in Coos Bay, Oregon for shipping across the…

  • Pacific Council News Summer 2019: Highly migratory species

    Highly migratory species shorts Deep-set buoy gear: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) presented an analysis of the biological impacts of a deep-set buoy gear fishery in June. The data comes from observer records and logbooks for deep-set buoy gear exempted fishing permit activity from 2015 through early 2019, and shows how many targeted and non-targeted species were caught with…

  • Pacific Council News Summer 2019: Coastal Pelagic Species

    Coastal pelagic species shorts Proposed sardine rules: On July 1, NMFS published harvest specifications and management measures for the 2019-2020 Pacific sardine fishing year based on Council recommendations at the April 2019 meeting. The biomass estimate of 27,547 metric tons (mt) places sardine in the “overfished” category, meaning the Council and NMFS must develop a…

  • Pacific Council News Summer 2019: Pacific halibut

    Transfer of halibut management authority moves forward Plans to transfer management of the non-Indian commercial directed halibut fishery from the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) to the Council are moving forward. In June, the Council committed to working closely with the IPHC and stakeholders on transitioning the management of this fishery, and outlined the Council’s…

  • Pacific Council News Summer 2019: Salmon

    Council adopts Klamath, Sacramento fall Chinook rebuilding plans The Council adopted Klamath River fall Chinook and Sacramento River fall Chinook salmon rebuilding plans in June, choosing “status quo” as the final preferred alternative for both plans. This means that fisheries will continue to be managed under existing protocols, allowing for maximum flexibility in structuring fisheries…

  • Pacific Council News Summer 2019: Groundfish

    Council, NMFS agree on creating Federal trawl logbook program Earlier this year, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) proposed a new Federal logbook information collection program for the shorebased individual fishing quota trawl fishery that would require a logbook for Federally-managed groundfish species. This proposal was brought to the Council for consideration and recommendations in June.…

  • Ad Hoc Climate and Communities Core Team Meeting, May 30-31, 2019

    The Ad Hoc Climate and Communities Core Team met on Thursday, May 30 and Friday, May 31, 2019 in Portland, Oregon (see agenda). The Team worked on climate change scenario planning and began developing a plan for a Council-focused scenario planning exercise as part of the Fishery Ecosystem Plan Climate and Communities Initiative. The Team was formed in March…

  • Climate and Communities Initiative Spring 2019 Update

    In March 2019 the Council formed the Climate and Communities Core Team (Ad Hoc CCCT) to manage a scenario planning exercise on the topic of shifting stock availability (including shifting distribution) across species, FMPs, and communities across the west coast. The Council expects this exercise to result in the definition of tools, products, and processes necessary to react…

  • Climate and Communities Initiative: 2018 Activities

    In 2018, the following activities took place: Quick Link to the Recorded Webinars and Presentations in the 2018 Webinar Series on Ecosystem Climate and Communities A March 2018 EWG report describing major Council decision types that may benefit from increased ecosystem science input. An April 2018 EWG report with suggestions for issues for discussion at the May 2018 Nature Conservancy…

  • Climate and Communities Initiative 2017 Activities

    2017 ACTIVITIES In March 2017 the Council scoped a potential Fishery Ecosystem Plan initiative to take up in the coming years. They asked the Ad Hoc Ecosystem Workgroup (EWG) to report back in September 2017 with more information to choose between a combined initiative on the socioeconomic effects of fisheries management practices on fishing communities…

  • Habitat Committee

    The Council’s Habitat Committee provides advice to the Council on a wide variety of habitat-related issues. The committee works with other advisory bodies on habitat issues, helps develop ways to resolve habitat problems and avoid future habitat conflicts, and makes recommendations for actions that will help achieve the Council’s habitat objectives. Meetings are open to the…

  • Pacific Council News: Administrative Briefs

    New Council newsletter format debuts The Council is updating the format of its newsletter to make it more flexible and user-friendly. The web-based format uses a “post” style for articles on similar topics, which makes it easier to share articles across platforms and allows third-party news outlets to link to Council articles. In addition, the…

  • 2019: Third-party video review discussed

    In April 2019 the Council scheduled electronic monitoring (EM) items for the June, September, and November 2019 Council meetings and recommended the Groundfish Electronic Monitoring Policy Advisory Committee (GEMPAC) meet as necessary to review National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) procedural directives and program guidance documents. In September the Council recommended that NMFS consider changes to…

  • Pacific Council News Spring 2019: Admin

    New Council newsletter format debuts The Council is updating the format of its newsletter to make it more flexible and user-friendly. The web-based format uses a “post” style for articles on similar topics, which makes it easier to share articles across platforms and allows third-party news outlets to link to Council articles. In addition, the…

  • Pacific Council News Spring 2019: Highly migratory species

    Council explores ways to measure bycatch, interactions in drift gillnet fishery In March, the Highly Migratory Species Management Team reported on the development of new methods to report bycatch rates in the large-mesh drift gillnet fishery relative to performance metrics. Performance metrics provide a way for the Council to monitor the drift gillnet fishery’s bycatch…

  • Pacific Council News Spring 2019: Pacific halibut

    Changes to halibut management may be on the horizon The non-Indian commercial directed halibut fishery may be managed by the Council in the future, in response to International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) recommendations to change the structure of the fishery, citing safety concerns. The Council asked representatives from NMFS, the states, and Council staff to meet…

  • Pacific Council News Spring 2019: Coastal pelagic species

    Pacific sardine assessment shows stock below overfished threshold The Pacific sardine stock assessment approved in April estimated a biomass of 27,547 metric tons, which is below the minimum stock size threshold of 50,000 mt, which corresponds with the overfished threshold. As a result, NMFS is expected to declare the stock overfished in the near future.…

  • Pacific Council News Spring 2019: Groundfish

    Changes to groundfish essential fish habitat, Rockfish Conservation Areas approved In March the Council approved sending groundfish fishery management plan Amendment 28 for Secretarial review. Amendment 28 incorporates changes to groundfish essential fish habitat, trawl rockfish conservation areas, deepwater bottom contact gear closures, and other groundfish fishery and habitat protections. The Council also amended a…

  • Pacific Council News Spring 2019: Salmon

    Salmon seasons set for 2019 In April the Council adopted ocean salmon season recommendations that provide recreational and commercial opportunities for most of the west coast, and achieve conservation goals for the numerous individual salmon stocks on the West Coast. A large increase in hatchery coho over last year will provide a welcome increase in…