June 2026 Decision Summary Document

June 12-15, 2026 

Council Meeting Decision Summary Documents highlight significant activities and decisions made at Council meetings. Fishery management decisions made by the Council are formally transmitted to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) as recommendations and are not final until NMFS approval.  Results of agenda items that do not reach a level of highlight significance are typically not described in the Decision Summary Document.  For a more detailed account of Council meeting discussions, see the Council meeting record and transcripts.  

Cross Fishery Management Plan

National Ocean Service Briefing – Deep Sea Mineral Mining

The Council received a briefing from Dr. Bryan Cole (National Ocean Service (NOS)) on the Deep Seabed Hard Minerals Resources Act (DSHMRA), which establishes the authority and permitting structure for U.S. citizens or companies pursuing deep-sea mineral mining activities outside the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone. Dr. Cole described the technologies and regulatory process for consultations with regional fishery management councils when activities under DSHMRA may affect a council’s fishery resources. The Council’s Habitat Committee and other advisory bodies will keep the Council apprised of developments, and the Council encouraged an open line of communication between NOS and the Council, as new information becomes available. The Council also encouraged partners at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to keep the Council appraised of appropriate opportunities to engage and comment.

Marine Planning

The Council received a report from the Marine Planning Committee (MPC) on several activities and issues described in D.2.a, MPC Report 1. The Council endorsed the recommendations in the report and provided the following guidance:

• Include a standing Marine Planning agenda item at Council meetings in June, November, and March, with MPC webinars in advance;
• Track and engage in potential consultations between NOAA and the Council on offshore mining activities in the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone that may affect Council-managed fisheries;
• Continue tracking offshore mineral mining activities both within and outside the West Coast Exclusive Economic Zone;
• Track offshore oil and gas leasing activities in California planning areas and coordinating with the Habitat Committee (HC) on Council comment letters, as appropriate;
• Coordinate with the HC in tracking the Ocean Rainforest kelp project and developing a Council comment letter, if appropriate;
• Track marine carbon dioxide removal efforts and their potential fishery and ecosystem effects;
• Monitor relevant state marine planning efforts, including Oregon’s Offshore Wind Roadmap and related initiatives:
• Request a briefing on the Pacific Fishing Effort Mapping project, potentially as an all-Advisory Body webinar;
• Support development of an MPC-HC comment letter template for use when comment timelines limit detailed letter production and review.

Special Project 2: Socioeconomic Framework

As part of Council Special Project 2 (Decision Making for Stronger Fishing Communities), the Council considered a synthesis report and draft methodology, developed by a project team from Northern Economics, Inc. This project is in support of a community resilience decision tool to improve the Council’s ability to evaluate the impacts of its management actions on the resilience of West Coast fishing communities. The Council provided written and verbal guidance to inform next steps in the development of a decision support framework, which will serve as an informative tool rather than a prescriptive one, and identified a suite of potential case studies for the project team to select from as they continue to refine the methodology and build out the framework over the next year. Areas of input provided by the Council in its guidance included support for the proposed methods described in the draft methodology, a desire to expand the attributes of resilience that are evaluated by the tool, a request to include qualitative or narrative information alongside quantitative data in developing the framework, and consideration of how this framework will intersect with other analytical documents and processes (among additional recommendations). The project team will present the full framework and draft results from its application to a case study at the Council’s June 2027 meeting.

Council and NMFS Workload—Capacity Alignment

The Council considered a report from Council and NMFS leadership regarding capacity constraints and ways in which the Council could shift priorities and operations to align workload demands with available resources. The Council expressed interest in understanding the capacity demands related to required fishery management functions and those demands which are related to activities which may not be required. The Council further indicated that the report provided by Council and NMFS leadership should be considered a living document and used to help with future workload planning discussions with each Advisory Body under the respective Fishery Management Plans.

Stock Assessment Process Review and Proposed Process Revisions

The Council considered a review of the Pacific Fishery Management Council stock assessment process and provided guidance on proposed process revisions to the stock assessment process. The guidance focused on priorities to be considered for the 2027 stock assessment process and long-term priorities, take into account staff capacity.

Guidance for Priorities for 2027

• Proceed with all “Clarity In Process Navigation” items in 1a in Agenda Item E.3, Attachment 2
• Pre-assessment engagement
  • Expand pre-assessment workshops to include update assessments
  • Expand pre-assessments workshop focus to emphasize stakeholder information, including review of fishery prosecution, and stakeholder input on fishery dependent data used in assessments.
• Develop a plan for sharing assessment results with stakeholders once the assessment is finished but before the Stock Assessment Review (STAR) panel.
• Add an additional Groundfish Advisory Subpanel (GAP) or GAP-recommended representative to the STAR panel process (amendment to the Terms of Reference).
• Task Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) with elaborating on improved communication with Council regarding BSIA determinations
• Explore the development of communication tools that support the non-fishery community

Guidance on Long-term Priorities

• Refine pause/offramp mechanism:
  • Have staff work with appropriate NMFS staff to develop a discussion paper that explores how a pause/offramp could work and remain consistent with Magnuson-Stevens Act.
    • Develop a technical referral protocol that standardizes when the SSC should re-review materials.
    • Detail circumstances when an assessment process should entirely halt.
    • Detail pathways for catch limit setting when the SSC cannot reach a BSIA determination, or when finalizing an assessment that needs additional evaluation that will conclude after the specifications cycle.
• Explore a centralized data portal
• Explore the implementation of the continuum of stock assessments.
• Explore additional communication and educational opportunities for non-expert participants.

The Council anticipates this topic to return in November 2026 for further consideration with a specific focus on the near-term action items.

Final Stock Assessment Plan for 2027, Preliminary Priorities for 2029 and Beyond

The Council adopted the following as the final stock assessment plan for 2027:

Species	Assessment Type	Anticipated Assessment Area(s)
Lingcod	Benchmark	North and South of 40° 10’ N. lat.
Yellowtail rockfish		South of 40° 10’ N. lat.
Redbanded rockfish		Coastwide
Petrale sole	Update	Coastwide
Shortspine Thornyhead		Coastwide
Canary rockfish	Catch-only projection (in priority order)	Coastwide
California scorpionfish		California
Darkblotched rockfish		Coastwide
Cowcod		South of 40° 10’ N. lat.
Sablefish		Coastwide
Yellowtail rockfish		North of 40° 10’ N. lat.
Widow rockfish		Coastwide

For 2029, the Council recommended the following species for potential benchmark assessments, acknowledging that the current list contains more assessments than there is capacity and will likely need to limit the number of assessments when recommending final assessments in 2028 based on data and age structure availability.

Species	Assessment Type	Anticipated Assessment Area(s)
Black rockfish	Benchmark	Oregon and Washington
Bocaccio		Coastwide
Darkblotched rockfish		Coastwide
Shortspine thornyhead		Coastwide
Spiny dogfish shark		Coastwide
Vermilion/Sunset rockfish		North and south of 42° N. lat.
Widow rockfish		Coastwide

The Council also asked Council and NMFS Science Center staff to determine which assessments should occur at which STAR panel, based on the assessor being assigned to the assessment, data deadlines, and age reading needs. 

With regards to the long-term assessment plan and shift from a two- to one-meeting process, the Council provided guidance to staff to use in development of future materials.  A proposed COP for stock assessment prioritization will be brought forward in November 2026. The Council is scheduled to adopt an interim final decision on the ten-year plan in March 2027.

Moving Trawl Gear EFP into Regulations; Updating Declaration Requirements; Removing Duplicative Recreational Regulations  

The Council considered three actions under this agenda item. The first action would modify certain trawl fishery time, area, and gear restrictions in regulation to reflect the current trawl gear exempted fishing permit (EFP) exemptions. The second action would allow midwater shoreside Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) or mothership catcher vessel (MSCV) vessels to change fishing declarations while at sea. The third action would remove Federal restrictions related to the sale of recreational fish waste that duplicate existing state regulations. The Council adopted the purpose and need for all items as phrased in Agenda Item E.5.a, REVISED Attachment 1 as their preliminary preferred alternative (PPA).

The Council adopted Alternative 1, Options 1 and 2 as PPA for the Trawl EFP item. Under Option 1, vessels participating in the Shorebased IFQ fishery would be allowed to use midwater trawl gear targeting non-whiting groundfish outside of the Pacific whiting primary season dates north of 40°10′ N. lat. Under Option 2, vessels fishing with bottom trawl gear between 42° and 40° 10′ N. lat and shoreward of the 100 fathoms depth contour would be allowed to use any legal small footrope trawl gear, including selective flatfish trawl gear, to fish for groundfish.

The Council adopted Alternative 1 for the at-sea declarations action item as PPA with revisions to Alternative 1 wording as stated in Agenda Item E.5.a, Supplemental GAP Report 1 and shown below.  The revision is noted in strike-through text.

Alternative 1: Vessels could change declarations while at sea from shoreside whiting to midwater rockfish (and vice versa) or from mothership sector (catcher vessel) to midwater rockfish. Monitoring type declarations (i.e., electronic monitoring or observer) cannot be changed while at sea. Vessels will need to sort catch by sector and report catch on separate fish tickets (as applicable).

The Council adopted Alternative 1 with revisions noted in Agenda Item E.5.a, Supplemental Revised GMT Report 1 as PPA. The revised language is shown below.

“Regulations would be amended to allow the sale of fish waste (i.e., entrails, skeletal remains, or other parts of the fish not used for human consumption) of recreationally-caught groundfish and defer to state regulations for any rules that may be more restrictive.”

The Council gave additional guidance regarding the midwater EFP south of 40° 10’ N lat. and recommended NMFS consider coho salmon threshold limits for that EFP.

2027-28 Harvest Specifications, Management Measures, and Exempted Fishing Permits – Fishery Management Plan (FMP) Amendment Final Action 

Under this agenda item, the Council adopted their final preferred alternative (FPA) for 2027-28 harvest specifications, including widow rockfish, a suite of management measures designed to attain Council harvest objectives, an FMP amendment, and recommended two EFPs for implementation by NMFS.

The Council adopted the interim FPA harvest specifications from April 2026 as FPA for all stocks and stock complexes except for widow rockfish as recommended by the GAP Supplemental GAP Report 1 and Groundfish Management Team (GMT) Supplemental GMT Report 1. The SSC recommended (Supplemental SSC Report 1) a widow rockfish overfishing limit of 6,239 mt based on the yield associated with B_40%.This approach was determined by the SSC to be a justifiable proxy for maximum sustainable yield, and thus the overfishing limit. The adopted acceptable biological catch of 6,238 mt will be applied over the next two years and was determined to be consistent with National Standard 1 technical guidance for phase-in provisions.

As part of this action, both the allowable biological catch and annual catch limit are set equal to each other at 6,238 mt in 2027 and 2028. The SSC reiterated that the widow rockfish harvest specifications adopted through this approach is justifiable, but is limited to this particular case. A detailed analysis of the widow rockfish Harvest Control Rules are found in Attachment 2 and Attachment 4.

The Council adopted area management modifications as described in Supplemental GAP Report 1 and Supplemental GMT Report 1 They also adopted the removal of several Yelloweye Rockfish Conservation Areas (YRCAs) from regulations: Stonewall Bank Expansions 1 and 2, Point St. George, South Reef, Reading Rock, Point Delgada (North), and Point Delgada (South) YRCAs. Stonewall Bank Expansions 1 and 2 are also Pacific halibut YRCAs. This issue was acknowledged by the Council and will require concurrent changes to the Pacific halibut regulations. The Council adopted as FPA a measure to remove the 150 fm Non-Trawl Rockfish Conservation Area (RCA) boundary line around Lasuen Knoll and revise the Federal language regarding the exemption of this Non-Trawl RCA line. Further, the Council adopted regulatory text modification in the Federal non-trawl trip limit tables to reflect the RCA boundary change around Lasuen Knoll. Additionally, the Council adopted as FPA a measure to modify the 20-fathom line in Washington Marine Area 4A, as detailed in Attachment 2.

The Council adopted a method to calculate  amounts for research and incidental open access set-asides for 2027-28 as described in Supplemental GAP Report 1 and Supplemental GMT Report 1. The Council adopted custom amounts for yelloweye rockfish and petrale sole research set-asides. There are no exempted fishing permit set-asides requested for 2027-28. The Council adopted the resultant fishery harvest guidelines (HGs), which are the annual catch limit minus the set-asides (see  Appendix 2 of Supplemental GMT Report 1) The Council also adopted the Tribal set-asides from Supplemental Tribal Report 1 as FPA.

The Council adopted the status quo recreational annual catch target (ACT) copper rockfish south of 34° 27′ N. lat. and non-trawl ACT for shortspine thornyhead north of 34° 27′ N. lat. (i.e., 25 percent of the non-trawl allocation) as FPA. The Council also adopted as FPA, recreational ACTs for California quillback rockfish (statewide), vermilion/sunset rockfish south of 40° 10′ N. lat., and lingcod south of 40° 10′ N. lat. as described in Supplemental GAP Report 1 and Supplemental GMT Report 1.

The Council adopted status quo two-year trawl and non-trawl allocations for all biennially allocated stocks and stock complexes (big skate, bocaccio south of 40° 10′ N. lat., cowcod south of 40° 10′ N. lat., lingcod south of 40° 10′ N. lat., longnose skate, petrale sole, shelf rockfish complex north of 40° 10′ N. lat., shelf rockfish complex south of 40° 10′ N. lat., shortspine thornyhead, widow rockfish), except for slope rockfish complex south of 40° 10′ N. lat as described in Supplemental GAP Report 1 and Supplemental GMT Report 1.. For the slope rockfish complex south of 40° 10′ N. lat, the Council considered four allocation options and ultimately adopted Option 4 as FPA. Option 4 adjusts the allocation by using five-year average of mortality to calculate blackgill rockfish and “other slope rockfish” (i.e., all other slope rockfish species excluding blackgill rockfish) share proportions (see Supplemental GMT Report 1 for detail). The Council also adopted status quo non-trawl allocations for cowcod south of 40° 10′ N. lat. and bocaccio south of 40° 10′ N. lat. as described in Supplemental GAP Report 1 and Supplemental GMT Report 1.

As described in Supplemental GAP Report 1 and Supplemental GMT Report 1, the Council adopted research set-asides using the rolling 5-year median, no set-asides for EFPs (as none were requested), and a recreational set-aside of 50 mt for sablefish north of 36° N lat. as FPA. For sablefish south of 36° N. lat., the Council adopted a rolling 5-year median to calculate research and Incidental Open Access set-asides and a recreational fishery set-aside of 10 mt as FPA. The Council also adopted status quo shares for limited entry and open access fixed gear as FPA.

For yelloweye rockfish, the Council adopted the status quo biennial trawl/non-trawl allocation, non-trawl sharing percentages for yelloweye rockfish as recommended by the GMT (Agenda Item Supplemental GMT Report 1) and GAP (Supplemental GAP Report 1). The Council also adopted, as PPA, the non-trawl ACTs at 78.4 percent of the HG and the resulting sector-specific shares as shown in Attachment 2.

For canary rockfish, the Council adopted status quo biennial Trawl/Non-Trawl allocations and within non-trawl harvest guidelines as recommended by the GMT (Supplemental GMT Report 1) and GAP (Supplemental GAP Report 1). as FPA. The Council adopted the at-sea set-asides as shown in Attachment 2 and the status quo IFQ trip limits for non-IFQ stocks as FPA. The Council adopted commercial limited entry and open access fixed gear trip limit as recommended by the GMT (Supplemental GMT Report 1) and GAP (Supplemental GAP Report 1) — see Appendix 3 of Supplemental GMT Report 1 for detail.

The Council adopted the recreational groundfish measures for California, Oregon, and Washington as recommended by the GMT (Supplemental GMT Report 1) and GAP (Supplemental GAP Report 1).  For Washington, the Council adopted adopt status quo management measures (described in tables 14-1 and 14-9 of Attachment 2) and modifications to depth restrictions, and canary and yelloweye rockfish sub-bag limits as detailed in described Supplemental WDFW Report 1.  For Oregon, the Council adopted the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s recommendation as FPA, as shown in Supplemental ODFW Report 1, Table 2. ODFW’s 2027-28 recreational management measures include a sub-bag limit of five canary rockfish and one yelloweye rockfish. For California, the Council adopted PPA as FPA. California recreational groundfish fishery management includes sub-bag limit and specific seasons for cowcod and yelloweye rockfish. Detailed descriptions of the 2027-28 recreational management measures can be found in Attachment 2).

The Council adopted the draft Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP amendment language, which removes the rebuilding plans for yelloweye rockfish and California quillback rockfish from the text, and corrections to FMP table 3-2 as FPA. These revisions are detailed in Attachment 6.

The Council recommended implementation of West Coast Seafood Processors Association and Oregon Trawl Commission year-round trawl gear EFP (Supplemental Attachment 9) for the area north of 40° 10’ N lat. until expected future implementation into regulations and for the area south of 40° 10’ N lat. for the entire biennium. The Council also gave guidance to NMFS regarding including coho salmon threshold limits for the EFP south of 40° 10’ N lat. Additionally, the Council recommended implementation of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife fishery dependent biological data collection (Attachment 5).

Stock Assessment Terms of Reference for 2027-28

The Council reviewed and adopted the detailed outline of the Terms of Reference for groundfish stock assessments as shown in Attachment 1 for final adoption in November 2026, and requested that recommendations from the GAP also be included (Agenda Item E.7.a, Supplemental GAP Report 1, June 2026) and SSC (Agenda Item E.7.a, Supplemental SSC Report 1, June 2026):

• Prepare one-page, at-a-glance summaries for stock assessments. This request will be addressed in coordination with the Science Centers and may be more appropriately handled outside of the Terms of Reference.
• Develop criteria for changes in stock assessment type
• Keep the executive summary content of the stock assessment documents robust and consistent with previous assessments.
• Develop a GAP-led appendix as living document with first iteration completed prior to the pre-assessment workshops (e.g., in November-December timeframe of even years). The final document would be available for inclusion in STAR panel report.
• Request that risk tables be prepared as part of the stock assessment, noting that use of risk tables will be considered and developed as part of the November 2026 risk management agenda item.
• Prepare alternative catch streams for potential use in management.

The full Terms of Reference will return for Council consideration and adoption in November 2026.

Habitat Issues

Habitat Issues

The Council considered the F.1.a, Supplemental Habitat Committee Report 1 and provided guidance, including the following:

• Requested a follow-up discussion with BOR leadership regarding Action 5, Initiative 6 and related operational changes;
• Tasked the Executive Director with determining a path forward to convey the Council’s concerns about the dismantling of the Ocean Observatories Iniative.  This could include sending a letter to the National Science Foundation, and could be developed in collaboration with the Council Coordination Committee;
• Requested that the HC be included in relevant discussions and activities such as the Dynamic Ocean Management workshop and other activities under Special Projects 1 and 3.

Highly Migratory Species Management

National Marine Fisheries Service Report

NMFS provided updates (G.1.a, NMFS Report 1) on deep-set buoy gear (DSBG) permit applications, a Federal Register notice for a ring gear EFP the Council endorsed at its March 2026 meeting, and two EFP applications recently submitted to NMFS but not yet determined to be complete.  The two EFP applicants referenced in the NMFS Report attended the joint Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Management Team and Advisory Subpanel webinar and received informal feedback. 

International Management

The Council discussed current issues related to HMS fisheries and noted several pending issues and decisions to be considered at international forums. These include establishing a Pacific bluefin tuna management regime and a potential revised management regime for North Pacific albacore tuna, among others.  The Council endorsed the recommendations in Agenda Item G.2, Supplemental Report 1 and Report 2, and directed that those recommendations be transmitted to NMFS for inclusion in relevant meeting materials of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Convention (IATTC), the WCPFC Northern Committee (NC), and the Joint Working Group of the WCPFC NC and the IATTC.  The Council noted that management decisions adopted by regional fishery management organizations (RFMO) apply within their respective convention areas, which do not include waters off Alaska.  The Council also noted, in reference to Supplemental HMSAS Report 2, that the term “artisanal fisheries” is not defined by these RFMOs. However, vessels in the U.S. South Pacific albacore fleet are much smaller than those of some other RFMO nations active in that fishery.

Administrative Matters

Membership Appointments and Council Operating Procedures (COP)

The Council made the following appointments

Council Officers

Mr. Pete Hassemer was elected as Council Chair and Mr. Butch Smith and Ms. Christa Svensson as Council Vice Chairs for the August 11, 2026 – August 10, 2027 term.

Budget Committee

Ms. Lynn Mattes will replace Mr. Brad Pettinger, after Mr. Pettinger’s Council term ends on August 10, 2026.

Council Advisory Body Appointments

• Ms. Michele Conrad to the Ecosystem Advisory Subpanel, Washington At-Large
• Mr. Rex Leach to the Groundfish Advisory Subpanel, Trawl At-Large
• Ms. Donna Kalez to the Habitat Committee, At-Large
• Mr. Brandon Rogers to the 1 Northwest or Columbia River tribal position, Habitat Committee
• Dr. Ed Weber to the Scientific and Statistical Committee, At-Large

The Council directed staff to readvertise for the following positions

• Coastal Pelagic Species Advisory Subpanel – 1 Processor representative
• Ecosystem Advisory Subpanel – 1 At-Large representative
• Groundfish Advisory Subpanel – 1 Open Access South of Mendocino position
• Scientific and Statistical Committee – 2 At-Large positions. All applications are welcome but experience in economics, social science, groundfish, coastal pelagic species, and salmon is desired.

The Council adopted revised Terms of Reference for the Sacramento River Fall Chinook Workgroup (Agenda Item C.4, Attachment 1) to include their participation in the Sacramento River Fall Chinook Revised SMSY Peer Review Meeting, which is scheduled for August 19 and 20 in Sacramento, California (and online).

The Council adopted revisions to Council Operating Procedure (COP) 20, Protocol for Consideration of Exempted Fishing Permits (EFPs) for Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Fisheries (Agenda Item C.4, Attachment 3), except for the proposed changes to Section D regarding EFP applicant eligibility. Council staff will work with the Enforcement Consultants, NOAA Fisheries, and the Office of Law Enforcement to revise this section to reflect current practices and to assess whether the review can occur earlier, before the Council makes recommendations on EFPs.

Because Section D also appears in COPs 19, 23, and 24 and applies across all Council-managed Fishery Management Plans and Fishery Ecosystem Plans, revised eligibility language in Section D will be brought forward at a future meeting under a Cross FMP agenda item. That effort will also consider whether to include the revised Section D language in COP 18, Protocol for Industry-Sponsored Salmon Test Fishery Proposals.