Updates

March 6-11, 2025  

Council Meeting Decision Summary Documents are highlights of significant 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. 

Pacific Halibut Management

Incidental Catch Recommendations: Options for Salmon Troll and Final Action for Fixed Gear Sablefish Fisheries

The Council adopted four alternatives for incidental Pacific halibut retention in the 2025 salmon troll fishery after hearing from the Salmon Advisory Subpanel and the public.  Each alternative included a landing and possession limit of one Pacific halibut for every two Chinook, plus one additional Pacific halibut beyond this ratio.  The possession/landing limit per trip ranged from 25 to 40 Pacific halibut among the four options.  The Council is scheduled to adopt a final alternative at its upcoming April meeting.

The Council’s final recommendation for the 2025 incidental Pacific halibut catch limits in the fixed gear sablefish fishery north of Point Chehalis, starting April 1, is 75 pounds of dressed weight Pacific halibut for every 1,000 pounds of dressed weight sablefish. Additionally, 2 extra Pacific halibut are allowed beyond this ratio.  This aligns with the Groundfish Advisory Subpanel’s recommendation.

Cross Fishery Management Plan

Marine Planning

The Council heard updates on the California Energy Commission’s effort to identify suitable sea for wave and tidal energy projects, with a draft Consultant’s Report expected to be issued for comment soon. The Council recommended evaluating the California Energy Commission Consultant’s report once issued and determine at that point whether to direct the Marine Planning Committee to draft a comment letter for Council consideration.  The Council also discussed the draft cumulative impacts framework included in Marine Planning Committee Report 1 and agreed that while the CIF includes useful information related to cumulative impacts of offshore wind energy development, further work on the cumulative impacts framework is not necessary at this time.

Salmon Management 

Review of 2024 Fisheries and Summary of 2025 Stock Forecasts

The Council received an update on salmon stock status and noted changes based on information reported in the Review of 2024 Ocean Salmon Fisheries.  For salmon stock status, Klamath River fall Chinook continue to meet the criteria for overfished status and Queets spring/summer now meet the criteria for ‘not overfished-rebuilding’. No coho stocks meet the criteria for overfished status.  Based on the most recent data available, no Chinook or coho stocks are currently subject to overfishing.

The Council adopted the stock abundances, overfishing limits, acceptable biological catches, and annual catch limits as presented in the 2025 Preseason Report I, for use in 2025 salmon management, with exception of the forecast for the Oregon Production Index hatchery (OPI-H) forecast.  This forecast was adjusted from 312,551 coho to 493,640 coho due to concerns on the accuracy of the model that produces the forecast.  The model details and concerns were outlined in the Washington and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Joint Statement.

Adopt 2025 Management Alternatives for Public Review

The Council adopted for public review three management measure alternatives for the 2025 non-tribal ocean commercial and recreational salmon fisheries beginning May 16.  The Council also adopted three alternatives proposed by the Tribes for 2025 treaty Indian ocean salmon fisheries.  Details of the alternatives can be found on the PFMC 2025-2026 upcoming season management website. The Council is scheduled to adopt final 2025 ocean salmon regulations at its April 2025 Council meeting. 

In 2025, north of Cape Falcon, Oregon, the range of Alternatives for the salmon ocean season is similar to past years.  Off the Oregon coast south of Cape Falcon, the range of Alternatives is limited due to the low forecasts for key California Chinook stocks, although coho abundance is slightly better than last year.  Off the coast of California, the range of Alternatives offer very limited opportunity, with the third Alternative proposed closed.  Any California fisheries that may occur will be managed with quotas and vessel limits to help assure conservation objectives are met for California salmon stocks.  The Council’s March 2025 News Release provides general information on the Alternatives adopted.

Appoint Salmon Hearing Officers

The Council appointed officers and reviewed plans for the 2025 public salmon hearings.  The Washington and California hearings are scheduled in-person for Monday, March 24, and the Oregon hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, March 25 and will be held online.  Public comment will be accepted in person at each hearing and can also be submitted electronically via the E-portal in advance of the April Council meeting.  It was noted that due to travel and other restrictions, Federal employees would not be able to attend or participate in these hearings.

Ecosystem Management

2024-25 California Current Ecosystem Status Report and 2025 Science Review Topics

The Council received a presentation from the California Current Integrated Ecosystem Assessment Team (CCIEA) on the 2024-2025 California Current Ecosystem Status Report and noted several newly-incorporated improvements to the Report (including some recommended by Council Advisory Bodies in previous years) which continue to make it more accessible and streamlined. The Council also endorsed the Scientific and Statistical Committee’s (SSC) review of two ecosystem science topics, one of which was requested by the CCIEA Team and the other recommended by the SSC. This will entail a meeting between the SSC’s Ecosystem Subcommittee and the CCIEA Team in Fall 2025. Topics to be reviewed are a) incorporation of new data types and indices from glider surveys along the U.S. West Coast; and b) a focused review of short reports on ecosystem status report indicators tailored to specific stocks that can support the development of new risk tables and updates to existing ones.

Habitat Issues

Current Habitat Issues

The Council heard updates on several topics summarized in Supplemental Habitat Committee Report 1 and Report 2, and directed the Habitat Committee to develop comments via the Council’s Quick Response Procedure on the Notice of Intent ( NOI) to develop a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement on proposed revisions to the Columbia River System Operations.  Habitat-related resources listed in the NOI that may be affected include river hydrology, water quality, aquatic habitat, vegetation, and wetlands.  The NOI also includes fisheries, cultural resources, and tribal perspectives and interests as resources potentially affected. The comment period ends May 9, 2025. The final comment letter would be posted on the Council’s Correspondence page.

Groundfish Management 

Implementation of the 2025 Pacific Whiting Fishery under the U.S./Canada Agreement and 2025 Fishery

The Pacific whiting total allowable catch (TAC) is determined in the Pacific Hake/Whiting Treaty process. At the time of the Council’s March meeting, the US and Canada had not yet adopted a coastwide TAC. In past years, this process has occurred prior to the March meeting and the Council has been able to give guidance to the Secretary of Commerce regarding the recommended TAC. As such, the Council gave guidance to the Council’s representative in the Pacific whiting treaty process to have the flexibility to negotiate on behalf of the Council for the best outcome for the fishery. Additionally, the Council recommended to NMFS that future Treaty meetings where the TAC is determined be scheduled before the March Council meeting so the Council can give guidance to the Secretary of Commerce.

The Council also discussed management of at-sea set-asides and expectations for the 2025 mothership at-sea whiting fishery. The Council’s expectation of the at-sea sector mothership and catcher-processor cooperatives is to improve in-season intersector communication to better manage their shared at-sea set-asides. Further, the Council expects each sector to be cognizant of their Co-op’s pro rata share of the at-sea set-asides, noting that exceedances could inadvertently occur as part of the normal operation of the fishery.

Final Assessment Methodologies

The Council reviewed and approved the Accepted Practices Guidelines for Groundfish Stock Assessments in 2025 and 2026, as recommended by the Scientific and Statistical Committee.  This document supplements the Terms of Reference for the Groundfish Stock Assessment Review Process adopted by the Council in June 2024.  Both documents are posted and available for the upcoming stock assessment cycle on the Council’s groundfish stock assessment documents webpage.

Cordell Bank Conservation Area Revisions-Final

The Council adopted a final preferred alternative that would repeal the Cordell Bank Groundfish Conservation Area and implement a new groundfish exclusion area over the Cordell Bank 50-fm isobath Bottom Contact Essential Fish Habitat Conservation Area (see Section 2.2 of Agenda Item H.5, Attachment 1).  Additionally, the Council recommended moving the 100-fm depth contour around the bank into regulation to restrict large footrope gear as recommended by Agenda Item H.5.a, NMFS Report 1.

Phase 2 Stock Definitions

The Council adopted the range of alternatives as detailed in Attachment 1 with no modifications. Alternative 1 would designate the species as in need of conservation and management and would remain in the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP). Stocks of these species would be defined. Alternative 2 would designate the species as not in need of conservation and management and would remove the species from the FMP. Alternative 3 would designate the species as an ecosystem component (EC). The species would remain in the FMP but would not have stocks defined and would not be actively managed by the Council. 

The Council adopted Alternative 1 for 47 species only. These species, and stocks, will remain in the FMP and have their stocks defined. The Council range of alternatives included four options for stock definitions: Option 1 (single stock), Option 2 (two stocks), Option 3 (three stocks), and Option 4 (four stocks).

Of the species adopted only under Alternative 1, stocks of 19 species (Table 1) had previously been defined under Amendments 31 and 35 (in process). No further analysis is necessary for these species or stocks.

 Table 1. Species which had their stocks defined under Amendment 31 or Amendment 35 (not in regulation yet) and will remain in the FMP.

Chilipepper	Petrale sole	Sunset rockfish
Canary rockfish	Redbanded rockfish	Vermilion rockfish
Blackspotted rockfish	Rex sole	Widow rockfish
Dover sole	Rougheye rockfish	Yelloweye rockfish
English sole	Sablefish	Yellowtail rockfish
Lingcod	Shortspine thornyhead
Pacific spiny dogfish	Squarespot rockfish

The Council adopted Option 1, single stock, as their preliminary preferred alternative for all species adopted under Alternative 1; however, some of these species will be analyzed under multiple stock delineation Options. Of the remaining 29 species adopted only under Alternative 1, 24 will be analyzed under Option 1 (Table 2), four will be analyzed under Options 1 and 2 (Table 3), and one species, darkblotched rockfish, will be analyzed under Options 1-3. The next step is to analyze the impacts of the Option 1 stock delineations as shown in Table 34 of Attachment 1 per the A31 process for these species as a means to inform the Council’s decision-making process at the June 2025 meeting.

Table 2. Species which will be analyzed under Option 1.

Arrowtooth flounder	Longnose skate	Rosethorn rockfish	Yellowmouth rockfish
Aurora rockfish	Longspine thornyhead	Sharpchin rockfish	California scorpionfish
Bank rockfish	Pacific cod	Shortraker rockfish	Starry rockfish
Big skate	Pacific hake	Silvergray rockfish	Yellowmouth rockfish
Blackgill rockfish	Pacific ocean perch	Splitnose rockfish
Flathead sole	Pacific sanddab	Stripetail rockfish
Greenstriped rockfish	Redstripe rockfish	Rosethorn rockfish

Table 3. Species which will be analyzed under Options 1 and 2.

Bocaccio	Harlequin rockfish
Cowcod	Greenspotted rockfish

The Council adopted Alternatives 1-3 for 39 species (Table 4). As these species are to be analyzed under the full suite of alternatives, the next step is to identify potential stock delineations and complete the §600.305(c) 10 factor analysis in relation to Alternative 2 and Alternative 3. Stock delineations will be proposed based on the literature review for Council consideration. This section of the National Standards provides 10 non-exclusive factors to evaluate if a species is in need of conservation and management.  Based on the outcomes of the analysis, the Council will contemplate if stocks of these species should remain in the FMP and have their stocks defined, removed from the FMP, or designated as an EC species.

Table 4. Species which will be analyzed under all Alternatives and applicable stock delineations.

Black and Yellow Rockfish	Flag rockfish	Pinkrose rockfish
Black rockfish	Freckled rockfish	Pygmy rockfish
Blue Rockfish	Gopher Rockfish	Quillback rockfish
Bronzespotted rockfish	Grass Rockfish	Rock sole
Brown Rockfish	Greenblotched rockfish	Rosy rockfish
Butter sole	Halfbanded rockfish	Sand sole
Cabezon	Honeycomb rockfish	Speckled rockfish
Calico Rockfish a/	Kelp greenling	Starry flounder
Chameleon Rockfish	Kelp rockfish	Swordspine rockfish
China Rockfish	Leopard shark	Tiger rockfish
Copper rockfish	Light Dusky Rockfish	Treefish
Curlfin sole	Mexican rockfish
Deacon Rockfish	Olive rockfish
Dwarf-Red Rockfish	Pink rockfish

The Council also directed staff to analyze fishery mortality of the current list of 28 EC species in the FMP (Table 5) since 2015, which was the year they were designated as EC species. This information will serve to inform the Council on whether these species’ EC designation should be reconsidered. Table 5 expands on the FMP Table 3-3 to species for endemic grenadier and skates of the Arhynchobatidae.

Abyssal grenadier	Ghostly grenadier	Shoulderspot grenadier
Alaska skate	Giant grenadier	Smooth grenadier
Aleutian skate	Hybrid sole	Soft snout skate
Bering/sandpaper skate	Pacific flatnose	Softhead grenadier
Black skate	Pacific grenadier	Soupfin shark
California grenadier	Popeye grenadier	Spotted ratfish
California skate	Roughscale sole	Starry skate
Deepsea skate	Roughshoulder/broad skate	White skate
Filamented grenadier	Shortbelly rockfish	Yaquina grenadier

Limited Entry Fixed Gear Actions: Gear Endorsements, Cost Recovery, and Other Administrative Changes

The Council recommended the following as the preliminary preferred alternative based on Agenda Item H.7, Supplemental GAP Report 1:

Gear Endorsements: Alternative 3, Create a single limited entry non-trawl endorsed permit. Vessels registered to a permit with this endorsement would be permitted to use any legal non-trawl groundfish gear to harvest their quota.

Base Permit Designation: Remove the base permit designation and associated regulations at 50 CFR 660.25(b)(3)(iii)(C).

Removal of Start/End Time: Remove the start and end times of the sablefish primary season dates (i.e., “noon”) in groundfish regulations.

Permit Price Reporting: Owners of all limited entry fixed gear permits (sablefish and non-sablefish endorsed) would be required to disclose the permit price upon sale to a new owner.

Cost Recovery: Alternative 1, suboption a: Develop a cost recovery program for the limited entry fixed gear tier program in which the vessel owner or authorized representative pays the cost recovery fee.

Additionally, the Council gave guidance to staff to bring back edits to the groundfish FMP that addressed outdated information related to Amendment 6, but maintains the Council policy of providing more opportunity to limited entry participants compared to open access participants.

Workload and New Management Measures Priorities

The Council considered the list of previously proposed management measures, as shown and described in GMT Report 1 and Report 2. They also considered newly proposed measures as described in GAP Report 1 and GMT Report 3.

The Council added two items to the list of new management measures for future consideration which were Rockfish Sorting Requirements (Item C.1, GMT Report 1) and Modifying the Season Start Date for the Primary Tier Fishery (Item D.7, GAP Report 1).

The Council prioritized the development of seven new management measures shown in the table below.

Prioritized Measure	Report
B2: Removal of Selective Flatfish Trawl Requirements between 40° 10’ N. lat and 42° N. lat.	GMT Report 1
B4: Remove Certain Time and Area-Management Restrictions for Midwater Trawl Gear Targeting Non-whiting	GMT Report 1
B8: Commercial Sale of Recreational Fish Waste	GMT Report 1
D1: Mid-Biennium Harvest Specifications Change/Phase In-ABC Control Rule/Green Light	GAP Report 1
D2: Harvest Specifications Framework	GAP Report 1
D3: Big “C” Carryover	GAP Report 1
D4: Multi-Year Average Catch Policy	GAP Report 1

The Council directed staff to develop a report regarding items D1-D4, as shown in the table above, for the April 2025 meeting. It is expected that this report will inform future workload planning.

The Council approved the Best Practices Document (Attachment 2) and recommended it be a living document and to be updated as appropriate. Staff plans to develop a webpage for this process and will post this document to it.

Inseason Adjustments – Final

The Council adopted an inseason adjustment that would reduce the sub-bag limit of canary rockfish from five (5) fish to one (1) fish in the Oregon longleader fishery as recommended by the Groundfish Management Team and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Highly Migratory Species Management

International Management Activities

The Council received an update on the late fall 2024 Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) meeting as well as other international updates. The WCPFC adopted labor standards addressing safety and health, access to clean water, food, and medical care, and other standards described in Attachment 1. The WCPFC also adopted Electronic Monitoring interim standards and conservation measures and catch limits for striped marlin for the first time.

The Council learned that the February 20 stakeholder meeting to discuss North Pacific albacore management was postponed and that negotiations among stakeholders are not occurring.  The Council noted that these negotiations are crucial to the U.S. albacore fleet’s ability to make business decisions and to continue operating throughout the season. The Council expressed hope that engagement among stakeholders will move forward while awaiting formal negotiations. 

The Council also heard an update on the February 2025 Inter-American Tropical Tuna Convention – WCPFC Northern Committee Joint Working Group (JWG) Intersessional Meeting, focused on the management strategy evaluation for Pacific bluefin tuna. The Council should anticipate providing recommendations on incorporating the management strategy evaluation results into the long-term management of Pacific bluefin tuna at the June Council meeting so that views can be considered ahead of the JWG negotiation in July 2025.

Highly Migratory Species Roadmap

The Council considered Highly Migratory Species Management Team Supplemental Report 1, including the draft Highly Migratory Species Roadmap, and assigned the Ad Hoc Fisheries Innovation Workgroup with coordinating future updates to the Roadmap, including any proposed modifications.  The Council also recommended that the Drift Gillnet Bycatch Performance Report be included as an Informational Report in June meeting materials rather than a stand-alone agenda item.  In addition, the Executive Director confirmed that the Council has sufficient resources to support the Workgroup’s future work.

Administrative Matters 

Membership Appointments and Council Operating Procedures

Standing Committees

The Council created an Executive Committee with a limited mandate to provide guidance to the Executive Director for urgent and time-sensitive matters between Council meetings. The Executive Committee is composed of the following Council members

One member from each of the four voting state agencies
The Council’s Tribal member
One NOAA Fisheries representative
Chair or Vice Chair of the Council

Council Advisory Body Appointments

The Council appointed the following individuals to serve on advisory bodies through December 31, 2027.

Ecosystem Advisory Subpanel

Oregon at-large
Mr. Scott McMullen

At-large
Mr. Mark Alan Lovewell


Groundfish Advisory Subpanel

At-Large Trawl Fisheries
Mr. Chris Cooper

Oregon Charter Boat
Mr. Andy Martin

The Council will re-advertise the Tribal seat.

Highly Migratory Species Advisory Subpanel

Commercial south of Point Conception
Ms. Joshlyn Cardoza

Northern Charter Boat Operator
Mr. Jon Yokomizo

Additionally, the Council reassigned Dr. Dan Holland from the At-Large position on the Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) to the Northwest Fishery Science Center position on the SSC. The Council will re-advertise for the three vacant At-Large positions on the SSC.

Ad Hoc Committees

The Council dissolved the following Ad Hoc Committees:

Cost Recovery Committee
Groundfish Electronic Monitoring Policy Advisory Committee
Groundfish Electronic Monitoring Technical Advisory Committee
Equity and Environmental Justice Committee
National Standards 4, 8, and 9 Committee