Updates

COVID-19 fisheries assistance

NOTE: The Council does not administer fisheries assistance for COVID-19. Please see the links below for resources, or contact the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission.

Recent news

How CARES Act funds are allocated (May 14)
The Midwater Trawlers Cooperative and state of Oregon are conducting a pilot project to test trawl fishermen before they head out to fish. (May 13)
NOAA press release on CARES Act funding for fisheries (May 7)

Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission role

The Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission (PSMFC) is working collaboratively with National Marine Fisheries Service to distribute the funds appropriated by Congress for various fishery disasters. Currently, NMFS has requested the Commission administer the fishery disaster programs.

The Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act identified $300 million for fisheries and aquaculture. The PSMFC has been notified by the Department of Commerce that they will be assisting fishery participants affected by COVID-19 in multiple states, territories, and West Coast Tribes.

The distribution of funds will be determined by the states, territories, and tribes. As details become available, PSMFC will update their website.

Applications are not available at this time. If you have questions please call 877-695-3457 or email fishdisaster@psmfc.org.

State resources

A state-by-state guide to COVID-19 resources (useful!)

Washington COVID-19 websites:
- General COVID-19 information page
- Washington resource list for businesses and workers
Oregon COVID-19 websites:
- Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries
- Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries: Sick time and family leave laws
- Oregon Work Share, an alternative for employers and workers who may be facing layoff. Instead of reducing staff, Work Share allows employers to reduce work hours. Partial unemployment insurance benefits are then paid to supplement workers’ reduced wages.
California COVID-19 websites:
- California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development COVID-19 Response Page for Businesses
- California COVID-19 information page
Idaho COVID-19 business resources

Federal guidance for small businesses, including information on the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program:

Small Business Administration: Disaster Assistance
Coronavirus: Small Business Guidance and Loan Resources
The Small Business Owner’s Guide to the CARES Act. Information on Paycheck Protection Program loans, the Small Business Debt Relief Program, Economic Injury Disaster Loans and Emergency Economic Injury Grants, small business counseling, small business contracting, and small business tax provisions.
The Coronavirus Emergency Loans, Small Business Guide and Checklist. Prepared by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to help small businesses and self-employed individuals prepare to file for a loan.

NMFS publishes proposed rule for 2020-2021 annual specifications and management measures for Pacific Sardine

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) proposes to implement annual harvest specifications and management measures for the northern subpopulation of Pacific sardine, for the fishing year from July 1, 2020, through June 30, 2021. NMFS is accepting comments through June 11, 2020. Please see the Federal Register notice dated May 27, 2020 to view the proposed rule and how to comment.

If you have questions regarding the proposed rule or comment instructions, please contact Lynn Massey, West Coast Region, NMFS, (562) 436-2462, lynn.massey@noaa.gov.

June 2020 Briefing Book

A. Call to Order

A.3 Situation Summary: Executive Director’s Report
- A.3, Attachment 1: Draft Annotated Agenda Council Coordination Committee Meeting Video Conference Call May 27 – 28, 2020
- A.3, Supplemental Attachment 2: 29 May 2020 CCC Press Release; Meeting Outcomes
- A.3, Supplemental Attachment 3: May 29, 2020 Letter to Wilbur L. Ross Jr. Secretary of Commerce
- A.3, Supplemental Attachment 4: NMFS Draft Procedural Guidance for Changing Assessed Stock Status from Known to Unknown
- A.3, Supplemental Attachment 5: Letter from Chris Oliver to the RFMCs requesting that each Council submit a prioritized list of recommended actions to reduce burdens on domestic fishing and to increase production within sustainable fisheries as required under Section 4 of EO 13921
- A.3. Public Comments (If received, Electronic Only)

A.4 Situation Summary: Detailed June 10-12, and 15-19 2020 Agenda via Online Meetings

B. Open Comment Period

B.1 Situation Summary: Comments on Non-Agenda Items
- B.1.b, Public Comments (If received, Electronic Only)

C. Administrative Matters

C.1 Situation Summary: NMFS Report
- C.1, Supplemental NMFS Report 1
- C.1.c, Public Comments (If received, Electronic Only)

C.2 Situation Summary: Fiscal Matters
- C.2, Supplemental Attachment 1: Budget Committee Agenda
- C.2, Supplemental Attachment 2: Executive Director’s Report to the Budget Committee June 2020
- C.2.c, Public Comments (If received, Electronic Only)

C.3 Situation Summary: Approval of Council Meeting Record
- C.3, Attachment 1: Draft Council Meeting Record: 253rd Session of the Pacific Fishery Management Council (March 3-9, 2020)
- C.3, Attachment 2: Draft Council Meeting Record: 254th Session of the Pacific Fishery Management Council (April 4-10, 2020)
- C.3. Public Comments (If received, Electronic Only)

C.4 Situation Summary: Membership Appointments and Council Operating Procedures
- C.4.c. Public Comments (If received, Electronic Only)

C.5 Situation Summary: Future Council Meeting Agenda and Workload Planning
- C.5, Attachment 1: Pacific Council Workload Planning: Preliminary Year-at-a-Glance Summary
- C.5, Attachment 2: Draft Proposed Council Meeting Agenda, September 10-17, 2020, Spokane, Washington
- C.5, Attachment 3: Summary of Non-Essential Agenda Items Postponed from 2020 Council Meetings
- C.5.b. Public Comments (If received, Electronic Only)

D. Highly Migratory Species Management

D.1 Situation Summary: International Management Activities
- D.1.b, Public Comments (If received, Electronic Only)

E. Salmon Management

E.1 Situation Summary: Southern Oregon/Northern California Coast Coho Endangered Species Act (ESA) Consultation Update
- E.1.b, Public Comments (If received, Electronic Only)

E.2 Situation Summary: Southern Resident Killer Whale (SRKW) ESA Consultation Update
- E.2, SRKW Workgroup Report 1: Pacific Fishery Management Council Salmon Fishery Management Plan Impacts to Southern resident Killer Whales Risk Assessment (electronic only)
- E.2.b, Public Comments (If received, Electronic Only)

E.3 Situation Summary: Amendment 20: Annual Management Schedule and Boundary Change
- E.3, Attachment 1: Excerpt from Pacific Coast Salmon Fishery Management Plan
- E.3, Attachment 2: Pacific Salmon Fishery Management Plan: Amendment 20: Proposed change to the preseason schedule and to the Klamath Management Zone boundary
- E.3.b, Public Comments (If received, Electronic Only)

F. Groundfish Management

F.1 Situation Summary: Final Action to Adopt Management Measures and Exempted Fishing Permits for 2021-2022 Fisheries
- F.1, Attachment 1: Year-Round Coastwide Midwater Rockfish EFP: Monitoring and Minimizing Salmon Bycatch When Targeting Rockfish in the Shorebased IFQ Fishery, 2021-2022. (West Coast Seafood Processors Association; Oregon Trawl Commission; Midwater Trawlers Cooperative; Environmental Defense Fund)
- F.1, Attachment 2: California Department of Fish and Wildlife; 2021-2022 Exempted Fishing Permit Application (CDFW)
- F.1, Attachment 3: Groundfish EFP Proposal: Yellowtail Rockfish Jig Fishing off California (San Francisco Community Fishing Association and Dan Platt)
- F.1, Attachment 4: Commercial Midwater Hook-and-Line Rockfish in RCA off Oregon (Scott Cook)
- F.1, Attachment 5: Proposal for an Exempted Fishery Permit, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Enhanced Yelloweye Recreational Fishery Biological Sampling (WDFW)
- F.1, Attachment 6: Monterey Bay Regional Exempted Fishing Permit Targeting Chilipepper Rockfish (Real Good Fish)
- F.1, Attachment 7: Preferred 2021 and 2022 harvest specifications, acceptable biological catches, and annual catch limits for West Coast groundfish stocks and stock complexes under preferred harvest control rules
- F.1, Attachment 8: Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery 2021-2022 Harvest Specifications and Management Measures Analytical Document. Organized as a Draft Environmental Assessment Chapters 1-5 (Electronic Only)
- F.1, Attachment 9: Action Item Checklist
- F.1.a, ODFW Report 1
- F.1.a, GMT Report 1: Shortbelly Rockfish Mitigation Options
- F.1.b, Public Comments (If received, Electronic Only)

F.2 Situation Summary: Stock Assessment Plan and Terms of Reference (TOR) – Final Action
- F.2, Attachment 1: Summary of the NWFSC West Coast Groundfish Bottom Trawl Survey Data for Select Species from 2003-2019
- F.2, Attachment 2: NMFS Assessment Prioritization Workbook (Electronic Only)
- F.2, Attachment 3: Draft Revised Terms of Reference for the Groundfish and Coastal Pelagic Species Stock Assessment Process for 2021 and 2022
- F.2.b, Public Comments (If received, Electronic Only)

F.3 Situation Summary: Electronic Monitoring Program — Final Action
- F.3, Attachment 1: Proposed Electronic Monitoring Program Alternatives Adopted for Public Review
- F.3, Attachment 2: Response Letter from NMFS Regarding EM Program
- F.3.b, Public Comments (If received, Electronic Only)

F.4 Situation Summary: Inseason Adjustments — Final Action
- F.4.b, Public Comments (If received, Electronic Only)

G. Coastal Pelagic Species Management

G.1 Situation Summary: Sardine Rebuilding Plan
- G.1.a, CPSMT Report 1
- G.1.b, Public Comments (If received, Electronic Only)

Ancillary Meetings (Advisory Body and Committee Agendas AND Committee Memos)

Ancillary Agendas

All Committee agendas for the June 2020 briefing book (bookmarked in alphabetical order for easy navigation)

Advisory Body and Committee Memos

All Committee memos for the June 2020 briefing book (bookmarked in alphabetical order for easy navigation)

Informational Reports, General Information, and Membership Roster

Informational Reports

Informational Report 1: Sablefish Management and Trawl Allocation Attainment Committee: Final Report to the Council
Informational REVISED Report 2: Preliminary Assessment of Trawl Under-Attainment Issues and SaMTAAC Alternative Qualification Criteria
Informational Report 3: Annual Report to the Pacific Fishery Management Council; West Coast Enforcement Division
Informational Report 4: Groundfish Advisory Subpanel Informational Report for High Priority Groundfish Items
Informational Report 5: Letter dated April 15, 2020 to Chris Oliver and Barry Thom from U.S. Congress Members re: Request NOAA work with our partners and constituents in the fisheries industry to give them the flexibility they need to protect both their workers and their businesses during the coronavirus pandemic
Informational Report 6: NOAA News: Commerce Secretary Announces Allocation of $300 Million in CARES Act Funding
Informational Report 7: Federal Register Notice; Executive Order 13921 of May 7, 2020: Promoting American Seafood Competitiveness and Economic Growth
Informational Report 8: FY20 Successful Saltonstall-Kennedy Grant Applicants
Informational Report 9: 2019 West Coast Whale Entanglement Summary
Informational Report 10: List of Fisheries Summary Tables
Informational Report 11: Preliminary Report on the 2019 Swordfish Longline EFP Fishery Captains David Haworth and John Gibbs
Informational Report 12: Deep-Set Buoy Gear Exempted Fishing Permit Reports

General Information and Membership Roster

General Information for June 2020: Future Meeting Schedule and Membership Roster

Recent reports

Preliminary Assessment of Trawl Under-Attainment Issues and SaMTAAC Alternative Qualification Criteria

SaMTAAC Final Report to the Council (May 2020)

Southern Oregon/Northern California Coast Coho Technical Workgroup to hold online meeting June 9

This post was generated by and redirects to https://www.pcouncil.org/events/southern-oregon-northern-california-coast-coho-technical-team-to-hold-online-meeting-june-9/.

Budget Committee to meet May 19, 2020

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How CARES Act funds are allocated

(Summarized from a Congressional staff report)

NOAA Fisheries aims to distribute the Sec. 12005 funds as quickly as possible while accounting for regional variability in the size of commercial, charter, seafood processors and dealers, and aquaculture industries. NOAA Fisheries used multi-year averages of annual revenue information from the commercial fishing, charter fishing, marine shellfish and finfish aquaculture, and seafood-related businesses of coastal states, tribes, and territories to proportionately allocate the funding, taking into consideration negative impacts to subsistence, cultural, and ceremonial fisheries during the allocation process.

For commercial fishing, NOAA Fisheries generally used a five-year average of annual commercial fishing revenues as a baseline. Available multi-year averages of aquaculture revenues were also captured in the estimates of average commercial fisheries revenues.

For the west coast, average annual value-added estimates from the seafood sector (i.e., processors, dealers, and wholesalers/distributors) were calculated using regional models. Multipliers were applied to commercial fishing and aquaculture operations revenues to account for the value-add generated by these components of the seafood supply chain (e.g., processing crabs into crab meat). A multiplier was also applied to available multi-year averages of tribal and territorial commercial fishing operations to account for commercial, subsistence, cultural, and ceremonial fisheries. A five-year average of for-hire angler trip expenditures was used to calculate average annual for-hire fishing revenues.

In addition to allocating the funds proportionately based on readily available total average annual revenue data, NOAA Fisheries established a minimum and maximum funding level that each state and territory will receive ($1M and $50M, respectively).

Video review discussions (2020)

NMFS and the Council’s Groundfish Electronic Monitoring Policy and Technical Advisory Committees are developing draft business rules to implement third-party video review. This includes examining the level of video review necessary to audit logbooks and to audit video review providers. Agency staff and advisory bodies are discussing ways to reduce video review to the minimum level necessary to audit logbooks, as well as the decision points for increasing and decreasing the level of video review based on compliance and other factors.