Climate and Communities Initiative climate change scenarios

The Council developed four scenarios to explore the implications of climate change to 2040 in the California Current Ecosystem. These scenarios were used in a series of four regionally-focused workshops conducted between mid-December 2020 to early February 2021. 

First, you should view this 10-minute video that will give you a high-level view of the scenario planning process and the four scenarios

Second, read this preface document. It provides a brief introduction to the scenarios.

Preface: scenarios for West Coast Fisheries 2040

PRELIMINARY DRAFT NOVEMBER 2020 MOTIONS IN WRITING

Cautionary Note — These preliminary motions do not represent the final official administrative record. The motions and amendments contained in this blog are as projected on the screen at the Council meeting at the time of the Council vote and often use expedited language and references without the benefit of any final editing or proofing. They may use short-hand language or abbreviations that may not be clear without the context of verbal comments and clarifications made during their development at the meeting, or may contain inadvertent transposition errors. They have not been approved by the Council to represent the final official record of Council action. The final official record will be posted on the Council website after the Council approves the full meeting record at a future Council meeting.

Climate change scenario planning online workshops

The Council conducted four regionally-focused online workshops as part of its Fishery Ecosystem Plan Climate and Communities Initiative from mid-December 2020 to early February 2021. Based on four climate change scenarios developed in 2020, workshop participants identified specific challenges that could be faced by West Coast fisheries, fishing communities, fishery managers, and scientists in these regions. Participants also identified potential actions that the Council and other stakeholders could take to respond to the effects of climate change in the California Current Ecosystem. The results of these workshops will be reported to the Council in March 2021.

Generic workshop agenda

Workshop recordings and worksheets

Recordings of the workshops are available below, or on the Council’s YouTube page. Worksheets recording ideas generated during workshop sessions also can be downloaded below.

Southern California region (December 16-17, 2020)

Northern California region (January 13-14, 2021)

Washington region (January 20-21, 2021)

Oregon region (February 2-3, 2021)

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

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!)

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

Call for data and information – Essential Fish Habitat Review for Coastal Pelagic Species

The Pacific Fishery Management Council, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), and the NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center have initiated a review of essential fish habitat (EFH) provisions in the Coastal Pelagic Species (CPS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP).  This call for data and information is intended to support the review.  Information and data sources can include published scientific literature, unpublished scientific reports, information from interested parties, and previously unavailable or inaccessible data. 

The current CPS FMP can be found on our CPS FMP webpage, and the EFH provisions can be found in appendix D of Amendment 8 (scroll to Appendix D, page 373 of PDF document).  The CPS FMP includes the following species:

  • Pacific sardine
  • Northern anchovy (northern and southern subpopulations)
  • Pacific mackerel
  • Jack mackerel
  • Market squid
  • Krill (Euphausid species)

Fishery management plans are required to identify and describe EFH for each life stage and species, identify and minimize impacts from fishing and non-fishing activities, and identify research needs, among other requirements.  A complete description of EFH provisions to be included in FMPs can be found in the EFH regulatory guidance at 50 CFR§600.815(a).  Information and data should be relevant to:

  • The habitat needs, associations, distribution (including maps), and major prey items of FMP species listed above
  • Adverse impacts on EFH from fishing activities and potential minimization measures
  • Adverse impacts on EFH from non-fishing activities and potential minimization measures
  • Cumulative impacts on CPS EFH from both fishing and non-fishing activities
  • Measures to conserve and enhance EFH for CPS
  • Potential habitat areas of particular concern (HAPC)
  • Research and information needs

Information relevant to the CPS EFH review should be submitted to Emmanis Dorval (emmanis.dorval@noaa.gov) no later than Monday November 30th, 2020.  For further information or assistance with submitting large files, please contact Kerry Griffin (kerry.griffin@noaa.gov; 503-820-2409). 

NOAA Fisheries announces emergency action to temporarily extend the primary sablefish fishery season

Published in the Federal Register October 27, 2020: Emergency rule to temporarily extend the 2020 sablefish primary fishery from October 31, 2020 to December 31, 2020. This action is necessary to provide operational flexibility so that vessels in the sablefish primary fishery are able to fully harvest their tier limits despite high economic uncertainty in 2020. This action would also extend the incidental halibut retention allowance provision for the sablefish primary fishery from October 31, 2020 to November 15, 2020 and set the halibut retention limit during this time period at 250 pounds (113 kilograms) dressed weight of Pacific halibut for every 1,000 pounds (454 kilograms) dressed weight of sablefish landed and up to 2 additional Pacific halibut in excess of the 250-pounds-per-1,000-pound limit per landing.

For further information, including how to comment on the emergency rule, please see the Federal Register October 27, 2020.

Request for comments: proposed rule for salmon bycatch minimization measures in the Pacific Coast groundfish fishery

NOAA Fisheries announces a proposed rule to implement measures to minimize incidental take of Endangered Species Act-listed salmon by vessels in the Pacific coast groundfish fishery. The proposed rule will publish tomorrow, October 20, 2020 in the Federal Register. The pre-publication version of the proposed rule is available for public inspection. When the proposed rule publishes, it will be available at the same link.

Public comments on the proposed rule must be received by November 19, 2020.

The proposed rule would:

  1. Establish additional management tools to minimize incidental Chinook and coho salmon bycatch to keep fishery sectors within guidelines;
  2. Establish rules to allow industry to access the Chinook salmon bycatch reserve; and
  3. Create Chinook salmon bycatch closure thresholds for the trawl fishery.

This proposed rule fulfills the terms and conditions of a 2017 NOAA Fisheries Biological Opinion. This proposed rule is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan, and other applicable laws, including the Endangered Species Act.

Please see the NOAA Fisheries webpage for additional details and other supporting information. For Information Contact: Brian Hooper (206) 526-6117 brian.hooper@noaa.gov

Pacific Council News Fall 2020: Coastal Pelagic Species

Pacific sardine rebuilding plan approved

In September the Council approved a rebuilding plan for Pacific sardine, which was declared overfished in June 2019.  The Council selected the status quo (Alternative 1) as the preferred management alternative to achieve stock rebuilding, which takes into account the needs of the fishery, the biology of the stock, and the interaction of sardines within the marine ecosystem. 

Alternative 1 uses existing sardine harvest control rule and management measures, under which the annual catch limit (ACL) may not exceed the acceptable biological catch. The Council typically sets an annual catch target below the ACL to ensure that landings do not exceed the ACL.  

The minimum time for rebuilding if no fishing was allowed (Tmin) was estimated to be 12 years, and the maximum allowable time for rebuilding (Tmax) is 24 years.  The  target time for rebuilding  under the adopted rebuilding plan (Ttarget) is 14 years. 

The rebuilding target is an age 1+ biomass (sardines over age one) of 150,000 mt, which is consistent with the harvest control rule  cutoff value of 150,000 mt.  If the biomass estimate falls below the cutoff value, the directed commercial fishery is closed, leaving only live bait, minor directed, and incidental fisheries as allowable harvest sectors.

The directed commercial fishery has been closed since 2015, leaving the live bait and minor directed fisheries still operating, plus incidental catch allowances in other coastal pelagic and non-coastal pelagic species fisheries. Landings have averaged about 2,200 mt the past five years, with less than 500 mt annually composed of the northern subpopulation (the portion of the stock that falls under the rebuilding plan). Landings of this portion have averaged less than one percent of the northern subpopulation biomass since the closure of the directed fishery.

Although the populations of small pelagic species can be impacted by harvest, they are largely driven by environmental conditions. Thus, there is a great amount of uncertainty in future stock status, with or without the relatively minor amount of harvest the northern subpopulation is currently experiencing.

Under this rebuilding plan, the Council will continue setting annual harvest specifications and management measures each April, based on the annual stock assessments. The Council will track the progress of the rebuilding plan and  NMFS will review the process at least every two years.

Council staff will develop fishery management plan amendment language to reflect this decision and will transmit the changes to NMFS.  Final Secretarial approval of the rebuilding plan is expected to be completed by July 2021.

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