Through this final rule, National Marine Fisheries Service establishes fishery management measures for the 2020 ocean salmon fisheries off Washington, Oregon, and California and the 2021 salmon seasons opening earlier than the effective date of the 2021 rule, which is expected to be no later than May 16, 2021, under authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.
For further information please contact Peggy Mundy, National Marine Fisheries Service, at 206-526-4323.
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NOAA Fisheries has issued the final rule that implements the Pacific Halibut Catch Sharing Plan for the International Pacific Halibut Commission’s regulatory Area 2A off Washington, Oregon, and California. This rule also announces that it may be necessary to further modify the opening dates or other fishing days for some subareas shortly after the publication of this final rule, in response to changes in state measures related to the spread of COVID-19.
Please see the Federal Register notice dated May 1, 2020 to view the final rule effective April 30, 2020.
For further information, please contact Kathryn Blair, NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region; phone: 503-231-6858, fax: 503-231-6893, or e-mail: kathryn.blair@noaa.gov.
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In April the Council adopted ocean salmon season recommendations that provide recreational and commercial opportunities for most of the Pacific coast, and achieve conservation goals for the numerous individual salmon stocks on the West Coast. Due to the COVID-19 social distancing requirements, all meetings associated with the decision were held via webinar for the first time in the Council’s history.
The recommendations were forwarded to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for approval by May 6, 2020. “This year’s package includes some very restrictive seasons in both commercial and recreational fisheries along much of the coast,” said Council Chair Phil Anderson. “Uncertainties associated with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on markets, angler effort, and critical catch sampling, coupled with low Chinook and coho forecasts, made structuring the fisheries even more challenging this year.”
The Council heard reports from commercial, recreational, and tribal representatives about the challenges created by the pandemic, including difficulties in selling seafood to reduced markets, recreational fishery closures to protect public health, needed access to traditional food sources for tribal communities, and the inability to plan for the near future.
In March the Council approved the ad hoc Southern Resident Killer Whale Workgroup’s draft risk assessment. A final version, incorporating an executive summary and minor edits, is expected by June.
The Workgroup has been assessing the effects of Council-area ocean salmon fisheries on the Chinook salmon prey base of southern Resident killer whales. This assessment will help inform the NMFS Biological Opinion (BiOp) on the effects of Council-area ocean salmon fisheries on the whales’ Chinook salmon prey base. The Workgroup has begun developing recommendations for management measures based on the Risk Assessment, which will go out to the Salmon Advisory Subpanel and the public for review before the Council gives its final recommendations for a long term BiOp in November.
This topic is tentatively scheduled for the June, September, and November Council meetings. The next Workgroup meeting is April 28 via webinar. For meeting schedules, materials, and other information, see the NMFS webpage dedicated to the workgroup.
On a related note, a one-year BiOp will be in effect for 2020, using criteria described in the NMFS guidance letter. That guidance focused mainly on Chinook stocks in the area north of Cape Falcon, Oregon, as those are the stocks NMFS is most concerned about when abundances are critically low. NMFS guidance stated that if the 2020 forecasted Chinook abundance in the area north of Cape Falcon was equal to or less than average of the seven lowest years of abundance, then the Council should take precautionary conservation measures for all ocean salmon fisheries that affect that Chinook abundance to benefit the whales. The Council adopted 2020 ocean salmon management measures in April (see related article), which were well within the 2020 BiOp requirements.
The Council initiated a process to consider a new management approach for southern Oregon/northern California coast coho. The new approach was proposed by NMFS in response to a court mediation agreement with the Hoopa Valley Tribe, which alleged that NMFS had failed to reinitiate Endangered Species Act consultation on the impacts of ocean salmon fisheries on the stock.The Council formed an ad-hoc workgroup to develop a harvest control rule for Southern Oregon/Northern California coast coho. NMFS provided draft terms of reference and a timeline, which indicates Council final action on a recommendation to NMFS at the November 2021 Council meeting.
Each year the Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) and the Salmon Technical Team (STT) review the methodology used in assessing salmon stocks to ensure that any new or modified methods are using the best available science.
Last September, the Council approved a review of the approach used to forecast the abundance of Willapa Bay natural coho. Unlike most natural coho stocks in Washington state, Willapa Bay natural coho are not listed under the Endangered Species Act, nor managed under an international agreement. Therefore, Federal law requires that the Council establish an acceptable biological catch and annual catch limit on the stock. These figures are typically reported in terms of spawner escapement, which relies on forecasted abundances when seasons are being considered for the upcoming year.
After a full review by the SSC and STT, the Council adopted a new methodology to forecast Willapa Bay natural coho abundance. The methodology was developed by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and is used to forecast other stocks of coho in Washington. It uses an estimate of freshwater smolt production and marine survival and is adjusted for assumed hatchery straying. The SSC approved these data and methods as the best available scientific information for the stock. See the methodology document for more details.
The Area 2A (Washington, Oregon, and California) total catch exploitable yield is 1.65 million pounds, which provides for an expected fishery catch exploitable yield of 1.5 million pounds, the same as in 2019. These values reflect the International Pacific Halibut Commission’s unanimous approval of maintaining fixed harvestable levels in Area 2A for four years (2019-2022) unless a conservation concern emerges.
The decision came at the 2020 Annual Meeting of the International Pacific Halibut Commission, which was held in Anchorage, Alaska, on February 3-7, 2020. The meeting focused on recent surveys and current stock status, the risks and benefits involved with specific harvest choices, and methods for distributing coastwide yield to regulatory areas.
IPHC Assistant Director Steve Keith provided a summary of the annual meeting to the Council in March. Keith will be retiring in 2020, and the Council thanked him for working with them over the years on halibut-related topics. Phil Anderson, the Council’s representative to the IPHC, attended the annual meeting, along with a number of Area 2A stakeholders including tribal, state agency, and industry representatives. He summarized the discussions and results of the meeting for the Council, including an update from the Management Strategy Advisory Board on progress made in developing a long-term plan focused on IPHC’s harvest strategy policy.
Total Area 2A halibut quota is large enough this year to provide for incidental halibut harvest in the commercial primary fixed-gear sablefish fishery north of Point Chehalis. This incidental fishery is allocated a portion of the Washington sport allocation when the Area 2A allocation is large enough. In 2020, the maximum allocation is 70,000 pounds.
The 2020 incidental halibut catch restrictions in the fixed-gear fishery north of Point Chehalis will be set at 200 pounds of dressed weight halibut for every 1,000 pounds dressed weight of sablefish, plus two additional halibut in excess of the ratio. In 2019 the limit started at 200 pounds plus two, but was changed to 250 pounds plus two in July 2019. The objective for the landing limit is to ….
Salmon troll license holders may land no more than one Pacific halibut per two Chinook, except one Pacific halibut may be landed without meeting the ratio requirement, and no more than 35 halibut landed per trip. Halibut retention is open May 1, 2020, through the end of the 2020 salmon troll fishery, unless modified by inseason action. In 2021, halibut retention will start no earlier than April 1, until modified through inseason action or superseded by 2021 management measures.
In 2019 the possession limit started at 25 in April, then changed to 35 on May 1 (the same as in 2020), but was changed through inseason action three times in July to ensure the halibut quota was not exceeded.
In March the Council took another step toward shifting management of the non-Indian directed commercial Pacific halibut fishery from the International Pacific Halibut Commission to the Council and NMFS. The Council approved a purpose and need statement and scope of action for the transfer, and approved a range of alternatives described in the Project Team report with only minor adjustments. The alternatives included preseason and inseason management issues for the non-Indian directed commercial fishery, permitting for the directed fishery as well as other commercial and charter fisheries, and other administrative issues.
Last September, the Council sent a letter to the International Pacific Halibut Commission outlining its plans to pursue the management transition. In November, the Council identified a three-meeting process to solicit industry input and public comment as this topic progresses. This year the Council is tentatively scheduled to approve preliminary preferred alternatives in September and to adopt a final preferred alternative in November.
The NOAA Fisheries Integrated Ecosystem Assessment (IEA) Team presented the annual California Current Integrated Ecosystem Assessment report to the Council in March. Highlights of 2019 ecosystem conditions include:
The Council’s Fishery Ecosystem Plan calls for an annual report on status and trends in the California Current ecosystem.
In March the Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) was directed to review the methodology for four ecosystem indicators used in the annual report: California sea lion pup count and growth rate as an indicator of forage conditions, the habitat compression index, port-specific revenue indices, and the natural origin Central Valley fall Chinook stock indicator. The IEA Team asked for SSC review of the first three of these, while the SSC added the Chinook status indicator to the list. This peer review helps improve the science underlying the indicators. The SSC review will occur at the September Council meeting.
The Council also encouraged the IEA team to continue development of socioeconomic and recreational fishery indicators.
The Council began a review of the Fishery Ecosystem Plan in 2018, five years after its adoption, as required by the plan itself. In 2019 the Ecosystem Workgroup worked on the vision, purpose, and goals and objectives, delivering possible revisions at last September’s Council meeting.
Based on this, the Council circulated proposed changes for public review. In March, they adopted revised versions of the first two chapters of the plan. These chapters include the Council’s vision statement for the status of the California Current ecosystem, the purpose of the plan, goals, and objectives for addressing the Council’s vision, and Council decision-making processes to implement the tenets of the Plan.
The Council also directed the Ecosystem Work Group to continue reviewing Chapter 3 for adoption in September. Chapter 3 describes the physical, biological, and human components of the California Current ecosystem. To help with this, Ecosystem Workgroup membership will be supplemented with the needed scientific expertise.
As part of the Fishery Ecosystem Plan Climate and Communities Initiative, the Council has been overseeing a climate change scenario planning exercise to help plan for the effects of climate variability and climate change.
In January 2020 the Council and The Nature Conservancy jointly sponsored a workshop with more than 80 participants to develop draft climate change scenarios. Workshop results were presented to the Council in March. Over the coming months the Council’s Climate and Communities Core Team will further flesh out the four scenarios developed at the workshop with help from the Council’s other advisory bodies. The Team plans to use these scenario descriptions in stakeholder workshops to be held in the second half of 2020. These workshops will gather information in support of the Council’s planning efforts.
On April 13 the Council sent a letter drafted by the Habitat Committee with comments on the Columbia River System Operations Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). The letter was addressed to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bonneville Power Administration, and Bureau of Reclamation.
The purpose of the DEIS is to update the management of the Columbia River system operations, since conditions have changed since the last EIS in 2002.
The DEIS evaluates impacts to resources in the context of new information and changed conditions in the Columbia River basin. The DEIS also responds to a 2016 U.S. District Court order which stated that the DEIS must ensure that management would not jeopardize the continued existence of species listed under the Endangered Species Act, or adversely affect designated critical habitat. The order states that the DEIS must also strive to improve the survival of both juvenile and adult salmon in the main Columbia/Snake migration corridor.
The Council’s letter expresses concerns that the DEIS does not incorporate the Council’s previous recommendations; does not include an “anadromous fish-focused” alternative in the range of alternatives; does not include an equitable economic analysis of recreational, commercial, and tribal fisheries; does not sufficiently account for the impacts of climate change, or avoid and mitigate increased water temperatures; does not sufficiently assess the benefits of configurations and operations that restore or improve essential fish habitat for salmonids; and that the preferred alternative is not a sufficient improvement over the No Action Alternative and, therefore, fails to meet a number of regional requirements, goals, and objectives for salmon (e.g., Endangered Species Act, Northwest Power Act, Northwest Power and Conservation Council Fish and Wildlife Program Recovery and Harvest Goals, Columbia Basin Partnership Task Force Goals, and state water quality standards).
In summary, the letter states “we find the DEIS (and the preferred alternative in particular) insufficient to provide the recovery actions necessary for ESA-listed stocks, or to provide healthy and harvestable Columbia Basin salmon populations necessary to support sustainable commercial, recreational, and tribal fisheries that the Council’s constituencies depend on. We also recognize there is an urgent need for stakeholders to come to long-term solutions that provides reasonable certainty to the objectives of all interests.”
Bill Douros, Director of the West Coast Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, updated the Council in March on sanctuary activities, programs, and upcoming actions of mutual interest. This annual report from the Sanctuaries gives the Council a chance to coordinate on issues relevant to both the Sanctuaries and the Council.
Douros reported that the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary began its management plan review in 2015 and aims to issue a draft management plan, draft environmental assessment, and proposed regulations for public comment in spring 2020, with a nine-month comment period. No regulations that affect fishing activities have been proposed. He also noted that the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary began its management plan review in 2019.
More information on recent sanctuary activities can be found in the March report.
In March Caren Braby, Council designee for Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, provided an update on marine planning issues, including the annual meeting of the West Coast Oceans Alliance. The Council discussed ways to engage in offshore development plans that may affect fishing activities or fishing-dependent communities. Executive Director Chuck Tracy will discuss the issue with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and provide recommendations to the Council.
In April, the Council heard from Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), and members of the Groundfish Advisory Subpanel on the unfolding impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on fishing communities. A report from the Groundfish Management Team (GMT) summarized the limited information available regarding disruptions to West Coast fisheries.
Noting that West Coast fishing communities are economically and socially linked to year-round groundfish fisheries, an analytical team from ODFW and CDFW explored whether modifications to existing trip limits and rockfish conservation area boundaries could provide relief to limited entry fixed gear and open access groundfish fisheries. Their findings suggest changing certain trip limits and making minor modifications to RCA boundaries could help those fisheries in the near term.
The Council adopted the proposed adjustments despite the fact that the GMT had insufficient time to review them. NMFS agreed to review the adjustments and respond as able, considering agency workload, supporting analyses, and the Council record.
In April the Council took emergency action to add an agenda item for mothership/catcher-processor seasonal processing limitations to its agenda. The addition came in response to requests from its Groundfish Advisory Subpanel and the public to modify 2020 mothership and catcher-processer transfer rules in West Coast at-sea Pacific whiting fisheries.
The industry was concerned about the ability of available mothership platforms to receive and process Pacific whiting this year. A mothership processor decided to abandon that sector at the end of March to reduce its risk associated with the current COVID-19 pandemic, leaving three catcher vessels in the mothership sector without a processing platform. This meant potentially stranding 24 percent of the entire mothership whiting sector’s quota, with an ex-vessel value of approximately $5 million.
In response, the Council recommended that NMFS allow an at-sea Pacific whiting processing platform to operate as both a mothership and a catcher-processor in the same calendar year during the 2020 Pacific whiting fishery. This mitigates the impacts associated with the current processing limitations in these two sectors.
In March the Council reviewed exempted fishing permits (EFPs) submitted last November, which have since been revised. The Coastal Conservation Association California/Okuma Fishing Tackle withdrew its EFP proposal, for which 7 mt of cowcod had been set aside in November. An electronic monitoring EFP proposal expected in March was not submitted, but the Council left open the opportunity for such a proposal at a future meeting. The EFP proponents remaining under consideration are: West Coast Seafood Processors Association, Oregon Trawl Commission, Midwater Trawlers Cooperative, and Environmental Defense Fund; California Department of Fish and Wildlife; San Francisco Community Fishing Association & Dan Platt; Scott Cook; Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife; and Real Good Fish and Environmental Defense Fund.
In June, when the Council finalizes its groundfish specifications and EFP recommendations, it will reconsider the revised EFPs (and possible increases in southern cowcod requests for EFPs) along with public comment.
In April the Council adopted final 2021 and 2022 harvest specifications (overfishing limits, acceptable biological catches, and annual catch limits [ACLs]) for all actively-managed west coast groundfish stocks and stock complexes.
The Council adopted “No Action” alternatives for all stocks, except for cowcod south of 40°10’ N. lat., sablefish, black rockfish in Oregon, and shortbelly rockfish. The No-Action alternative uses the same uncertainty and precautionary policy parameters used in the previous biennium, but applies them to updated biomass estimates. The Council selected ACLs that were more liberal than the No Action alternative for sablefish, black rockfish in Oregon, and shortbelly rockfish. A more conservative ACL was adopted for cowcod south of 40°10’ N. lat.
The alternatives can be found in tables 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, and 2.5 in the draft environmental assessment, except for the shortbelly rockfish ACL, for which the Council adopted an ACL of 2,000 mt.
These new harvest specifications are expected to be put in place on January 1, 2021, pending NMFS approval.
The Council also adopted the preliminary preferred management measures for 2021 and 2022 as specified in this tribal report, this Groundfish Management Team (GMT) report, and a second GMT report. Management measures generally consist of changes to rockfish conservation area boundaries, allocation measures such as annual catch targets, set-asides, etc., accountability measures, commercial trip limits, and recreational season and bag limits.
The Council adjusted one GMT recommendation to increase the widow rockfish non-trawl allocation from 300 mt to 400 mt, directed the GMT to develop an annual catch target for shortbelly rockfish that would close a portion of the trawl fleet upon attainment, and adopted a 50 mt annual catch target for cowcod as a preliminary preferred alternative.
The Council is scheduled to adopt final management measures in June.
A new assessment shows the whiting stock is healthy, with a 65 percent depletion rate (65% of unfished biomass). Estimated biomass fell to a low of 33 percent in 2010, and peaked in 2013 and 2014 due to a very large 2010 year class and an above average 2008 year class. The estimated biomass has declined since 2017, during a time of record catches. As expected, the strong 2010 and 2014 cohorts have decreased due to relatively high exploitation and natural mortality.
The assessment results were part of an April briefing to the Council by Frank Lockhart (NMFS), who also discussed the U.S.-Canada whiting treaty decision-making process.
The Joint Management Committee, the decision-making body in the U.S.-Canada whiting treaty process, failed to reach agreement on a coastwide total annual catch (TAC). Therefore, NMFS will be proposing a U.S. TAC of 575,000 mt through a rulemaking process. The Council did not offer recommendations on a U.S. TAC as the NMFS-proposed TAC was not made available to the Council at its April meeting. The 2020 whiting fishery is scheduled to begin on May 15, pending the NMFS rulemaking.
In December, the Council asked NMFS to delay implementation of electronic monitoring (EM) regulations until January 1, 2022, and to consider extending EM exempted fishing permits so the Council could continue developing the program. However, NMFS did not approve the request, so the regulations will go into effect January 1, 2021.
The Council is considering changes to the regulations to ensure that once the program is implemented, it is cost effective and flexible. In April, the Council reviewed some NMFS proposed regulation changes and a new procedural directive with a timeline for retaining and storing EM data, and adopted potential regulatory changes for public review:
The Council recommended continuing EM exempted fishing permits until the amended regulations go into effect. It also recommended that NMFS review the EM Program Guidelines and Provider Manual to make sure they are consistent with the NMFS Procedural Directive for retaining and storing EM data. The Council is expected to finalize its recommendations at the June 2020 Council meeting.
Bank rockfish, brown rockfish, copper rockfish, Dover sole, lingcod, petrale sole, squarespot rockfish, vermilion and sunset rockfishes, and yellowtail rockfish are candidates for full assessment in 2021. Dover sole may instead be assessed using a data-moderate approach, petrale sole may receive an update assessment, and vermilion and sunset rockfishes will be assessed as a complex.
Darkblotched rockfish, sablefish, and spiny dogfish are back-up candidates for full assessment in 2021 if the other stocks are determined to be a lesser priority. A final decision will be made at the June Council meeting. Sablefish is a candidate stock for an update assessment in 2021, and black rockfish and quillback rockfish are candidate stocks for full assessment in 2023.
The Council also adopted a draft terms of reference for the groundfish and coastal pelagic species stock assessment review process in 2021 and 2022, and recommended no changes to terms of reference for groundfish rebuilding analysis and methodology reviews.
The Council is scheduled to take final action on the assessment plans in June.