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2013: Electronic Monitoring workshop meeting materials

The following are the materials distributed from the Council workshop on electronic monitoring for vessels participating in the groundfish trawl catch share program. Download them all as one file.

Workshop Agenda Item	Attachment	Title
A.2	Attachment 1	Terms of Reference for the Pacific Council Workshop on Electronic Monitoring for Vessels Participating in the Groundfish Trawl Catch Share Program
A.2	Attachment 2	Proposed agenda, Electronic Monitoring Workshop
B.1	Attachment 1	Electronic Monitoring in the Shore-Side Hake Fishery 2004 to 2010
B.2.a	Attachment 1	National Fish and Wildlife Grants, to the Fishermen’s Marketing Association
B.2.b	Attachment 1	Electronic Monitoring Pilot Study Report for West Coast Groundfish Trawl ITQ Program
B.2.b	Attachment 2	Introduction to Economic Model and Summary of Monitoring Concepts for the West Coast Groundfish FIQ Program
B.2.c	Attachment 1	Sea State, February 13, 2013, EM Workshop Presentation Description
B.2.d	Attachment 1	PSMFC Project – 2012 Season Results
B.3	Attachment 1	Electronic Monitoring in Alaska – Synopsis for Agenda Item B.3
B.4	Supplemental Attachment 1	Northeast Region Pilot Program (Melissa Hooper)
C.1	Attachment 1	Electronic Monitoring – Background, Purpose and Need, Goals and Objectives
D.1.a	Attachment 1	Preliminary Thoughts on Observer Functions and the Corresponding Abilities of Electronic Monitoring (Northwest Fishery Science Center (NWFSC) Response)
D.1.b&c	Attachment 1	Preliminary Thoughts on Observer Functions and the Corresponding Abilities of Electronic Monitoring (Northwest Division Office of Law Enforcement(NW OLE), NOAA General Counsel Enforcement Litigation (NOAA GCEL), and Northwest Region (NWR))
D.1.c	Supplemental Attachment 2	Legal and Enforcement Considerations
D.2.a	Attachment 1	Electric Monitoring Strawmen for Consideration
D.2.a	Attachment 2	Creating an Incentive Based Environment for Good Behavior Consideration of a Cooperative Agreement Program for Furthering Electronic Monitoring Compliance
E.1	Attachment 1	Pacific States Field Study – Detection of Rare Events
E.2	Attachment 1	Pacific States Field Study –2013 Study Design
F	Attachment 1	DRAFT Possible Regulation Amendment Process for Consideration of Electronic Monitoring
Back-Ground	Background	Electronic Monitoring Annotated Agenda CCC Meeting – February 21, 2013 Silver Spring, MD [also includes whitepapers]
Back-Ground	Background	“Estimating weight and identifying species through electronic monitoring: A preliminary comparison of electronic and observer-based reporting”
Back-Ground	Background	Cover letter and Fisheries Monitoring Roadmap
Back-Ground	Supplemental Background – News Article	Press Democrat: Feds see early signs of Pacific fishery recovery
Back-Ground	Supplemental Background	“A maximized retention and monitoring program for the Pacific whiting shoreside fishery implementing Amendment 10 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan Draft Environmental Impact Statement”

Presentations

PowerPoint Title	Presented By
Agenda Item B.1: Electronic Monitoring in the Shore-Side Hake Fishery 2004 to 2010	Howard McElderrry
Agenda Item B.2.a: Summary of National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Grants to the FMA	Pete Leipzig
Agenda Item B.2.b: Electronic Monitoring Pilot Studies on Fixed Gear Vessels in Central California	Michael Bell – Senior Project Director, The Nature Conservancy
Agenda Item B.2.c: Overview of NFWF Grant to Develop Video Monitoring for Full-Retention Fisheries	Karl Haflinger, Sea State Inc., and Eric Torgerson, Finsight
Agenda Item B.2.d: 2012 EM Season Results Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission	Dave Colpo
Agenda Item B.3: Monitoring Technology in Alaska	Farron Wallace
Agenda Item B.4: Northeast Region Pilot Program	Melissa Hooper
Agenda Item D.1.b: Electronic Monitoring – Management Compliance Requirements	Colby Brady
Agenda Item D.1.c: Vessel-Based Electronic Monitoring Feasibility Evaluation: Enforcement	Dayna Matthews
Agenda Items E.1 & E.2: Electronic Monitoring Workshop, Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission Field Study	Dave Colpo

2012 newsletters

2012 in brief

Salmon. The 2012 salmon season was a good one, with California and Oregon fishermen, in particular, benefiting from higher-than-usual salmon abundance for Sacramento and Klamath River fall Chinook. Strait of Juan de Fuca coho were rebuilt, and a rebuilding plan was adopted for Sacramento River fall Chinook. The Council continued working on an essential fish habitat (EFH) amendment to the salmon fishery management plan, and adopted alternatives for the review. A hatchery program review recommended changes to hatchery practices. A lower Columbia River endangered salmon and steelhead recovery plan was issued.

Groundfish. A review found that the trawl quota share program was meeting many of its objectives. The Council began work on a review of groundfish EFH and adopted phase I of the groundfish EFH report. A workshop was held on reducing barotrauma in rockfish, and the Council began discussing barotrauma mitigation. NMFS allowed a carryover of shorebased groundfish quota from 2011 to 2012. The Council discussed whiting reallocation, electronic monitoring, quota pounds for widow rockfish, trawl gear restrictions, and other topics as part of trawl rationalization trailing actions. A workgroup recommended changes to the biennial groundfish management process. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recommended mandatory streamer lines for longline vessels to avoid bycatch of birds.

Highly migratory species: The U.S. and Canada failed to agree on an albacore fishing treaty, and scheduled further negotiations. The Council looked into whether changes could be made to the closure dates for or the southern boundary of the Pacific Leatherback Conservation Area to enhance fishing opportunity in the California drift gillnet fishery.

Halibut. In response to unusually high harvests of Pacific halibut off Southern Oregon and Northern California, the Council explored how best to incorporate the area south of the Oregon/California border into halibut management. Halibut discards dropped 87 percent in the limited entry bottom trawl fishery, probably as a result of the catch share program and the use of new halibut excluders.

Coastal pelagic species: The Council reaffirmed its commitment to protect unmanaged forage fish, and explored ways to do so.

Habitat: West Coast states geared up to address marine debris from the Japanese tsunami. The Habitat Committee discussed the Comparative Survival Study in the Columbia river. A draft Fishery Ecosystem Plan was approved.

Admin: NMFS announced a proposal to revise National Standard 1 guidelines. The Council staff began planning the Managing Our Nation’s Fisheries 3 conference, to be held in Washington, D.C. in 2013. The Council commented on the REFI Act, a bill to refinance the groundfish buyback loan.

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2012: Public scoping begins

In November 2012, the Council passed a motion to begin the public scoping process for electronic monitoring. A workshop was held in February, 2013 to begin developing electronic monitoring policy for the trawl catch share program.

In 2012, Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission received funds to test the feasibility of using electronic monitoring for catch and discard accounting. The project was meant to address some key questions, including whether video monitoring could be used to effectively track an individual’s catch and discards so they could be debited from a quota account, and how much such a program would cost the industry compared to human observers. For further details, see the PSMFC website.

2011 newsletters

2011 in brief

On March 11, a 9.0 earthquake in Japan led to a devastating tsunami that, apart from wreaking havoc in Japan, caused $48 million in damage to the ports of Santa Cruz and Crescent City. In Washington, the process of removing the Elwha, Glines Canyon, and Condit dams began.

Salmon. Ocean salmon seasons provided both recreational and commercial opportunities coastwide. Greatly improved abundance of Sacramento River fall Chinook fueled the first substantial ocean salmon fisheries off California and Oregon since 2007, and Klamath and Sacramento stocks were officially declared rebuilt. In June, the Council selected final preferred alternatives for de minimis fishing provisions, status determination criteria, annual catch limits, salmon stock classification, and accountability measures.

Habitat and ecosystem. NMFS and the Council finished their five-year review of essential fish habitat for salmon. The Council continued to pursue its Fishery Ecosystem Plan, approving a purpose and needs statement in June and creating an outline for the plan. The Habitat Committee discussed a new Army Corps of Engineers policy on removing vegetation on levees which they believed could have damaged salmon habitat. The Council encouraged the regional marine spatial planning body to include a seat for a Council representative. A DEIS for removing the four lower Klamath dams was released. NMFS provided its first Integrated Ecosystem Assessment report to the Council.

Groundfish. Widow rockfish were found to be rebuilt in an assessment presented in November. The Council adopted harvest specifications and management measures for 2011-2012 groundfish fisheries. The council continued to work on an adaptive management program, trawl/nontrawl allocations, and “safe harbors” from quota share control limits as a follow up to the trawl catch share program. The Council adopted stock assessments for 2013-2014 management; the size of the overfished bocaccio stock was found to be higher than expected.

Coastal pelagic species: The Quinault Indian Nation requested a sardine harvest allocation.

Highly migratory species: An assessment concluded that the albacore stock was healthy, but another assessment found that Pacific bluefin tuna were overfished.

Admin: Mark Cedergreen, Rod Moore and Jerry Mallet left the Council, and Rich Lincoln and Jeff Feldner joined.

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2011: Early exploration of electronic monitoring

In 2011, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) implemented a Council-developed catch share program for the West Coast limited entry groundfish trawl fishery (the trawl catch share program). The program requires that each vessel acquire quota pounds to cover its catch (including discards) of nearly all groundfish species. Exceptions were made for some species that are rarely caught in the trawl groundfish fishery.

The program required some form of at-sea monitoring to ensure that discards are tracked for each vessel, and specified that this be done through 100% at-sea observer coverage. Program participants would be responsible for the full cost of observer coverage, so the industry was interested in finding a less costly way to monitor catch and discards at sea.

Some participants have experienced difficulties in securing observers in a timely or consistent manner, so vessels may prefer the flexibility to turn on an electronic monitoring (or video monitoring) system and leave port immediately instead of waiting for an observer. Such a system would work to monitor compliance with individual fishing quotas. Therefore, electronic monitoring was explored as a flexible and less expensive substitute for human observers in the catch share program.

2010 newsletters

2010 in brief

Salmon: After two years of poor seasons, in 2010 salmon season were opened coastwide. The commercial season in California was very limited, but the recreational season was closer to normal. Sacramento River fall Chinook were listed as “overfished” (although fishing was believed to be a minor factor in the decline). The Council adopted a range of alternatives for Amendment 16 to the salmon FMP (annual catch limits).

Groundfish: Amendment 23 (which responded to the new National Standard 1 guidelines and requirements) was adopted. The Council clarified trawl rationalization regulations and worked on cost recovery and “safe harbors” amendments to the trawl catch share program. The Council adopted a rebuilding plan for petrale sole, and Council staff worked with NMFS to consider ways to improve the biennial groundfish management process.

Highly migratory species: The Council continued thinking about a limited entry program for the albacore fishery. The Council approved Amendment 2 to the HMS FMP (annual catch limits) and made recommendations on proposed leatherback sea turtle critical habitat. The Council also considered trip limit proposals for the Washington state recreational albacore fishery.

Habitat: The Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary updated its management plan. The HC continued to focus on Sacramento River water issues and began discussing the Ocean Power Technologies wave energy park off Reedsport (which was never built). The Council reviewed essential fish habitat for salmon and coastal pelagic species.

Ecosystem: The Ecosystem Fishery Management Plan continued to take shape.

Coastal pelagic species: The Council approved Amendment 13 to the Coastal Pelagic Species Fishery Management Plan (annual catch limits).

Admin: Herb Pollard was appointed to the Council.

Elsewhere, the Gulf states struggled to contain the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the FDA considered approving genetically modified salmon for human consumption.

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2009 newsletters

2009 in brief

Salmon: As in 2008, the Council once again adopted very restrictive salmon seasons. The commercial fishery and most recreational fisheries off the coast of California were closed in response to the collapse of the Sacramento River fall Chinook stock. However, fisheries north of Cape Falcon were better than in 2008, with much more coho opportunity. In April, the Council was briefed on the causes of the Sacramento River fall Chinook collapse, which included poor ocean conditions, degraded habitat, water withdrawals, and changes in hatchery operations. Queets River and Western Strait of Juan de Fuca coho met the Overfishing Concern threshold.

Ecosystem: The Council began the process of developing a new Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management Plan (now called the Fishery Ecosystem Plan). The Ecosystem Plan Development Team and Ecosystem Advisory Subpanel were formed.

Halibut management was routine, but the total allowable catch for Area 2A was down about 22 percent from 2008. The Council adopted landing restrictions for incidental halibut catch in commercial salmon and longline sablefish fisheries.

Highly migratory species: The Council decided not to move ahead with a West Coast high seas shallow-set longline fishery, which they had been considering for two years. There were concerns about the take of protected species, such as loggerhead sea turtles, in the fishery. NMFS asked the Council to consider ways to limit albacore fishing; the Council began the process of considering a limited entry program for the fishery.

All species: The Council worked to establish annual catch limits for all of its managed species in response to requirements in the reauthorized Magnuson-Stevens Act. The new requirements were incorporated into Amendment 23 to the groundfish FMP and Amendment 16 to the salmon FMP.

Groundfish:

Essential fish habitat: The Council began reviewing essential fish habitat for groundfish and solicited proposals for changes to groundfish EFH.
Trawl catch shares: Intersector allocations for trawl and non-trawl sectors were adopted for Amendment 21 species. The Council finalized language to implement the trawl rationalization program and worked on trailing actions, including accumulation limits, eligibility criteria for ownership of individual fishing quota, and an adaptive management program. The Council discussed allocation of quota shares for overfished species and discussed allocating more canary rockfish that had been set aside for the adaptive management program.
Vessel monitoring systems (VMS): The ad hoc VMS Committee began evaluating performance of VMS systems, and the effects of VMS on small vessel fleets.
Open access: The Council recommended a preseason registration process for open access fishing vessels seeking to take certain groundfish species.
Overfished species: Petrale sole was declared overfished late in 2009. Canary rockfish and Pacific ocean perch were rebuilding more slowly than expected, but bocaccio, cowcod, darkblotched and widow rockfish were rebuilding faster than expected.

Coastal pelagic species: The Council reviewed proposals for aerial survey research on Pacific sardine and discussed CPS essential fish habitat requirements.

Habitat: The Habitat Committee focused on Klamath dam removal, the Columbia River Biological Opinion, and the proposed Bradwood Landing liquified natural gas terminal (which was never built). The Council sent a letter on the Central Valley Biological Opinion. Hubbs-Sea World presented to the Council on their offshore aquaculture demonstration project.

Admin: Dorothy Lowman, David Crabbe and Buzz Brizendine were appointed to the Council. Council staff attended Capital Hill Oceans Week.

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2008 newsletters

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2008 in brief

Salmon: In spring 2008 the Council adopted the most restrictive salmon season ever while the Council considered a Klamath River fall Chinook rebuilding strategy and ODFW studied reintroduction of salmon into the upper Klamath River basin. In November, PacifiCorp, the states, and the Federal government signed an agreement to remove the four lower Klamath dams. Meanwhile, the Secretary of Commerce opened the way for Federal salmon disaster assistance. NMFS scientists studied the cause of the decline, reporting to the Council in 2009.

Highly migratory species: An exempted fishing permit for a single longline vessel was approved in the spring, and the Council adopted and refined alternatives for the high seas shallow-set longline fishery. In June the Council looked at management measures for a recreational thresher shark fishery, and adopted an alternative to reduce thresher shark catches in September.

Groundfish: The Council planned new stock assessments for Bocaccio, widow, yelloweye, petrale, spiny dogfish, cabezon, and bronzespotted and greenspotted rockfish. A decision on intersector allocation was delayed until 2009. In September the Council adopted an alternative that would limit access to the directed open access sector of the groundfish fishery. (See March 2009 for final action).

In spring, the Council focused on tracking and monitoring provisions that would be part of the trawl rationalization program, and in June the Council adopted its preferred alternative for trawl rationalization. Hearings were scheduled in several coastal communities in October, and in November the Council voted to rationalize the groundfish trawl fishery.

Habitat/ecosystem: The Council coordinated with the Monterey Bay and Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuaries on their management strategies as Monterey Bay considered additional marine protected areas. The Habitat Committee focused on wave energy proposals and prepared a letter to the Minerals Management Service (now Bureau of Ocean Energy Management) on wave energy impacts. The Council commented on the Central Valley Recovery Plan in California.

Coastal pelagic species: The Council postponed a review of sardine allocation. Other than that, CPS management was routine.

Admin: President Obama was elected in November 2008, signaling a potential new direction for fisheries management. The MSA had been reauthorized in 2006, and the Councils and NMFS worked on implementing the new requirements, including new provisions to end overfishing. The Council reviewed new NMFS guidelines in September. The Council also reviewed its research and data needs document in June and adopted a final version in September.