In March 2022, the Council adopted the revised Fishery Ecosystem Plan, the culmination of a 5-year review process initiated in 2018.
We envision a thriving and resilient California Current Ecosystem that continues to provide benefits to current and future generations and supports livelihoods, fishing opportunities, and cultural practices that contribute to the wellbeing of fishing communities and the nation.
The California Current Ecosystem is shaped by:
- Dynamic ocean forces like currents, upwelling, and water temperature;
- High biodiversity, with dramatic seasonal shifts in predator and prey populations;
- Diverse human uses of and priorities for estuaries, coastal communities, and the sea.
The Council uses its Fishery Ecosystem Plan to better understand how environmental variability and change, human activities, and social-ecological dynamics affect the future of the ecosystem. Developing our understanding of how those interacting forces affect the species and fisheries we manage helps us meet our goals and objectives for the ecosystem.
A science-based natural resource management process must be supported by ongoing scientific research and analyses. Bringing ecosystem science into the Council process helps us understand how individual species are affected by the environment, and how our wide variety of species interact with each other and the people that depend on them.