Saving Seafood

PFMC Coastal Pelagic Species Management Team to hold online meeting August 19, 2021

July 29, 2021 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Pacific Fishery Management Council’s Coastal Pelagic Species Management Team will hold an online meeting, which is open to the public. The online meeting will be held Thursday, August 19, 2021, beginning at 10 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time and continuing until 4 p.m. or until business is completed.

Please see the meeting notice on the Council’s website for additional details.

For further information:

  • Please contact Pacific Fishery Management Council staff officer Kerry Griffin at 503-820-2409; toll-free 1-866-806-7204.

Coastal Pelagic Species Management Team to hold online meeting August 2, 2021

July 14, 2021 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Pacific Fishery Management Council’s Coastal Pelagic Species Management Team will hold an online meeting, which is open to the public. The online meeting will be held Monday, August 2, 2021, beginning at 1 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time and continuing until 4 p.m. or until business is completed.

Please see the meeting notice on the Council’s website for additional details.

For further information:

  • Please contact Pacific Fishery Management Council staff officer Kerry Griffin at 503-820-2409; toll-free 1-866-806-7204.

PFMC: Habitat Committee to hold online meeting February 24, 2021

January 22, 2021 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Pacific Fishery Management Council  will hold an online meeting of its Habitat Committee to consider information on marine planning and offshore development activities.  This meeting is open to the public.  The online meeting will be held Wednesday, February 24, 2021, starting at 1 p.m. and ending at 5 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, or until business for the day has been completed.

Please see the meeting notice on the Council’s website for details.

For further information:

  • Please contact Pacific Fishery Management Council staff officer Kerry Griffin at 503-820-2409;  toll-free 1-866-806-7204.

PFMC: Request for Nominations for a Vacancy on the Coastal Pelagic Species Advisory Subpanel Representing the Conservation Community

October 2, 2020 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) is seeking qualified candidates to consider for a vacant Conservation position on its Coastal Pelagic Species Advisory Subpanel (CPSAS).  The successful candidate will serve out the remainder of the 2019-2021 Council advisory body term. To ensure consideration, nominations should be received at the Council office no later than 5 p.m. Pacific Time, Monday, October 19, 2020.

For more information please see the vacancy announcement on the Council website.

For further information:

  • Please contact Pacific Fishery Management Council staff officer Kerry Griffin at 503-820-2409; toll-free 1-866-806-7204.

PFMC: Coastal Pelagic Species Management Team online meeting September 29, 2020

September 8, 2020 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold an online meeting of its Coastal Pelagic Species Management Team (CPSMT) to discuss coastal pelagic species (CPS) stock assessment priorities and other CPS-related topics.  This meeting is open to the public.  The online meeting will be held Tuesday, September 29, 2020, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, or until business for the day has been completed.

Please see the CPSMT online meeting notice on the Council’s website for participation details.

For further information:

  • Please contact Pacific Fishery Management Council staff officer Kerry Griffin  at 503-820-2409; toll-free 1-866-806-7204.

Updated: Coastal Pelagic Species Subcommittee of the SSC to hold online meeting July 15-16, 2020

July 13, 2020 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold an online meeting of its Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) Coastal Pelagic Species Subcommittee to review model specifications regarding the Pacific sardine rebuilding plan Rebuilder tool.  This meeting is open to the public. The online meeting will be held Wednesday, July 15, 2020 through Thursday, July 16, 2020.  The meeting will run 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time each day, or until business for the day has been completed.

Please see the SSC Coastal Pelagic Species Subcommittee online meeting notice on the Council’s website that has been UPDATED with online meeting participation access codes, dial-in information, and meeting materials.

For further information:

  • Please contact Pacific Fishery Management Council staff officer Kerry Griffin at 503-820-2409; toll-free 1-866-806-7204.

Coastal Pelagic Species Subcommittee of the SSC to hold online meeting July 15-16, 2020

June 23, 2020 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold an online meeting of its Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) Coastal Pelagic Species Subcommittee to review model specifications regarding the Pacific sardine rebuilding plan Rebuilder tool.  This meeting is open to the public. The online meeting will be held Wednesday, July 15, 2020 through Thursday, July 16, 2020.  The meeting will run 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time each day, or until business for the day has been completed.

Please see the SSC Coastal Pelagic Species Subcommittee online meeting notice on the Council’s website for participation details.

For further information:

  • Please contact Pacific Fishery Management Council staff officer Kerry Griffin at 503-820-2409; toll-free 1-866-806-7204.

Sardine fishing could be banned for 3rd year in a row

March 27, 2017 — The once-thriving sardine population — made famous in John Steinbeck’s novel “Cannery Row” — has taken a nosedive along the West Coast, where regulators are considering a ban on reeling in the tiny bait fish for a third year in a row.

Sardine numbers have plummeted 95 percent since 2006, according to estimates released Friday by the National Marine Fisheries Service. The perilously low numbers give regulators little choice but to again close fishing starting July 1 from Mexico to the Canadian border.

“If the initial estimate for this year remains in place, the fishery will be closed for the third straight year,” said Kerry Griffin, the staff officer for the Pacific Fishery Management Council, which makes policy along the coasts of California, Oregon and Washington. “We all want a healthy ecosystem, sustainable fisheries and healthy coastal communities that depend on fishing opportunities.”

Fishery biologists blamed the collapse on natural fluctuations — which recent sediment studies show have been common throughout history — and changing ocean conditions. Conservationists, however, believe overfishing made a bad situation worse.

“There would have been a decline anyway, but we made the decline worse by continuing to fish,” said Geoffrey Shester, senior scientist for Oceana, an international advocacy group that has been fighting to lower the annual sardine take and implement stricter regulations. “Scientists in the agency warned about a collapse, but the managers of the fishery didn’t pay attention to that and, in fact, took a much higher percentage of the existing stock.”

Read the full story at the San Francisco Chronicle