Saving Seafood

PFMC Highly Migratory Species Management Team to hold online meeting June 3-4, 2021

May 12, 2021 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Pacific Fishery Management Council’s (Council) Highly Migratory Species Management Team (HMSMT) will hold an online meeting, which is open to the public. The online meeting will be held on Thursday, June 3, 2021 beginning at 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. and Friday, June 4, 2021, beginning at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time and continuing 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 Dr. Kit Dahl at 503-820-2422; toll-free 1-866-806-7204.

PFMC Groundfish Management Team to hold online meeting June 10, 2021

May 7, 2021 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Pacific Council) will convene a webinar meeting of its Groundfish Management Team (GMT) to discuss items on the Pacific Council’s June 2021 meeting agenda.  This meeting is open to the public. The online meeting will be held on Thursday, June 10, 2021 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time.  The scheduled ending time for this GMT meeting is an estimate, the meeting will adjourn when business for the day is completed.

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

For further information:

  • Please contact Pacific Fishery Management Council staff officer Todd Phillips at 503-820-2426;  toll-free 1-866-806-7204.

SSC’s Economics and Groundfish Subcommittees to hold online meeting May 26, 2021

April 28, 2021 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Pacific Fishery Management Council’s (Pacific Council) Scientific and Statistical Committee’s (SSC) Economics and Groundfish Subcommittees will hold a meeting to review a new Quota Share Owners’ Cost Survey to inform decisions on the west coast limited entry trawl catch shares program and to do some initial planning on an upcoming review of the limited entry fixed gear sablefish program. The online meeting will be held Wednesday, May 26, 2021 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Pacific Daylight Time, and it will be open to the public.

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

For further information:

  • Please contact Pacific Fishery Management Council staff officer John DeVore at 503-820-2413; toll-free 1-866-806-7204.

PFMC Ad Hoc Climate and Communities Core Team online meeting May 21, 2021

April 26, 2021 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Pacific Fishery Management Council’s (Pacific Council) Ad Hoc Climate and Communities Core Team (CCCT) is holding an online meeting, which is open to the public. The online meeting will be held Friday, May 21, 2021, beginning at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time and continuing until business is completed.

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

For further information:

  • Please contact Pacific Fishery Management Council staff officer Dr. Kit Dahl at 503-820-2422; toll-free 1-866-806-7204.

Highly Migratory Species Management Team to hold online meeting May 13, 2021

April 23, 2021 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Pacific Fishery Management Council’s (Council) Highly Migratory Species Management Team will hold an online meeting, which is open to the public. The online meeting will be held on Thursday, May 13, 2021, beginning at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time and continuing 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 Dr. Kit Dahl at 503-820-2422; toll-free 1-866-806-7204.

Notice of availability: Salmon Preseason Report III (April 2021)

April 23, 2021 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The following document has been posted to the Council’s website:

Preseason Report III describes the 2021 ocean salmon fishery management measures adopted by the Council at their April 2021 meeting for submission to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce and characterizes their expected impacts on ocean salmon fisheries and the stocks which support them.

For Further Information

  • Please contact Pacific Fishery Management Council staff officer Robin Ehlke at 503-820-2410; toll-free 1-866-806-7204.

PFMC: April 2021 Council Decision Summary Document online

April 20, 2021 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Pacific Fishery Management Council met April 8-9, and 12-15, 2021 via RingCentral webinar. The April 2021 Council Meeting Decision Summary Document contains the highlights of significant decisions made during that meeting. Results of agenda items that do not reach a level of highlight significance are typically not described in the Decision Summary Document.

PFMC sets 2021 West Coast ocean salmon season dates

April 16, 2021 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Pacific Fishery Management Council has adopted ocean salmon season recommendations for 2021. The seasons provide recreational and commercial opportunities for most of the Pacific coast and achieve conservation goals for the numerous salmon stocks on the West Coast.

The recommendations will be forwarded to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for approval by May 16, 2021.

“There will be some restrictive commercial and recreational seasons this year along much of the coast,” said Council Chair Marc Gorelnik. “Forecasts for some Chinook and coho stocks are quite low, which made our job more challenging this year.”

The Council heard reports from commercial, recreational, and tribal representatives on the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as ways the Council could provide meaningful fishing opportunities and economic support for coastal communities.

Read the full release here

Pacific Council Rejects Sardine Stock Projection; Approves Reduced Fishing Levels for 2021

April 15, 2021 — In a surprising turn, the Pacific Fishery Management Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee rejected a Southwest Fisheries Science Center catch-only sardine biomass projection when the Council met this week.

NMFS field surveys were cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and no real directed fishery in the U.S. has been conducted on sardines since 2015. The catch-only projection was supposed to be the basis for the fishery’s management measures for the season from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022.

Read the full story at Seafood News

PFMC: Sablefish management strategy evaluation workshop to be held online April 27-28, 2021

April 2, 2021 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Pacific Sablefish Transboundary Assessment Team, in collaboration with the Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Pacific Fishery Management Council, and North Pacific Fishery Management Council, is holding a public workshop to solicit feedback on the ongoing range-wide sablefish management strategy evaluation (MSE).   The Sablefish MSE Workshop is open to the public and will be held Tuesday, April 27, 2021 through Wednesday, April 28, 2021 beginning at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) and ending at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, reconvening at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday and ending at 5 p.m. or when business for the workshop has been completed

Please see the Sablefish MSE Workshop notice on the Council’s website for details, including workshop attendee registration information and deadlines.

If you have additional questions:

  • Contact Pacific Fishery Management Council staff officer John DeVore at 503-820-2413;  toll-free 1-866-806-7204.