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• Press Release - Washington, D.C., May 9, 2013 — The Managing Our Nation’s Fisheries 3 conference wrapped up on a successful note, with conference participants developing 128 recommendations for improving fishery sustainability. Please see the full Press Release dated May 9, 2013.

05/10/13

• The National Marine Fisheries Service, Northwest Fisheries Science Center announces that the 2012 Economic Data Collection (EDC) forms are now available on the web at www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/edc and are currently being mailed to participants in the trawl rationalization program. The forms are due on September 1, 2013.  See the attached public notice for details.

05/10/13

• CDFW Informational Notice - The California Department of Fish and Wildlife and NOAA Fisheries have issued an Ocean Fishery Closure Notice. The 3,000 Chinook salmon quota for the area between the Oregon-California border and Humboldt Bay South Jetty is projected to be met, and the fishery for the area will be closed effective at noon (12:00 p.m.) on Friday, May 10, 2013.
  
  All salmon must be landed within 24 hours of the closure. For additional information, please call the NOAA Fisheries' Ocean Salmon Hotline at (800) 662-9825.

05/09/13

• NMFS published the proposed 2013 List of Fisheries on April 22, 2013.  The public comment period closes May 22, 2013. Please see the PDF for details.

05/09/13

• NMFS announces the tribal and non-tribal allocations for Pacific whiting for 2013. See the PDF for details.

05/08/13

• PFMC Announces Request for Proposals to Modify Pacific Coast Groundfish EFH - The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) has announced a Request For Proposals to modify Pacific Coast Groundfish essential fish habitat (EFH). Proposals must be received by the Council no later than July 31, 2013. This Request for Proposals and several documents to be used to support proposals to modify Pacific Coast Groundfish EFH are posted at:
  
  http://www.pcouncil.org/2013/05/25450/rfp-gf-efh-may2013/

05/07/13

• NMFS announces allocations of Pacific whiting, adjustments to QS accounts, adjustments to vessel accounts, and changes to the online IFQ system. See PDF document for details.

05/07/13

• NMFS announces inseason changes to the incidental Pacific halibut retention regulations in the primary sablefish fishery and to recreational fishery management measures off Washington.

05/07/13

• The Final Rule for 2013 Ocean Salmon Management has published in the Federal Register today.

05/03/13

• South of Humbug Pacific Halibut Workgroup to Hold Webinar - The Pacific Fishery Management Council’s (Council) ad hoc South of Humbug Pacific Halibut Workgroup (Workgroup) will hold a webinar which is open to the public, on Wednesday, June 12, 2013 from 9 a.m. until business for the day has been completed. Please see the Workgroup Webinar Meeting Notice on the Council's website for meeting objectives, and how to attend the webinar.

05/01/13

• Highly Migratory Species Management Team to Hold Conference Call (May 22, 2013) - The Pacific Fishery Management Council’s (Council) Highly Migratory Species Management Team (HMSMT) will hold a conference call May 22, 2013. Please the HMSMT Conference Call notice for details, including public listening station locations.

05/01/13

• HMSMT to Meet (May 28-30, 2013) - The Council’s HMSMT will hold a work session May 28-30, 2013, which is open to the public. Please the HMSMT meeting notice for details and discussion topics.

05/01/13

• Groundfish Management Team to Hold Webinar - The Pacific Fishery Management Council’s (Council) Groundfish Management Team will hold a Webinar May 22, 2013, which is open to the public. Please see the Groundfish Management Team meeting notice, available on the Council's website for complete webinar details.

05/01/13

• Enforcement Consultants to Hold Webinar - The Pacific Fishery Management Council’s (Council) Enforcement Consultants will hold an online webinar May 23, 2013, which is open to the public. The primary purpose of the webinar is to develop recommendations on the vessel monitoring system agenda item scheduled for the June 2013 Council meeting. Please see the Enforcement Consultants Meeting Notice available on the Council's website for complete webinar details.

5/01/13

• Notice of Availability - Download The Line, Volume 2, No. 2, a publication of the Pacific Fishery Management Council. The Line is a summary of West Coast fisheries news, for fishermen, published five times per year. This issue reports on the decisions made at the April 2013 Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting. 

04/30/13

• Meeting Notice - The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) will convene a meeting of its Coastal Pelagic Species Management Team (CPSMT) and the Scientific and Statistical Committee’s (SSC) CPS Subcommittee May 21-23, 2013. In addition, one representative of the Council’s Coastal Pelagic Species Advisory Subpanel will participate.  Please see the CPS Meeting Notice on the Council's website for complete details.

04/29/13

• Preseason Report III, Analysis of Council Adopted Management Measures and Environmental Assessment Part 3 for 2013 Ocean Salmon Fishery Regulations, Regulation Identifier Number 0648-XC438, published April 2013, is available on the Council's 2013 Preseason Report III webpage.

04/23/13

• NOAA Reminds Public to Keep a Safe Distance from Sick Sea Lions - Rescue Facilities have Reached Capacity - Scientists at NOAA Fisheries are advising the public to stay away from all marine mammals in the wild, especially sick sea lions coming ashore on Southern California beaches. Please click here for more information.

04/03/13

• Notice of Public Work Sessions - Five Groundfish Stock Assessment Review (STAR) Panels will hold work sessions which are open to the public. The first STAR Panel will review new data-moderate assessments for brown rockfish, China rockfish, copper rockfish, English sole, rex sole, sharpchin rockfish, stripetail rockfish, vermilion rockfish, and yellowtail rockfish. The second STAR Panel will review new benchmark assessments for petrale sole and darkblotched rockfish. The third STAR Panel will review new benchmark assessments for rougheye and aurora rockfish. The fourth STAR Panel will review new benchmark assessments for shortspine and longspine thornyheads. The fifth STAR Panel will review new benchmark assessments for cowcod and Pacific sanddabs.
  
  Please see the STAR Panel Notice for work session dates, times, and locations (available from the Pacific Fishery Management Council's website).

04/03/13

• NMFS is providing information to address some frequently asked questions regarding the limited entry fixed gear sablefish primary fishery, for which the season opened at noon, local time, on April 1. See the Public Notice for additional information, or visit our website at www.nwr.noaa.gov.

04/01/13

• Whale Entanglements off California Fact Sheet is now available on the Protected Resources Division website. The fact sheet includes a range of global to local information on large whale entanglements, gear types associated with entanglements, and information on how you can help if you see an entangled whale.  The fact sheet also highlights conservation efforts to reduce entanglements by a commercial gillnet fishery.

03/28/13

• After further consideration of more recent information and the record as a whole, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announces the existing initial allocations for Pacific whiting of quota share in the shorebased individual fishing quota (IFQ) fishery and of mothership catcher vessel catch history assignments in the at-sea mothership (MS) fishery will remain in place. NMFS' decision and related regulatory changes are effective April 1, 2013, and published as a final rule in the Federal Register on March 28, 2013 (78 FR 18879). The public notice further describes NMFS' decision, the regulatory changes, and expectations for the start of the 2013 whiting season.

03/28/13

• Request for Nominations to a California at-large position on the Ecosystem Advisory Subpanel - The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) is requesting nominations of qualified candidates to its Ecosystem Advisory Subpanel (EAS) for the 2013-2015 advisory body term. The reopening is due to a vacancy in one of the three California at-large positions. The successful nominee will be notified following the Council’s June 2013 meeting. To ensure consideration, nominations should be received at the Council office no later than Wednesday, May 22, 2013.
  
  Please visit the Council's “Current Advisory Body Vacancies” webpage to get the full vacancy announcement and instructions on how to submit nominations.

03/22/13

News Archive

• Directions from Local Airports
• Parking Local to the Southwest Regional Office

• Hotels Local to the Southwest Regional Office

• Federal Job Openings
• How to Apply for a Federal Job
• How to Get a Job in the Federal Government (PDF)
• Job Openings in the Southwest Region
• Special Appointment Authorities
• Central Contractor Registration (CCR) Notice

• Proposed MMPA 101a(5)(E) Permit for the California thresher shark/ swordfish drift gillnet (DGN) fishery (>14 inch mesh) and the WA/OR/CA sablefish pot fishery - 05/09/13

  • Biological Opinion

• Proposed 10(J) Rule establishing a Nonessential Experimental Population of spring-run Chinook salmon and associated take provisions under section 4(d) - 01/15/13

• Pacific Coast Groundifsh 5-Year Review - 11/27/12

• Comment Letters Pertaining to the U.S.-Canada Albacore Treaty - 05/18/12

• Press Release - California Eelgrass Mitigation Policy - Draft - 05/14/12

• Vessel Identification Compliance Guide for West Coast Highly Migratory Species Fishermen - 01/27/11

• On August 15, 2011, the National Marine Fisheries Service published a Federal Register notice announcing the 5-year review reports for 6 species of ESA listed salmon and steelhead in California.

• Application for Exempted Fishing Permit; 2011 Pacific Sardine Fishing Season

• Seeking Comments on National Standard 10 Guidelines: the primary source of NMFS guidance for the consideration of safety issues in fishery management - 05/17/11

• Pacific Coast Salmon Essential Fish Habitat Five-year Review - Public Review Draft Report - 11/17/10

• 2010 Coastal Pelagic Species Catch Share Workshop Proceedings - 11/09/10

• Preliminary Proposals for Adjustments of Various OCAP RPA Actions - 11/08/10

• Fishing Restrictions in the Longline and Purse Seine Fisheries in the Eastern Pacific Ocean in 2009 – 2011

• Instructions for U.S. Albacore Vessels Wanting to Fish in Canadian Waters - 2010 (PDF)

• Guide for Complying with the Vessel Fishing Requirements of the U.S.-Canada Albacore Treaty - April 2010 (PDF)

• Application for Exempted Fishing Permit; 2010 Pacific Sardine Fishing Season; Coastal Pelagic Species Fishery Management Plan - 05/27/10 (PDF)

• NMFS San Joaquin River Spring-run Chinook Salmon Reintroduction - 04/15/10

• FERC Watershed Profiles - 03/24/10

• Final Klamath Project Operations Biological Opinion - 03/18/10

• RiverRAT, a science synthesis and tools for evaluating effects of stream management actions - 01/25/10 (PDF)

• Report from a symposium on the importance of floodplain for juvenile salmonid rearing, and the potential of abandoned gravel pits - 01/25/10 (PDF)

• NMFS Central Valley Salmon and Steelhead Recovery Plan Public Review Draft - 10/07/09

• California/Oregon Drift Gillnet Fishery

• California Pelagic Longline Fishery

• North-Central California Coast Salmonid Watershed Characterizations

• NOAA Fisheries Report to the Board of Forestry on Salmonid Enumeration (PDF)

• Southern California Steelhead Range Extension Notice (PDF)

• Caulerpa In Southern California Coastal Waters

• Plastic Perils of the Pacific - A short film for kids

• Sediment Removal Guidelines (PDF)

• San Francisco Bay Environmental Work Windows for Dredging and Disposal

• NMFS Biological and Conference Opinion on the Long-Term Operation of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project and Related Documents - 06/04/09

• NMFS Draft 2008 Biological Opinion on the Long-Term Central Valley Project and State Water Project Operation, Criteria, and Plan 12/11/08 (PDF)
  • NMFS Draft OCAP Cover Letter 12/11/08 (PDF)

• Russian River Biological Opinion - 10/01/08 (PDF)
  • Cover Letter (PDF)

• Final Opinion - Vern Freeman Diversion Dam - 07/23/08 (PDF)

• Final Opinion - Santa Felicia Relicensing - 05/05/08 (PDF)

• Click Here for Information about the RC Programmatic Biological Opinion 06/21/06

• Scoping Report for the Mendocino Redwood Company HCP EIR/EIS (PDF)