| Hot Topics | Fisheries Management | Protected Species | Habitat Conservation | Restoration Actions |
Sustainable Fisheries Division General Background: NOAA Fisheries Service-Sustainable Fisheries Division (SFD) is responsible for establishing fishery management measures for the ocean salmon fisheries off California, Oregon and Washington in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone extending from 3 to 200 nautical miles offshore. Each year, NOAA Fisheries Service participates in, and provides guidance during the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) preseason planning process to develop recommendations for management of ocean salmon fisheries in accordance with the objectives established in the Pacific Coast Salmon Plan (Salmon Plan). These management measures are intended to allocate the ocean harvest among treaty tribal, non-treaty commercial and recreational fisheries while preventing overfishing and achieving conservation objectives (e.g., goals for the number of adults returning to a specific river basin to spawn) established in the Salmon Plan. NOAA Fisheries Service reviews the recommendations submitted by the Council for compliance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) and other applicable laws before approving and implementing the management measures. Here is a link to the 2007 Council preseason planning process schedule.
Klamath River fall-run Chinook (KRFC) are one of several key salmon stocks used by NOAA Fisheries Service to manage the mixed stock ocean fishery off the Pacific coast, in which salmon from different rivers of origin co-mingle in ocean waters and are harvested together. KRFC originate in the Klamath-Trinity Basin of northern California and distribute themselves widely off the Pacific coast, but primarily between Cape Falcon, Oregon and Point Sur, California (near Monterey). The conservation objective for KRFC established under the Salmon Plan requires a return of 33-34 percent of potential adult natural spawners, but no fewer than 35,000 naturally spawning adults in any one year. Natural spawners are defined as fish that return to spawn in areas outside of hatcheries. Because annual management measures must meet the conservation objectives of all the key stocks, fishing seasons are usually limited by the necessity of meeting the requirements for the least abundant stock (i.e., weak stock management). When a stock is projected to miss its conservation objective, the Council is required to close salmon fisheries within Council jurisdiction that impact the stock. Since KRFC intermingle with other salmon stocks, including more abundant Sacramento River fall-run Chinook, and are not distinguishable from other Chinook when they are caught, the abundance of KRFC is frequently the limiting factor in determining the areas of fishing opportunity and duration of the seasons between Cape Falcon and Point Sur.
Restrictive salmon seasons in 2005, and especially 2006, triggered an initiative to amend the Salmon Plan to allow for limited harvest, as opposed to the no harvest requirement described above, during low KRFC stock abundances. For more information see Amendment 15 page. Furthermore, an especially restrictive season in 2006 led to the Secretary of Commerce making a fishery resource disaster determination under section 308(b) of the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act and a subsequent fishery failure determination, commonly referred to as a “disaster declaration”, under section 312(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. For more information, see Disaster Relief page. |
NOAA Fisheries Service
Anadromous Fish Conservation Act Grant Program Projects Pacific Salmon Fisheries Management general Information Pacific Fishery Management Council Links |
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