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Sustainable Fisheries Division Amendment 15: NOAA Fisheries Service announced the availability of Amendment 15 to the Pacific Coast Salmon Plan (Salmon Plan) on December 20, 2006 and requested public review and comments on the document. The intent of Amendment 15 is to provide management flexibility in times of low Klamath River fall-run Chinook (KRFC) abundance, while preserving the long-term health of the stock. Under the existing Salmon Plan, a projected shortfall in meeting the KRFC conservation objective requires the closure of all salmon fisheries within the Council’s jurisdiction impacting the stock. In an attempt to prevent fishery restrictions that impose severe economic consequences to local communities, the plan amendment would allow minimal, or de minimis, harvest of KRFC in ocean salmon fisheries during years that might otherwise be closed because the KRFC conservation objective is projected not to be met.
The initial interest in the amendment began in 2005 when management measures adopted to protect the depressed KRFC stock reduced access to a projected high ocean abundance of Sacramento River fall-run Chinook salmon. Support for the initiative increased in 2006 when a projected shortfall in meeting the KRFC conservation objective prompted the closure of much of the California and Oregon coasts to salmon fishing in accordance with the Council’s Salmon Plan and NMFS implementing regulations. As a result, an emergency rule was required to allow minimal impact to KRFC stocks and a limited ocean salmon fishery to proceed between Cape Falcon, Oregon and Point Sur, California. The purpose of Amendment 15 is two-fold: (1) to give more flexibility to the rule-making process when the KRFC conservation objective of 35,000 natural spawners is projected not to be met; and (2) to provide for appropriate opportunities to access more robust Chinook salmon stocks that are typically available in the Council-managed area. The preferred alternative, selected at the November Council meeting, would set an upper limit on the amount of impact to KRFC allowed in ocean salmon fisheries in a de minimis year. The allowable impact rate is a cap, and the Council would determine an appropriate rate any year a de minimis fishery is considered based on annual circumstances. While this amendment seeks to provide management flexibility in times of low KRFC abundance, there was an overriding mandate to preserve the long-term productivity of the stock to ensure meaningful contributions to ocean and river fisheries in the future. |
NOAA Fisheries Service Pacific Salmon Fisheries Management general Information Anadromous Fish Conservation Act Grant Program Projects AMENDMENT 15 Federal Register Notice Pacific Fishery Management Council Links 2007 Council preseason planning process schedule Get involved in the Council process
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