NOAA Fisheries Service released its Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (FPEIS) for Pacific Salmon Fisheries Management off the Coasts of Southeast Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, and in the Columbia River Basin in November 2003.

Salmon fishery management is complex, but, in general, NOAA Fisheries seeks to implement fisheries that are consistent with a variety of statutory and legal obligations related to resource conservation, socioeconomic benefits associated with resource use, and treaty trust obligations. Fishery plans are developed annually within the context of framework plans to meet the year-specific circumstances related to the status of stocks affected by the fisheries.

This FPEIS evaluates different ways to balance these objectives, and different strategies that can be used that may provide better solutions for meeting the obligations and objectives of the respective framework plans. The alternatives considered in this FPEIS are programmatic in nature and are designed to provide an overview of fishery management methods and strategies that can be implemented as part of the annual planning processes.

Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (large file -- PDF 6MB)

Please e-mail to request a CD if you have trouble downloading large files.