The Pacific Fishery Management Council left its April 2025 agenda item on tentative salmon management measures (D3) open April 12 for additional Salmon Technical Team analysis and public review.

Council staff overview: the STT presented preliminary model runs and updated tables of projected ocean impacts and harvest under alternative 2025 measures. Dr. Michael O’Farrell summarized the STT’s output and explained new tables showing ocean harvest by month, area and fishery and separate impact projections; the STT said more work was needed to resolve differences and translate harvest projections into spawner equivalent estimates.

Public comment: two public commenters addressed the council during D3. Dominic Weaver, a Mendocino County Fish and Game commissioner, urged restoration and flow changes to benefit Sacramento River and coastal stocks and described local dependence on fisheries and tourism in Fort Bragg. He told the council restoration work on the lower Ten Mile River has shown measurable benefits and said: “If the rivers were as they should be, we wouldn't be seeing the massive numbers of strays that are ending their journey in inhospitable areas.”

Mike Sorensen, a recreational fishing representative from Oregon, described management steps taken by Oregon to reduce fishing time and limit Chinook possession limits, and said those measures are not yet fully reflected in the model runs. Sorensen told the technical committee that shorter fishing times and lower bag limits can materially reduce ocean spawner mortality even when models have not been updated to incorporate those behavioral changes.

Council decision: the council took no final action on management measures at this meeting. The vice chair announced the council would hold the D3 matter open and return to the topic during the afternoon or later in the week after STT completes additional runs and the STT provides clarified materials for review.

Ending: STT and management entities will refine runs and provide updated documentation and the council will reconvene the D3 discussion when the technical team’s updated materials are ready.