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Council adopts guidance to develop adaptive‑management action plan; prioritizes groundfish as test case
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Summary
The council unanimously approved guidance directing staff to develop an action plan for tools and processes that increase the council's ability to respond to rapid environmental change, and to pilot work in the Pacific Coast groundfish fishery.
The Pacific Fishery Management Council on Wednesday adopted a guidance statement asking staff to develop an action plan to explore and implement tools to increase flexibility and responsiveness in council decision making, and to prioritize the groundfish fishery as an initial test case.
The council’s action follows a staff overview of an "adaptive management" special project funded under the Inflation Reduction Act. The project seeks to identify procedural and analytical changes — such as programmatic NEPA documents, if‑then frameworks and improved data streams — that would allow the council to adopt measures on timeframes that better match rapidly changing ocean conditions.
Council member Asia Chabello moved the guidance, saying the motion is intended to combine a high‑level review of cross‑FMP tools with FMP‑specific pilots. "You can think of fishery management like building blocks," staff had told the council; the motion asks staff to produce an action plan that both surveys available tools and pilots appropriate measures in groundfish.
The motion asks staff to "develop an action plan for exploring and implementing the general tools for increasing flexibility and adaptive management" described in the staff supplemental paper (C4A), to consider improvements to data timeliness and the inclusion of local and tribal knowledge in monitoring, and to prioritize the groundfish FMP for evaluation and testing. It also asks that tools developed early be reviewed for benefits across other FMPs and, if appropriate, that those FMPs be amended concurrently to incorporate successful measures.
Executive Director Phil Burton told the council there is a finite funding window for the IRA special projects and emphasized the need to move promptly. "We do need to make headway," he said, noting the projects carry deadlines for spending and deliverables.
The motion passed unanimously. Staff will now prepare a detailed work plan and timeline, including contractor support and advisory‑body engagement, and return with options and a schedule for council review.
