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Council scopes IRA‑funded adaptive management project, adopts problem statement and priorities
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Summary
The Pacific Fishery Management Council adopted a problem statement and directed staff to prepare time‑bound plans to develop in‑season/if‑then tools, improve EFP processes and better integrate fishery‑dependent and local or tribal observations using Inflation Reduction Act funding for an adaptive management project.
The Pacific Fishery Management Council on Tuesday adopted a problem statement describing a temporal mismatch between traditional council processes and rapid, climate‑driven change in the California Current ecosystem, and directed staff to develop time‑bound plans under the council’s Inflation Reduction Act special project for adaptive management and responsiveness.
What the council adopted: A motion — moved by Asia Shumulo and seconded by Corey Ridings and later amended to add "in‑season" to if/then actions — adopted this problem statement in abbreviated form: because council decisions often unfold over years, some actions lag changes in the marine environment; the council should improve processes and operating procedures so recommendations better match the speed and scope of environmental change.
Priority directives: Council members specifically prioritized three near‑term work areas for the IRA project: 1) develop plans to test and implement if/then and in‑season management tools where appropriate (pre‑analyzed triggers with defined responses to allow faster action outside a full council meeting); 2) explore and implement improvements to the exempted fishing permit (EFP) process, using lessons learned from the HMS EFP work, including ways to move successful experimental gears or approaches quickly toward regulatory or management application; and 3) improve timeliness of data streams and the structured incorporation of local and Indigenous knowledge — for example to pick up signals of change earlier than conventional stock assessments.
Why it matters: Council members and advisory bodies agreed the California Current is increasingly variable and that the council sometimes lacks tools to respond quickly to unanticipated events (heat waves, disease outbreaks, rapid stock changes) or to deliver timely opportunity when stocks are healthier than expected. Several advisory bodies and state representatives urged caution that upfront work to build programmatic flexibility (for example programmatic EAs, decision frameworks) will be resource intensive but may pay off over time.
Advisory input: The Ecosystem Workgroup recommended the council adopt a clear problem statement and prioritize near‑term actionable products. The Habitat Committee flagged the utility of ecological indicators (for example "stoplight" forecasting used in salmon management) and suggested incorporating habitat signals into if/then frameworks. The EAS and GAP supported prioritizing if/then statements and improved data integration, but both noted that design and analysis of triggers requires substantial science and validation.
Council direction: The council's motion asks staff to prepare execution plans (time‑bounded project plans) that identify what can be produced under the IRA project timeline, to coordinate with ongoing council work (the specs‑flex groundfish project, the EFP improvements effort, and the council operations/efficiency review) and to bring back specifics for council review.
Ending: Council members emphasized the need for strong engagement with states, tribes, industry and advisory bodies as staff develop concrete plans; the council scheduled follow‑ups in future meetings and tasked staff to integrate lessons from the other IRA projects.
