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Council adopts five stock assessments, refers widow to supplemental review; time‑variance sigma discussion paused
Summary
The Pacific Fishery Management Council on Tuesday adopted several 2025 groundfish stock assessments for management use, referred the widow rockfish update for supplemental review, and asked the SSC to delay immediate implementation of a new time‑varying sigma formula until additional methodological review.
The Pacific Fishery Management Council on Tuesday adopted several 2025 groundfish stock assessments for use in the 2027 harvest specifications cycle and asked for additional review on 1 assessment flagged by advisory bodies.
What the council adopted: By unanimous vote the council adopted the SSC’s recommendations on 2025 assessments and their category/sigma designations for use in management. The motion, moved by Lynn Mattis (ODFW) and seconded by Caroline McKnight (CDFW), listed benchmark assessments (sablefish; rough‑eyed blackspotted rockfish; yellowtail rockfish North of 40°10; chili pepper rockfish; California quillback) and update/catch‑only projections (yelloweye, widow, petrale sole, canary rockfish, shortspine thornyhead, dark‑blotched rockfish and others) with the SSC‑recommended stock categories and uncertainty buffers. The SSC had recommended category assignments (e.g., sablefish category 1, default sigma 0.5) and special sigma guidance for quillback (category 1b, sigma 0.75) after their review.
Widow rockfish supplemental review: The council also followed advisory‑body recommendations and referred the widow rockfish update assessment for a supplemental ("mop‑up") review because the update produced unexpected outcomes compared with prior assessments and panel reviewers requested further scrutiny. Industry and advisory groups urged the council to allow more time for review; several fishermen and industry groups told the council that recent fishery dependent indicators show localized persistent catch per unit effort that the assessment’s outcome did not reflect.
Time‑varying sigma issue: The council paused a broader, immediate adoption of a recently promoted modification to the time‑varying sigma approach (a formula adjustment for stocks with natural mortality M > 0.15). Advisory bodies and industry flagged concerns that the adjustment had not been fully integrated through the council’s methodology review process and that stakeholders had not been briefed. The council directed staff and the SSC to present that modification and its implications at the November meeting rather than adopt it immediately; meanwhile the council requested that catch‑only projections for black rockfish (Oregon) and bocaccio use the original, published time‑varying sigma formulas pending further SSC guidance.
Why it matters: The category and sigma assigned to an assessment feed directly into the scientific uncertainty buffer used when setting Acceptable Biological Catch and annual catch limits, which in turn affect fishing opportunity and economic outcomes for coastal communities.
Council rationale and next steps: Council members and advisory bodies emphasized the need for clearer communication and earlier engagement with fishermen on fishery‑dependent data and new methodological proposals. The SSC and stock assessment teams will return with supplemental reviews and further guidance at upcoming meetings; staff and advisory bodies will prepare for November where the sigma‑methodology topic is expected to be discussed.
Ending: With the slate approved and the requested supplemental review and technical follow‑ups noted, the council moved on to other agenda items.
