Pacific Council finalizes response to Executive Order 14276, but federal‑register submission fails after tally correction

The Pacific Fishery Management Council on Sept. 24 approved edits to its draft letter responding to President Biden’s Executive Order 14276, “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness,” and adopted a work‑plan matrix of council actions to send to NOAA Fisheries. The council also directed staff to finalize and send a second “council member” letter that outlines broader, whole‑of‑government requests to Secretary of Commerce Letnick. However, a motion to also file that council‑member letter as a formal comment to NOAA’s federal‑register notice was later reported by the council’s executive director to have failed after a vote‑tally correction.

The council’s staff summary said EO 14276 asks regional fishery management councils to propose actions that stabilize markets, improve access, enhance profitability and prevent fishery closures — and to provide dates for final council action and proposed NOAA implementation. "The executive order requires fishery management councils to recommend actions that stabilize markets, improve access, enhance economic profitability, and prevent closures," Kelly Ames, a senior council staffer, told the council during the situation summary.

Why it matters

Council responses to EO 14276 will be used by NOAA Fisheries to populate a federal “unified agenda” that signals upcoming regulatory changes and resource needs. The council’s submission is intended to identify measures the Pacific Council can take within its authority and to flag broader requests — such as infrastructure and trade measures — that need cabinet‑level attention.

What the council decided

- The council voted to update the draft letter to the NOAA Assistant Administrator for Fisheries (attachment 4 in the briefing materials) by incorporating editorial and substantive suggestions from the Habitat Committee and the Groundfish Advisory Subpanel, and to submit that letter together with the staff‑prepared matrix of actions (attachment 5). That motion was made by Councilmember John Ugoretz and seconded by Councilmember Corey Ridings; the motion was approved (one abstention recorded from Ryan Wolf, NOAA/NMFS). The motion instructed staff to transmit the letter and matrix once finalized.

- The council also directed the executive director and staff to finalize a separate council‑member letter to Secretary Letnick that outlines priorities beyond regulatory rulemaking (for example, port and processing infrastructure, USDA programs, seafood marketing, and trade issues). That motion (moved by Councilmember Jamie Dimon) was approved after amendment; the final vote recorded one “no” (John Ugoretz) and three abstentions (Sharon Kiefer, Lynn Mattis and Ryan Wolf). The council directed staff to send that letter to Secretary Letnick and to cc the NOAA Assistant Administrator for Fisheries.

- A later motion to submit the council‑member letter as a formal response to NOAA’s federal‑register notice (Supplemental Attachment 6) was initially recorded as passing in the meeting. After the meeting adjourned the executive director reviewed the tally and reported that a voter’s ballot had been misrecorded; he stated the corrected tally made the vote fail. The council therefore did not submit the council‑member letter as a federal‑register comment. (See Actions section below for fuller chronology and the meeting minutes for the official corrected record.)

Advisory body and public input

The council heard multiple advisory‑body reports that fed into the letter and matrix. The Coastal Pelagic Species Advisory Subpanel urged that sardine stock‑definition work be a top priority for fisheries competitiveness. The Habitat Committee recommended expanding the letter’s language on marine planning to explicitly cite Magnuson‑Stevens Act (MSA) authority and to add items such as seabed minerals, oil and gas, and freshwater/estuarine habitat impacts. The Groundfish Advisory Subpanel (GAP) recommended removing two items — “risk tables” and some stock‑definition entries — from the matrix because they believed those items could introduce extra precaution or would not accelerate seafood competitiveness; the council accepted some GAP wording changes and removals when it approved the staff letter.

Industry and conservation groups also spoke during public comment. The Ocean Conservancy, Environmental Defense Fund, Oceana and Wild Oceans urged the council to stress that long‑term sustainability, bycatch reduction and habitat protection are essential to competitiveness. Industry groups and fishermen’s representatives pushed for regulatory relief, lower monitoring costs, and more investment in port and processing infrastructure.

What the letters will say (summary)

- Staff letter + matrix (to NOAA Fisheries): describes council actions that meet EO 14276 criteria and provides a matrix (attachment 5) of regulatory actions with proposed dates for final council action and proposed NOAA implementation. Items included in the matrix (per staff recommendation) were Pacific sardine stock definitions, selected groundfish items (flexible/adaptive management and stock‑definition matters), HMS EFP process changes (process, not regulation), and Pacific halibut catch‑sharing plan updates.

- Council‑member letter (to Secretary Letnick): expands beyond deregulatory requests to identify cross‑agency needs such as port and processing modernization, USDA program access for fishermen and processors, trade remedies, workforce development and funding support for science and monitoring (science centers, surveys, and data systems).

Next steps and timing

Council staff will finalize the NOAA letter and matrix and transmit them as instructed. The council‑member letter will be finalized and transmitted to Secretary Letnick (but — after the corrected tally reported by the executive director — not filed as a comment to the NOAA federal‑register notice). The council will track NOAA’s unified‑agenda postings and follow up where implementation timelines are needed.

Ending

Council members emphasized the tension between the EO’s deregulatory and streamlining objectives and other federal actions (for example, water‑allocation policies and funding changes) that can limit fisheries recovery. Several council members urged that the council use its letters to make that case while keeping the staff‑provided matrix focused on actions that meet the EO’s narrow work‑plan requirements.

Actions

1) Motion: Update the draft NOAA Fisheries letter (H2, attachment 4) with the Habitat Committee edits and the GAP wording suggestions; submit the letter together with the staff matrix (H2, attachment 5) in response to EO 14276. - Mover: Councilmember John Ugoretz - Second: Councilmember Corey Ridings - Outcome: Approved - Notes: Council recorded one abstention (Ryan Wolf, NOAA/NMFS). The motion directed staff to transmit the letter and matrix after editorial completion.

2) Motion: Task the executive director and staff to finalize the council‑member letter (H2A council member report) incorporating advisory‑body input and to send the letter to Secretary Letnick with a cc to the NOAA Assistant Administrator for Fisheries. - Mover: Councilmember Jamie Dimon - Second: Councilmember Corey Ridings - Outcome: Approved - Vote summary: Recorded “no” by Councilmember John Ugoretz; recorded abstentions by Sharon Kiefer, Lynn Mattis and Ryan Wolf; remainder in favor.

3) Motion: Submit the finalized council‑member letter as a response to the NOAA federal‑register notice (Supplemental Attachment 6). - Mover: Councilmember Asia Shumalo - Second: Councilmember Rebecca Lent - Outcome: Recorded initially as approved in the meeting (by roll call, with the chair casting the tie‑breaking vote). After adjournment, the executive director reviewed the tally and reported a misrecorded vote; the corrected tally made the motion fail. The council therefore did not submit the council‑member letter via the federal‑register docket. See official corrected minutes for the formal record.

Speakers (quoted or relied on)

- Kelly Ames — Council staff (situation summary) - John Ugoretz — Councilmember (mover) - Corey Ridings — Councilmember (second) - Jamie Dimon — Councilmember (mover) - Asia Shumalo — Councilmember (mover) - Ryan Wolf — NOAA/NMFS (regional staff; abstained on at least one vote) - Matt Everingham — CPS Advisory Subpanel (public/advisory comment) - Scott Hapelle — Habitat Committee (advisory committee report) - Michelle Conrad — Ecosystem Advisory Subpanel / public comment (Ocean Conservancy)

Authorities

- Executive Order 14276, "Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness" (2025) - Magnuson‑Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (referred to in advisory recommendations)

Discussion_vs_Decision

- Discussion points: advisory‑body priorities (sardine definitions, habitat concerns, data/monitoring needs), public comments raising sustainability and conservation concerns, and the limits of council authority vs. cross‑agency needs. - Direction: staff were directed to finalize and transmit 1) the NOAA‑focused letter and matrix, and 2) the council‑member letter to Secretary Letnick. - Decision: the staff letter + matrix and the council‑member letter were approved for transmission to their named recipients; the separate action to file the council‑member letter as a NOAA federal‑register comment failed after a corrected tally.

Proper names

- Pacific Fishery Management Council (agency/body) - Secretary Letnick (Secretary of Commerce, as named in council materials) - NOAA/NMFS (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration / National Marine Fisheries Service)

Topics

- Primary: fisheries_policy - Topics: [ {"name":"seafood_competitiveness","justification":"Central subject of the council's response to EO 14276; staff matrix and proposed letters address competitiveness actions.","scoring":{"topic_relevance":1.00,"depth_score":0.90,"opinionatedness":0.05,"controversy":0.75,"civic_salience":0.95,"impactfulness":0.85,"geo_relevance":1.00}}, {"name":"federal_agency_relations","justification":"Council letter directed to Commerce & NOAA and recommendations requested federal actions.","scoring":{"topic_relevance":0.85,"depth_score":0.70,"opinionatedness":0.10,"controversy":0.60,"civic_salience":0.80,"impactfulness":0.70,"geo_relevance":1.00}} ]

Searchable_tags:["EO14276","NOAA","seafood_competitiveness","sardine","habitat","MSA"],

meeting_context:{"engagement_level":{"speakers_count":40,"duration_minutes":180,"items_count":1},"implementation_risk":"medium","history":[{"date":"2025-06","note":"Council discussed EO response and priorities; staff instructed to develop letter and matrix."}]},

salience:{"overall":0.85,"overall_justification":"Council action responds to a White House EO and directs operational priorities that feed into NOAA's regulatory schedule.","impact_scope":"regional","impact_scope_justification":"Primarily affects West Coast fisheries but includes national trade and federal funding aspects.","attention_level":"high","attention_level_justification":"High interest from industry, NGOs, and federal agencies.","novelty":0.55,"novelty_justification":"Letter formalizes priorities but many issues are ongoing; the federal‑register submission question raised new procedural discussion.","timeliness_urgency":0.90,"timeliness_urgency_justification":"NOAA asked councils for timely input to populate its unified agenda and federal‑register notice.","legal_significance":0.60,"legal_significance_justification":"References MSA obligations and may inform future regulatory actions.","budgetary_significance":0.50,"budgetary_significance_justification":"Requests for funding/support to NOAA and broader federal programs could influence budgets.","public_safety_risk":0.05},

provenance:{"transcript_segments":[]}