Council asks SSC for supplemental review of widow rockfish assessment, requests ramp‑down options to protect stocks and fishing communities
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Summary
The Pacific Fishery Management Council unanimously asked its Scientific and Statistical Committee to conduct a supplemental review of the 2025 widow rockfish assessment and to evaluate ramp‑down harvest scenarios (including Bayesian projections if feasible) aimed at keeping biomass at or above the B40 proxy while reducing near‑term economic impacts on fishing communities.
The Pacific Fishery Management Council voted unanimously to request a supplemental Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) review of the 2025 widow rockfish update assessment and to ask staff and agency scientists to develop ramp‑down harvest scenarios that keep the stock at or above the council’s B40 proxy.
The motion, moved by Council member Corey Niles and seconded by Corey Ridings, asked the SSC to identify the best scientific information available for management in 2026–2028, evaluate the feasibility of Bayesian projections to quantify the probability the stock will remain above B40 by 2029, and to work with council staff and NMFS policy and legal staff to clarify what discretion the SSC and council have under the Magnuson‑Stevens Act when setting acceptable biological catches.
Supporters framed the request as a risk‑based approach intended to avoid abrupt declines in catch under default harvest control rules that could inflict large economic harm on fishing communities. The motion cited example ACL values derived from linear interpolation of briefing‑book tables — roughly 8,842 metric tons in 2027 and 7,958 metric tons in 2028 as illustrative 10%‑per‑year decreases — and asked the SSC to test whether similar ramps could keep biomass above B40.
Several council members and scientists urged caution, noting the October 2025 assessment corrected earlier data errors but still raised unresolved assumptions. Rebecca Lent and other speakers asked that any supplemental review include clear documentation of uncertainties so that managers can weigh conservation objectives alongside the council’s duty under National Standard 8 to minimize adverse impacts on fishing communities when consistent with conservation needs.
Legal and NMFS staff told the council that guidelines under National Standard 1 are advisory and that the SSC’s scientific role and the council’s management role each have defined legal bounds, but that staff work with the SSC could clarify the range of acceptable options.
Chair (unnamed) called the question; council members voted by voice and the motion passed unanimously. Council staff and the SSC plan a supplemental review in January 2026 and recommended follow‑up process reviews to produce concrete estimates for ramp scenarios.
