Fisheries Off West Coast States: West Coast Salmon Fisheries; Amendment 24 to the Pacific Coast Salmon Fishery Management Plan
Summary
This Notice of Decision approves the Pacific Fishery Management Council’s proposed amendment to the Pacific Coast Salmon Fishery Management Plan (Amendment 24).
Amendment 24 to the Salmon FMP clarifies the technical process for reviewing updates to the models used to determine the Chinook salmon abundance threshold (threshold) that may trigger additional management measures to limit the impact of ocean salmon fisheries on Southern Resident killer whales (SRKW). The whales are listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Chinook salmon, some of which are listed as threatened under the ESA, are their preferred prey. This action is administrative in nature and does not change the approach used to establish the threshold, the method described in the Salmon FMP to periodically update it based on new information or the fishery management responses currently described in the Salmon FMP. There are no implementing regulations with this proposed FMP amendment.