NOAA Fisheries is proposing revision to the regulations that implement the Pacific Fishery Management Council’s (Council) Pacific Coast Salmon Fishery Management Plan (FMP) to remove the Queets River coho salmon (Queets coho salmon) and Strait of Juan de Fuca coho salmon (JDF coho salmon) rebuilding plans as these stocks have now been rebuilt and are no longer considered overfished.
Revising the regulations that implement the Salmon FMP to remove the Queets coho salmon and JDF coho salmon rebuilding plans from regulation will avoid confusion should NOAA Fisheries make a future determination that the Queets coho salmon and JDF coho salmon stocks are overfished again. Leaving the current rebuilding plans in regulation could be misperceived as being the default rebuilding plans for Queets coho salmon and JDF coho salmon, which was not the intention of the Council nor of NMFS. Therefore, it is best practice to remove the existing Queets coho salmon JDF coho salmon rebuilding plans from regulation. This change is important to ensure that regulations are correct and current.
NOAA Fisheries concurrently announces a 30-day comment period for this proposed rule on this proposal. Please submit all electronic public comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal, NOAA-NMFS-2024-0112. Click on the “Comment” icon, complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments. Comments sent by any other method, to any other address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period, may not be considered by NMFS. For the specific details associated with this proposed rule, please visit our website.
For more information, contact
Anna Heeter, Anadromous Harvest Management, at (971) 361-8895 or Anna.Heeter@noaa.gov.
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