Pacific Fishery Management Council to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement Related to Allocation of Pacific Sardine

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) intends to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to analyze a range of alternatives for the annual allocation of the Pacific sardine harvest guideline. NEPA requires consideration of a full range of reasonable alternatives including status quo (no action). The Council has not yet determined which alternative will be its preferred alternative. When developed, the proposed management alternatives would modify the Pacific sardine allocation framework in the Coastal Pelagic Species (CPS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP) and regulations that implement the FMP.

The tentative schedule for Council actions related to this matter is: September 2004, progress report; November 2004, review preliminary range of draft alternatives; January-February 2005, public hearings on range of alternatives; March or April 2005, preliminary action; June 2005, final action. Council meetings provide a means for the public to comment about this action from its inception through final Council action.

If this schedule holds, and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) approves the Council action, the Council anticipates implementation of the new Pacific sardine allocation framework in time for the 2006 Pacific sardine fishery, which opens January 1. If no new allocation system is implemented by January 1, 2006, it is expected that the allocation would revert back to the original FMP allocation framework (as adopted in 1998).

The proposed action to be analyzed in the EIS is implementation of a comprehensive, long-term allocation framework for annual apportioment of the Pacific sardine harvest guideline. The Pacific sardine resource is healthy and abundant, supporting fisheries in California (Los Angeles harbor area and Monterey Bay area), in Oregon (Port of Astoria), and Washington (ports of Westport and Ilwaco). Objectives of the proposed action include ensuring optimal utilization of the resource and equitably allocating harvest opportunity.

Background Information

The Council adopted the CPS FMP in 1998. The original Pacific sardine allocation formula in the FMP partitioned 33% of the annual harvest guideline to the northern subarea (“Subarea A”) and 66% to the southern subarea (“Subarea B”). Nine months after the January 1 start of the fishery (i.e., October 1), the remaining harvest guideline was pooled and re-allocated 50% - 50% to each subarea. The original boundary between the two subareas was 35° 40' N lat. (approximately Point Piedras Blancas, California). This formula was incorporated into federal management from existing California State law. The State law was designed to balance fishing opportunity between the Southern California-based fishery (“South”) and the Monterey-based fishery (“North”).

As the Pacific sardine biomass expanded, fisheries developed in the Pacific Northwest. With this expansion, under the original allocation formula, the northern area allocation was shared by Monterey, Oregon, and Washington-based fisheries. Oregon and Washington fishery interests expressed concern to the Council that the original allocation framework did not provide optimal harvest opportunity to the respective fishery sectors. Each of the three sectors operates over a unique schedule. Generally, Southern California starts harvesting sardine January 1 and harvest increases steadily throughout the year; Northern California starts in August (tied to market squid availability) and harvest increases through January or February of the following year; and Oregon and Washington have a much more abbreviated season, which starts in June and ends in October. Because these sectors operate on very different schedules, annual allocations help to ensure that each sector receives a reasonable fishing opportunity.

In April 2003, the Council recommended to NMFS an interim framework for allocating sardine. The revised allocation system: (1) changed the definition of Subarea A (northern subarea) and Subarea B (southern subarea) by moving the geographic boundary between the two areas from 35° 40' N. lat. (Point Piedras Blancas, California) to 39° N. lat. (Point Arena, California), (2) moved the date when Pacific sardine that remains unharvested is reallocated to Subarea A and Subarea B from October 1 to September 1, (3) changed the percentage of the unharvested sardine that is reallocated to Subarea A and Subarea B from 50% to both subareas to 20% to Subarea A and 80% to Subarea B, and (4) reallocates all unharvested sardine that remains on December 1 coastwide.

The Council recommended this allocation framework be in place for the 2003 and 2004 fishing seasons, and also in 2005 (if the 2005 harvest guideline is at least 90% of the 2003 harvest guideline).

Using the best available information, the interim allocation framework was rapidly developed to address concerns, in the short-term. At the time, it was understood additional information and time were required to develop a more comprehensive, longer-term allocation framework, which is a purpose of this EIS.

A principal objective of this scoping and public input process is to identify potentially significant impacts to the human environment that should be analyzed in depth in the EIS. Scoping is an early and open process for determining the scope of issues to be addressed and for identifying the significant issues related to proposed alternatives (including status quo). A principal objective of the scoping and public input processes is to identify a reasonable set of alternatives that, with adequate analysis, sharply define critical issues and provide a clear basis for distinguishing among those alternatives and selecting a preferred alternative.

Written comments for Council consideration at the September 2004 meeting will be accepted through August 25, 2004. Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods:

• E-mail:  pfmc.comments@noaa.gov, (enter "Pacific Sardine Allocation" in the subject line)
• Mail:  Dr. Donald McIsaac, Pacific Fishery Management Council, 7700 NE Ambassador Place, Suite 200, Portland, OR  97220
• Fax:  503-820-2299

For further information contact: Mr. Mike Burner, Pacific Fishery Management Council – 503-820-2280, fax: 503-820-2299.

PFMC
11/16/05