The Council adopted two changes to the catch sharing plan for area 2A. The first change separates the Puget Sound sub-area into two regions with different season dates; this action provides an earlier opening date for the East Sound region and thus increased opportunity to harvest a portion of the sub-area allocation. The second change increases the Oregon on-land possession limit from one halibut to two halibut; this action was to achieve consistency with possession limits for most other species in Oregon and with the Pacific halibut possession limit in Washington.

Representatives of the three coastal states will represent the Council in attending the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission sponsored sequence of meetings designed to review the existing MRFSS program. The goal of this review is to determine changes needed to make the program capable of accurate and precise fishery management information. The Council will also coordinate a precursory meeting of a small group of scientists to examine quantitative questions of statistical precision ramifications.

The Council adopted ABC and OY levels described as Alternative 4 in Exhibit C.3, Attachment 1 in the Council meeting record, with the following exceptions:

• Sablefish ABC of 4,786 mt and (North of Point Conception) OY of 4,500 mt;
• Shortspine thornyhead ABC of 1,004 mt and OY of 955 mt;
• Dover sole ABC of 8,510 mt and OY of 7,440 mt;
• Yelloweye rockfish ABC and OY of 5 and 2.5 for the Monterey area and 22 and 11 for the "North of 40°10' N latitude" area.

The Council adopted a year-round season structure for 2002 commercial limited entry and open access groundfish fisheries, constrained by trip limits. One exception was the limited entry fixed gear Sablefish fishery, which will operate within a season of April 1-October 30, limited by a seasonal trip limit. The Council also adopted seasons and bag limits for the 2002 recreational groundfish fisheries in Washington, Oregon, and California, as well as management measures for the tribal fisheries. Detailed bycatch and discard rates for five overfished groundfish stocks were also adopted and incorporated in groundfish management specifications for next year. A detailed listing of commercial trip limits by area and fishery, as well as recreational seasons, will be available from the Council office and on the Council website in the near future.

The Council appointed an ad hoc committee to review aspects of the groundfish management schedule and report recommendations at the March Council meeting. The committee membership, objective statement and tentative meeting schedule are as follows:

Committee Representatives - Mr. Phil Anderson, Mr. Burnie Bohn, Mr. LB Boydstun, Mr. Ralph Brown, Eileen Cooney, Mr. Bob Eaton, Dr. Jim Hastie, Mr. Jim Lone, Dr. Rick Methot, Mr. Rod Moore, Dr. Steve Ralston, and Mr. Bill Robinson.

Objective Statement - Scope multi-year management approaches, synchronized with a multi-year stock assessment schedule and with full accommodation of federal notice and comment requirements.

Schedule - One to three-day meetings during early December 2001, mid-January 2002, and mid-February 2002.

The Council approved sending three 2002 EFP to NMFS with the recommendation to implement. These three relate to:

1. Landing allowances for shoreside whiting in Oregon, Washington and California;
2. Arrowtooth flounder trawl fishing in Washington;
3. Yellowtail rockfish trawl fishing in Washington.

The Council approved a 1,000 pound per trip limit of Dover sole in trawl fisheries during the month of December 2001.

The Council approved the proposed 2002 salmon management process schedule, including:

Council sponsored public hearings:
	April 1 in Westport, WA and
	Week of April 1 in North Bend, OR;
	April 2 in Eureka, CA
Tentative state sponsored hearings:
	Week of April 1 in Tillamook, OR
	Week of April 1 in Moss Landing, CA

The Council indicated the intent to consider, at the March 2002 Council meeting, initiating an FMP amendment process for the salmon FMP that would establish long-term management objectives for Sacramento winter chinook and Central Valley spring chinook. The California Fish and Game will convene an ad hoc group prior to that time to develop draft goals and objectives.

The Council tentatively approved use of the new Klamath Ocean Harvest Model and the new cohort analysis for the coho Fishery Regulation Assessment Model for the 2002 salmon management season, contingent on completion of remaining technical issues, satisfactory testing of the models, and consideration of final recommendations from the SSC and STT at the March 2002 Council meeting.

The Council approved the STT report on Queets coho stock status and concurred with the conclusions of the STT, that Queets coho are not currently overfished, not likely to become overfished in near future, that a rebuilding plan is not required, and that no changes in management measures are required to achieve the management objectives for Queets coho.

The Council tasked the Executive Director with sending a letter to California Fish and Game Commission (CFGC) forwarding the SSC and GAP statements on options for creating no-fishing marine reserves in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CINMS), requesting timely opportunity to review any yet-to-be-prepared analyses from the California Department of Fish and Game, and expressing the Council desire for opportunity to comment on alternatives for state waters before any final decisions of the CFGC. The Council also tasked the Executive Director to communicate the current status of Council deliberations to the CINMS program and to express its appreciation to the CINMS staff for their efforts in maintaining open communication and information flow on this matter.

The Council adopted the draft FMP for public review with minor changes; consideration of final adoption will occur at the March 2002 Council meeting in Sacramento, California. They also selected eleven preferred alternatives for the framework FMP, eleven preferred alternatives for the initial regulatory document, and added four new regulation alternatives. Details of these selections can be obtained from the Council office or found on the Council website in the near future. Finally, the Council directed the HMS Plan Development Team to work with NMFS SW Region in reorganizing draft documents into a single draft Environmental Impact Statement-formatted document.

The Council adopted the following hearing schedule to obtain public comment on the draft HMS FMP:

Olympia, WA	Monday, January 28, 2002	4 pm or 7 pm
Astoria, OR	Tuesday, January 29, 2002	7 pm
Coos Bay, OR	Wednesday, January 30, 2002	7 pm
Eureka, CA	Thursday, January 31, 2002	7 pm
Monterey, CA	Friday, February 1, 2002	7 pm
Long Beach, CA	Saturday, February 2, 2002	10 am
San Diego, CA	Monday, February 4, 2002	7 pm

Exact locations of meetings will be announced at a later date.

The Council endorsed the market squid maximum sustainable yield proxy approach recommended by the market squid STAR Panel, as well as the management alternatives recommended by the CPS Management Team, for inclusion in Amendment 10 of the CPS FMP. The Council also directed the CPS Management Team to continue with the Team's analysis of management alternatives related to capacity and permit transferability in the CPS limited entry fishery. At the March 2002 meeting, the Council will consider adoption of Amendment 10 for public review.

The Council reviewed the current assessment of Pacific sardine biomass. Based on the recommendations of the SSC, CPSMT, CPSAS and public, the Council adopted a harvest guideline of 118,442 mt for the 2002 Pacific sardine fishery. Per the formula in the CPS FMP, the harvest guideline will be allocated 1/3 to the northern subarea (North of Pt. Piedras Blancas to the U.S.-Canada border) and 2/3 to the southern subarea (South of Pt. Piedras Blancas to the U.S.-Mexico border). The 2002 Pacific sardine fishing season opens January 1, 2002.

The Council appointed Dr. Doyle Hanon to fill the vacant Public-at-large seat on the Highly Migratory Species Advisory Subpanel. No appointments were made to fill the vacant Northern California Charter position on the Coastal Pelagic Species Advisory Subpanel and the Recreational Fisher position on the Habitat Steering Group (HSG). Council staff will solicit additional nominations for these positions for Council consideration at the March 2002 Council meeting. All persons already nominated for these positions will be included in the Council's consideration in March.The Council appointed the following persons to the Ad Hoc Multi-Year Groundfish Management Strategy Committee:

Mr. Phil Anderson	Dr. Jim Hastie
Mr. Burnie Bohn	Mr. Jim Lone
Mr. LB Boydstun	Dr. Rick Methot
Mr. Ralph Brown	Mr. Rod Moore
Ms. Eileen Cooney	Dr. Steve Ralston
Mr. Bob Eaton	Mr. Bill Robinson

The Council discussed a request to add an additional sport fishing representative to the Groundfish Advisory Subpanel and chose to leave the membership unchanged at this time. The Council unanimously elected Dr. Hans Radtke and Mr. Donald Hansen to serve as Council Chair and Vice Chair, respectively, for the 2002 term.The Council amended Council Operating Procedure (COP) #2 to include criteria to help guide selection of the public-at-large positions for advisory subpanels for all FMPs. COP #2 does not include the HSG, Scientific and Statistical Committee, and management teams. The adopted criteria are as follows:

• Individual has interest in and knowledge about the management, fisheries, and/or issues covered by the designated advisory body.
• Individual is not an appointed, elected, or paid representative of a recreational, commercial, or environmental organization involved with fishery issues.
• Priority consideration will be given to individuals who represent port districts, coastal community businesses, seafood safety experts, or individuals who have expertise not otherwise represented on the committee and would provide a valuable contribution to the advisory group.
• An individual will not be considered solely on the basis of their participation in the sport or commercial fishery (including processing) or environmental activities.