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North Pacific Fishery Management Council

Managing Fisheries off the Coast of Alaska

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EBFM

Ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) is a holistic approach that recognizes all the interactions within an ecosystem rather than considering a single species or issue in isolation. The primary purpose of EBFM as viewed by the Alaska Region’s partners and stakeholders is to better to manage and conserve fish stocks in the context of the ecosystem as a whole. Recent EBFM considerations in the Alaska Region have included a focus on the role of humans in the ecosystem and the importance of maintaining healthy fishing communities.

The Council underscored its commitment to EBFM with the adoption of an ecosystem approach policy statement in 2014.

With the development of a Bering Sea Fisheries Ecosystem Plan (FEP) and Aleutian Islands FEP, the Council has progressed on the continuum of EBFM, allowing Alaska to lead internationally in fishery management, and provide a clear record of the Council’s ecosystem-based policy decision making, while still applying policies that are suited to Alaskan circumstances. The FEPs have established a broad, ongoing framework for EBFM incorporation in Council management actions designed to:

  1. Create a transparent public process for the Council to identify ecosystem goals and management responses;
  2. Serve as a communication tool for ecosystem science and Council policy;
  3. Provide a framework for strategic planning that would guide and prioritize fishery, habitat, and ecosystem research, modeling, and survey needs;
  4. Identify connected Bering Sea and Aleutian Island ecosystem components, and their importance for specific management questions;
  5. Assess Council management with respect to EBFM best practices, and identify areas of success and areas for improvement on a regular basis;
  6. Provide a framework for considering policy options and associated opportunities, risks, and tradeoffs affecting FMP species and the broader Bering Sea and Aleutian Island ecosystem (e.g. evaluation of management tradeoffs among FMPs, fisheries, or with other activities); and
  7. Build resiliency in Council management strategies, including options for responding to changing circumstances (e.g. climate change-driven changes to fish distribution and abundance, changes in shipping patterns, etc.).

Staff contact is Diana Evans.

Resources

NPFMC
Resources

Bering Sea Fishery Ecosystem Plan Team

External Resources

NOAA: Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management
NOAA: Myths About Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management
NOAA: EBFM – Alaska Region Implementation Plan

Search our eAgenda

More NPFMC Documents
EBFM Background Documents

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CALENDAR

  • Ecosystem Committee Meeting
    Sep 28, 2023
    8:30 am - 4:30 pm    
  • Individual Fishing Quota Committee
    Sep 28, 2023
    8:30 am - 4:30 pm    
  • Enforcement Trawl Performance Workshop
    Oct 2, 2023
    1:00 pm - 5:00 pm    
  • Scientific & Statistical Committee Meeting
     Oct 2, 2023, 8:00 am — Oct 4, 2023, 5:00 pm    
  • Advisory Panel
     Oct 3, 2023, 8:00 am — Oct 7, 2023, 5:00 pm    
  • Council Meeting
     Oct 5, 2023, 8:00 am — Oct 10, 2023, 5:00 pm    
  • Social Science Planning Team (SSPT)
    Oct 18, 2023
    2:00 pm - 4:00 pm    
  • Charter Halibut Management Committee
    Oct 20, 2023
    12:30 pm - 4:30 pm    
  • BS FEP Climate Change Taskforce Meeting
    Nov 1, 2023
    1:00 pm - 5:00 pm    
  • BS FEP Climate Change Taskforce Meeting
    Nov 2, 2023
    9:00 am - 5:00 pm    
  • Social Science Planning Team (SSPT)
    Nov 3, 2023
    8:30 am - 4:30 pm    
  • Joint, BSAI, GOA Groundfish Plan Team Meetings
     Nov 13, 2023, 12:00 am — Nov 17, 2023, 11:59 pm    
  • IPHC Interim Meeting
     Nov 30, 2023, 12:00 am — Dec 1, 2023, 11:59 pm    
  • Council Meeting
     Dec 4, 2023, 12:00 am — Dec 12, 2023, 11:59 pm    
  • Scallop Plan Team
    Dec 14, 2023
    1:00 pm - 4:00 pm    
  • Crab Plan Team (T)
     Jan 8, 2024, 12:00 am — Jan 12, 2024, 11:59 pm    
  • SSC Subgroup Research Priorities
    Jan 11, 2024
    11:30 am - 2:30 pm    
  • International Pacific Halibut Commission - Anchorage, AK
     Jan 22, 2024, 12:00 am — Jan 26, 2024, 11:59 pm    
  • Alaska Marine Science Symposium
     Jan 29, 2024, 12:00 am — Feb 2, 2024, 11:59 pm    
  • Council Meeting
     Feb 5, 2024, 12:00 am — Feb 12, 2024, 11:59 pm    
  • Council Meeting
     Apr 1, 2024, 12:00 am — Apr 9, 2024, 11:59 pm    
  • Crab Plan Team (T)
     May 13, 2024, 12:00 am — May 17, 2024, 11:59 pm    
  • Council Meeting
     Jun 3, 2024, 12:00 am — Jun 11, 2024, 11:59 pm    
 

VIEW FULL CALENDAR

Spotlight

Arctic Wilderness

October 2023 Meeting – Anchorage

Request for Information: 2024 Research Priorities Triennial Review

We respectfully acknowledge that the Council regularly meets, and its staff office resides, in Anchorage on Dena’ina homelands. The Council wants to honor the Dena’ina, the Indigenous Peoples who have stewarded this land across generations and continue to do so. We are glad to be part of this community, and to honor the culture, resilience, and tradition of the Dena’ina people.

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