• Contact Us
  • Subscribe

North Pacific Fishery Management Council

Managing our Nation's Fisheries off the Coast of Alaska

  • Home
  • Meetings
    • Council Meetings
      • Agenda Platform – All meetings
      • Current (or next) Council Meeting
      • Future Council Meetings
      • Archive of Council Meetings
      • Three Meeting Outlook
      • Calendar
  • About
    • Overview
      • FAQ
      • Recognition Awards
      • Management Policies
      • Navigating the Process
      • Staff
      • fisherycouncils.org
      • List of Acronyms
    • Engagement topics
      • Halibut Subsistence
      • Northern Bering Sea Research Area
      • Community Quota Entity Program
  • Membership
    • Council and Committee Members
      • Council Members
      • Scientific and Statistical Committee
      • Advisory Panel
    • Committees
      • List of Committees
      • Bering Sea FEP Climate Change Taskforce
      • Bering Sea FEP LKTK Taskforce
      • Charter Halibut Management Committee
      • Community Engagement Committee
      • Cook Inlet Salmon Committee
      • Ecosystem Committee
      • Enforcement Committee
      • Fishery Monitoring Committees
      • Halibut ABM Stakeholder Committee
      • Halibut Management Committee
      • IFQ Committee
      • Joint Protocol Committee
      • Legislative Committee
      • PNCIAC
    • Fishery Management Plan Teams
      • Overview
      • Groundfish Plan Teams
      • Salmon FMP
      • Scallop Plan Team
      • BSAI Crab Plan Team
      • Social Science Planning Team
      • Bering Sea Fishery Ecosystem Plan
  • Fisheries
    • Halibut
      • Halibut Subsistence
      • Charter Halibut Management
        • Charter Halibut Management Committee
        • Halibut Charter Stakeholder Committee
      • Halibut Bycatch Overview
    • Groundfish
      • Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska Groundfish
      • Groundfish Plan Teams
      • BSAI Groundfish FMP Doc
      • BSAI FMP Appendix
      • GOA Groundfish FMP Doc
      • GOA FMP Appendix
    • Crab and Scallop
      • BSAI Crab Plan Team
      • BSAI Crab FMP Doc
      • Scallop Plan Team
      • Scallop FMP Doc
    • Other FMPs
      • Salmon
      • Arctic
  • Current Issues
    • Habitat Protections
      • Overview
      • Bering Sea Canyons
      • Essential Fish Habitat (EFH)
      • Habitat Areas of Particular Concern (HAPC)
        • HAPC Proposals
      • Northern Bering Sea Research Area
      • Gear Modifications
    • Protected Species
      • Overview
      • Steller Sea Lions
      • Seals
      • Seabirds
      • Walrus
      • Whales
    • Catch Shares Allocation
      • AFA Pollock Cooperatives
      • Amendment 80 Program
      • BSAI Crab Rationalization
      • CDQ Program
      • Community Quota Entity Program
      • Cooperative Reporting
      • Economic Data Reporting
      • GOA Rockfish Program
      • Halibut/Sablefish IFQ Program
      • Pacific Cod Allocations
    • Other Conservation Issues
      • Alaska Marine Ecosystem Forum
      • Aleutian Islands Fishery Ecosystem Plan
      • Bering Sea Fishery Ecosystem Plan
      • Non Target Species Management
      • Observer Program
  • Bycatch Controls
    • Salmon Bycatch
      • Overview
      • BSAI Salmon Bycatch
      • GOA Salmon Bycatch
    • Crab Bycatch
      • Overview
      • BSAI Crab Bycatch
      • GOA Crab Bycatch
    • Halibut Bycatch
      • Overview
      • BSAI Halibut Bycatch
      • GOA Halibut Bycatch
    • GOA Trawl Bycatch
      • GOA Trawl Bycatch Management
  • Publications
    • Publications
      • Research Priorities
      • Scientific Papers
      • Summary Reports
      • NPFMC Newsletters
      • SAFE (Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation) Reports
      • ACEPO
    • Resources
      • Plan Teams
      • Related Links
      • Meeting Minutes
      • Council Mailings
      • NOAA Fisheries Policy Directives
  • Contact Us
  • Subscribe

Observer Issues

You are here: Home » Newsletters » Observer Issues

October 20, 2020

Large Trawling vessel

FT Northern Hawk

Observer Program Draft 2021 Annual Deployment Plan

The Council reviewed the Observer Program Draft 2021 Annual Deployment Plan (ADP), received a report from the Partial Coverage Fishery Monitoring Advisory Committee (PCFMAC), and supported NMFS’ recommendations for deploying observers and electronic monitoring (EM) on groundfish and halibut vessels in the partial coverage fisheries in 2021. Specifically, the Council supported NMFS’ recommendation to continue to utilize a port-based approach for partial coverage observer deployment, consistent with the redesigned 2020 ADP that is responsive to COVID-19 impacts on monitoring. The Council also supported NMFS’ recommendations for the coverage allocation scheme of 15% plus optimized allocation based on discarded groundfish and halibut PSC and Chinook PSC, as described in the Draft 2021 ADP. Observer coverage rates resulting from this approach and the final budget will be available in the final 2021 ADP in December.

NMFS reported that funding is sufficient to maintain the current fixed gear EM selection pool of 169 vessels in 2021. The Council supported NMFS’ criteria to determine new potential participants in the fixed gear EM pool if funding is insufficient to accommodate all new requests.

Finally, the Council recommended NMFS develop an abbreviated 2020 Observer Annual Report and requested an updated timeline for cost efficiency analyses consistent with its adopted priorities from January 2020. These priorities include integrating fixed gear EM into the determination of observer baseline coverage, a re-evaluation of the zero-selection pool, and re-evaluation of the bias metrics. The PCFMAC will meet in Spring 2021 to review work on these analyses prior to the annual FMAC meeting.

Staff contact is Kate Haapala.

Trawl EM

The Council received a report from the Trawl EM Committee, reporting on progress with using electronic monitoring (EM) in pollock trawl fisheries in the BSAI and GOA in 2020. The Council continues to support the trawl EM development work, and the schedule that targets implementation of EM as a regulatory alternative for monitoring in the pollock trawl fisheries by 2023. As such, the Council supports extending the EFP, which is currently set to expire in 2021, through 2022, and supports industry efforts to seek out funding to support development work in 2022. The Council intends to review a regulatory analysis for implementing EM for the trawl fisheries next year, with the Trawl EM Committee continuing to track ongoing fieldwork and the development of analytical options during that time.

In the Trawl EM Committee report, the Council also received recommendations to NMFS for updates to the Draft NMFS Alaska Regional Electronic Technologies Implementation Plan update for 2020-2024, which is under preparation. The Council will review an updated version of this document in February 2021.

Staff contact is Anna Henry.

Tagged With: Observer, October 2020

Upcoming Meetings

View Calendar →

Recent Updates

Current (or next) Council Meeting

Archive of Council Meetings

Future Council Meetings

Halibut/Sablefish IFQ Program

Enforcement Committee

  • October 2015 Newsletter
  • June 2015 Newsletter
  • April 2015 Newsletter
  • February 2015 Newsletter

Upcoming Meetings

Past Meetings →

Recent Updates

Call for Nominations

June 2022 Newsletter

Campbell Farewell

CGOA Rockfish Program

BSAI Small Vessel Access

Photo Stream

More Photos →

Newsletters

All →

Subscribe to our Agenda/Newsletter:

Contact Info

View Map →

North Pacific Fishery Management Council
1007 West Third, Suite 400
Anchorage, Alaska 99501-2252
Phone: (907) 271-2809

Return to top of page
Copyright © 2022. North Pacific Fishery Management Council. All Rights Reserved. · Website by Sundog Media LLC · Login