The Council discussed the relative priority and scheduling of previously tasked projects, as well as the following tasking issues.
- See revised 3 meeting outlook for changes to scheduling.
- The Council affirmed their schedule for developing the Cook Inlet Salmon FMP amendment, requesting preliminary initial review in April 2020, with an intent to have the FMP amendment implemented by the 2022 fishing season.
- The Council initiated a new action to develop a preliminary / initial review draft analysis to reduce BSAI crab PSC limits for trawl CDQ and non-CDQ fisheries when the corresponding directed crab fishery is closed.
The Council requested several reports for the January/February meeting:
- from NMFS on the development of the proposed rule for humpback whale critical habitat
- from NMFS on an annual process to vet with stakeholders any proposed changes to the procedures required for decksorting
- from the Coast Guard on the VHF outage in Southeast Alaska
- an update on the progress with implementing the charter halibut recreational quota entity (RQE) program
The Council directed staff to develop the following letters:
- To the IPHC United States Commissioners, providing input for their deliberations at the 2020 IPHC Annual meeting. The letter will highlight the anticipated significant and adverse impacts to US harvesters that are currently forecast for 2020, and identify potential measures that could mitigate the severity of such impacts.
- To NMFS, commenting on the proposed rule setting critical habitat for humpback whales. Staff will develop a draft of the letter which the Council will review and finalize at the January/February Council meeting prior to the comment deadline (January 31st).
- To NMFS, conveying the SSC’s comments on the proposed revisions to National Standard 1 guidelines with respect to carry-over and phase-in provisions.
Committees and advisory groups (see also the Appointments newsletter article):
- The Council announced appointments to the Advisory Panel and SSC for 2020.
- The Council appointed Dr. Andrew Olson to the Scallop Plan Team.
- The Council appointed Charlotte Levy to the Trawl EM Committee.
- The Council Chair announced co-Chairs for the Bering Sea FEP Action Module Taskforces for Climate Change and LK/TK/Subsistence.
