Calendar

The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) and NMFS will convene a Western Pacific Stock Assessment Review (WPSAR) of a benchmark stock assessment for the main Hawaiian Islands (MHI) Deep 7 Bottomfish Complex.

Scientists from the NMFS Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) conducted a benchmark stock assessment of the MHI Deep 7 bottomfish complex. This benchmark assessment incorporated new data in the form of fishery-independent biomass estimates, and also followed data filtering recommendations from a series of five community workshops that involved fishermen, managers, and scientists on best practices for filtering bottomfish commercial catch and effort data from State of Hawaii commercial catch reports. Because of these workshops, PIFSC scientists are now able to better link individual fishermen’s catch reports further back in time, and this linking is newly applied in this benchmark stock assessment.

This assessment used commercial data for the years 1948-2015, and assessed Deep 7 bottomfish by building on the modeling framework from the previous three assessments, but with improved data and data filtering as previously described, along with improvements to catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) standardization, and other modeling approaches. The assessment also estimates unreported catches using catch and effort data following methods similar to those applied in previous assessments. After applying best practices from the workshop recommendations for filtering for CPUE calculation, PIFSC scientists applied model selection techniques to select the best structural form to standardize CPUE. CPUE in the model was split into two time series, fishing years 1948-2003, and fishing years 2003-2015) to accommodate new effort reporting from a change in reporting form by the State in October 2002.

note: Public comment is available on 12/11 at 3:30 pm, 12/12 at 3:30 pm, and 12/14 at 11:00 am.  The meeting will be closed to the public in the afternoon on 12/14 and morning of 12/15.  WPSAR recommendations and a report out will be provided at 1 pm on 12/15.  See agenda link below for specific times.

Dates: December 11-15, 2023 (see agenda for times)
Location: NMFS Honolulu Service Center at Pier 38, 1129 N. Nimitz Hwy, Suite 220, Honolulu, Hawaii 96817
Agenda
FR Notice

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: T. Todd Jones, Director—Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) Fisheries Research and Monitoring Division (FRMD), telephone: (808) 725–5713, or todd.jones@noaa.gov.

Dec. 12-13, 2023 (T-W)            Time: 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Hawaii)
Dec. 12-13, 2023 (T-W)            Time: 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (American Samoa)
Dec. 13-14, 2023 (W-Th)         Time: 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (Marianas)
Location: Web conference via Webex, and Host sites at 1164 Bishop St., Ste. 1400, Honolulu, HI; ; Cliff Pointe, Tedi of Samoa Bldg. Ste. 208B, Fagatogo Village, AS; 304 W. O’Brien Dr., Hagatna, Guam; BRI Bldg. Ste. 205, Kopa Di Oru St., Garapan, Saipan, CNMI

To access the meeting via Webex, click link below:
https://tinyurl.com/197CouncilMtg
Event number: 2630 593 6741
Event password: CM197mtg (26197685 from phones)

197 CM public draft agenda rev1
FR Notice (Correction)
Final 197 CM Action Memorandum
Final 196th CM Minutes

Instructions for providing oral public testimony or comments:
For those participating remotely by Webex, request for public comment and identification of the agenda item on which you wish to speak must be sent through the “chat” function in Webex to the “Host” prior to the start of the public comment session. For those participating at a web conference host site, fill out a comment card and indicate the agenda item on which you wish to speak. Oral testimony is limited to three minutes. Please identify yourself and whom you represent at the beginning of your testimony. Public comment on non-agenda items will be taken on Tuesday, December 12, 2023, from 4:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m (HST).

Major agenda items: Fishing regulations in the proposed Pacific Remote Islands National Marine Sanctuary (final action item); American Samoa bottomfish rebuilding plan discontinuation and 2024-2026 annual catch limit specification (final action item); HI Fishery Ecosystem Plan uku essential fish habitat revision amendment (final action item); Multi-year U.S. Territorial bigeye tuna catch limit and allocation specifications (final action item); Inflation Reduction Act proposal discussion; and Council Western and Central Pacific Ocean longline management workshops and international meetings update.

Tuesday, December 12, 2023

Revised Schedule and Agenda for the 197th Council Meeting
10 a.m. to 11 a.m., HST
Closed Session on Litigation Related Matters (pursuant to MSA § 302(i)(3))

11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. HST 

 Break 1:15 – 1:30 p.m.

 4:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

(approximate time; remaining agenda items for the day may shift)

Public Comment on Non-Agenda Items 

Wednesday December 13, 2023

11:00 AM – 5:00 PM 

 Break 1:45 – 2:00 p.m.

 Break 3:30 – 3:40 pm 

 -PAU-