North Pacific Fishery Management Council

What is it?

North Pacific Fishery Management Council is one of eight regional councils established by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act in 1976 to manage fisheries in the 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone, 3 miles off the coast of Alaska.

Who are they?

There are 15 council members: 11 voting and 4 non-voting; 

11 voting members – 5 appointed seats from Alaska and 2 from Washington, 4 from principal offices in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and NMFS 

4 non-voting: pacific states marine fisheries commission, US Fish and Wildlife Service, US Department of State, and the US Coast Guard 

What do they do?

The council has been outlined by the Magnuson Stevens Act (MSA) to:

  • Set harvest quotas
  • Set prohibited species catch limits 
  • Set gear/season.area restrictions 
  • Design ecosystem and habitat protections 
  • Develop community protections 
  • Construct monitoring programs
  • Create limited entry access privileges

The council manages trawling, longline, jig, pot and dredge fishermen; catcher vessels and catcher-processors in the industry and groundifsh, bering sea and aleutian islands crab, scallops, salmon, and halibut.

How can I get involved?

Proposals 

Ideas can be brought up during public testimony or through an advisory body like the Advisory Panel or the Science.

Nominations 

The Governor submits nominations for 2 Alaska seats to the Secretary of Commerce – this is at his or her discretion without oversight from the legislature or public process 

Testimony 

The council meets 5 meetings a year – 3 in Anchorage, 1 in an Alaska fishing community, 1 in Seattle or Portland 

Visit https://www.npfmc.org/current-or-next-council-meeting/ to read the agenda and sign up to testify 

There are two ways to provide comments, submit a written comment before the meeting or testify in person at the meeting. Public comments for the current Council meeting can be submitted online at meetings.npfmc.org, prior to the meeting. You can sign up to testify at a meeting prior to the end of the agenda item by signing up at meetings.npfmc.org, you may also provide documentation to support your testimony by uploading the attachment to the e-portal. Because of time constraints, in-person public comment testimony is limited to 3 minutes for individuals and 6 minutes for groups/organizations.