The Pacific Fishery Management Council on April 13 approved an exempted fishing permit application from the California Wetfish Producers Association (CWPA) to authorize up to 520 metric tons of Pacific sardine for EFP research in the 2025–26 season. The council’s Coastal Pelagic Species Management Team (CPSMT) and the Coastal Pelagic Species Advisory Subpanel both recommended endorsing the EFP application because the biological data collected through the EFP can inform stock assessments.

Motion and vote: The motion to approve agenda item G2, attachment 1 (CWPA EFP) was moved on the council floor and seconded; the motion passed with an abstention from the National Marine Fisheries Service representative. The council recorded that the EFP and associated sardine allowance would be counted against the ACL in tracking landings and that the EFP participants committed to managing catches and communicating with NMFS to limit the risk of exceeding management triggers.

Why it matters: With sardine biomass low and the directed fishery closed, exempted fishing permits provide one of the limited mechanisms to collect biological information (age composition, length data) needed by stock assessment scientists. The EFP amount—520 mt—was debated during public comment; some conservation commenters urged minimizing mortality, saying the research sample sizes needed are far smaller than the landed tonnage.

Speakers quoted or cited
- Trung Nguyen, Coastal Pelagic Species Management Team (read the CPSMT recommendation).
- Mark Fina, CPS Advisory Subpanel (advisory subpanel recommendation).
- Jeff Chester, Oceana (public comment urged minimization of mortality and questioned the scale of the EFP).

Speakers (attribution whitelist)
[{"name":"Trung Nguyen","role_title":"CPS Management Team representative","affiliation_type":"government","affiliation_name":"Coastal Pelagic Species Management Team","first_reference":{"timecode":"3888.90","transcript_line_range":[1,1]}},{"name":"Mark Fina","role_title":"CPS Advisory Subpanel chair","affiliation_type":"citizen","affiliation_name":"Coastal Pelagic Species Advisory Subpanel","first_reference":{"timecode":"3939.2249","transcript_line_range":[1,1]}},{"name":"Jeff Chester","role_title":"Spokesperson","affiliation_type":"nonprofit","affiliation_name":"Oceana","first_reference":{"timecode":"3986.35","transcript_line_range":[1,1]}},{"name":"Brianna Brady","role_title":"Council member (mover)","affiliation_type":"government","affiliation_name":"Council member","first_reference":{"timecode":"4206.62","transcript_line_range":[1,1]}},{"name":"Rebecca Lent","role_title":"Council member (seconder)","affiliation_type":"government","affiliation_name":"Council member","first_reference":{"timecode":"4261.94","transcript_line_range":[1,1]}}]

Authorities
[{"type":"policy","name":"Coastal Pelagic Species Fishery Management Plan (CPS FMP)","citation":"CPS FMP","referenced_by":["g2-2025-cwpa-efp"]}]

Actions
[{"kind":"other","identifiers":{"agenda_item_id":"G2"},"motion":"Approve agenda item G2, attachment 1: CWPA EFP for the 2025–26 season (allows 520 mt sardine under the EFP)","mover":"Brianna Brady","second":"Rebecca Lent","vote_record":[{"member":"Council - majority","member_id":"","seat":"","vote":"yes"},{"member":"NMFS representative","member_id":"","seat":"","vote":"abstain"}],"tally":{"yes":null,"no":null,"abstain":1},"legal_threshold":{"met":null,"notes":"Motion adopted on council floor; 1 abstention recorded (NMFS)."},"outcome":"approved","notes":"Council approved CWPA EFP (520 mt) with NMFS abstention; EFP catch accounted against ACL."}]

Discussion_decision
{"discussion_points":["CPSMT and CPSAS recommended endorsing the EFP as a valuable data source for assessments","Public comment urged minimizing mortality and emphasized research sample sizes are much smaller than EFP landed tonnages"],"directions":["EFP participants should coordinate with NMFS and manage catches to avoid triggering accountability measures"],"decisions":["Approved CWPA EFP for 2025–26 with 520 mt sardine allowance; EFP catch to be counted against ACL"]}

Clarifying_details
[{"category":"EFP quantity","detail":"EFP quantity approved for CWPA application","value":"520","units":"metric tons","approximate":false,"source_speaker":"Trung Nguyen"},{"category":"ACT/ACL accounting","detail":"EFP catch is to be accounted against the ACL when tracking total sardine landings","value":"not specified","units":"","approximate":false,"source_speaker":"Greg Krzykowski"}]

Proper_names
[{"name":"California Wetfish Producers Association","type":"organization"},{"name":"Pacific Fishery Management Council","type":"organization"},{"name":"National Marine Fisheries Service","type":"agency"}]

Community_relevance
{"geographies":["California coast"],"funding_sources":[],"impact_groups":["commercial wetfish industry","research scientists","conservation groups"]}

Meeting_context
{"engagement_level":{"speakers_count":6,"duration_minutes":40,"items_count":1},"implementation_risk":"low","history":[{"date":"2024-11-01","note":"EFP notice of intent submitted and discussed at November council meeting (informational)"}]}

Searchable_tags":["EFP","CWPA","sardine","CPS","research"]

Provenance
{"transcript_segments":[{"block_id":"block_3842.31","local_start":0,"local_end":120,"evidence_excerpt":"The proposal from the California Wetfish Producers Association ... is included in attachment 1. The council task here is to adopt the final EFP recommendations for the 20 25 to 20 26 fisheries.","tc_start":"3842.31","tc_end":"3857.69","reason_code":"topicintro"},{"block_id":"block_4299.105","local_start":0,"local_end":120,"evidence_excerpt":"Abstain. Motion passes with an abstention from National Marine Fishery Service.","tc_start":"4299.105","tc_end":"4312.71","reason_code":"topicfinish"}] } ,