A coalition of commercial, recreational and processor representatives urged the Pacific Fishery Management Council to prioritize a set of management flexibility tools to soften steep harvest reductions that followed recent groundfish stock assessments.

Speakers from the groundfish advisory panels and industry groups presented a public letter signed by 42 companies and organizations calling on the council to "unshade" the SpecFlex (harvest specifications flexibility) item on the council’s June workload and to schedule follow‑up meetings so potential regulatory relief could be considered for implementation in 2026. The coalition asked the council to consider carryover, phased‑in ABC reductions, green‑light options to implement positive assessments sooner, widening p* to increase ABC where appropriate, and improved use of local and traditional knowledge and citizen science in stock assessments.

Why it matters: The groundfish fishery supports trawl, hook‑and‑line and recreational fleets along the West Coast. Several recent stock assessments reduced Acceptable Biological Catch (ABC) substantially; industry and some advisory panel members say the result is constrained fishing access, higher costs and economic stress for coastal communities.

Key points from industry presenters

- Sarah Niani (Arctic Storm), Heather Mann (Midwater Trawlers Cooperative) and Jamie Diamond (recreational operator) presented a letter and slides showing where the industry believes the council could add flexibility. They said the current combination of conservative inputs (time‑varying sigma, low p*, additional precautionary layers) and lack of tools (carryover, phase‑in, limited rollovers) is producing "cliff‑like" cuts that threaten operations.

- The petitioners asked the council to: unshade SpecFlex in June; schedule follow‑ups in September and November with a goal of implementing relief as soon as practicable; include groundfish among the pilot species for the Adaptive Management Project (C4/Adaptive Management Process);

- Industry recommended concrete measures: enable carryover of unused quota into subsequent years, apply phased‑in reductions when ABCs drop precipitously, assess and possibly raise p* toward the allowable upper bound in the FMP where appropriate, expand hook‑and‑line surveys into nearshore waters and formalize a pathway for fishermen’s local knowledge to feed stock assessments.

Council and advisory body reaction

Advisory members and several council members said they were receptive and emphasized the need for careful analysis by the Groundfish Management Team, the Stock Assessment teams and the Scientific and Statistical Committee before any rulemaking. Several GAP and GMT members said the proposals are not new — the council has discussed phase‑in and similar tools several times in previous cycles — but they urged the council to move from discussion to formal scoping and analysis.

What the industry provided

An industry‑prepared workshop report outlining trawl sector ideas (electronic monitoring, observer/dockside monitoring refinements, AMP quota allocation ideas, IFQ accumulation limits, cost‑recovery refinements) and a separate letter with seven elements for SpecFlex scoping were filed into the briefing book as supplemental materials.

Ending: The council did not take formal action on SpecFlex at this session but agreed to place the issue on the June agenda for scoping discussion. Presenters emphasized willingness to work directly with council staff and scientists and offered volunteer technical assistance for drafting regulatory language and analyses.