The Pacific Fishery Management Council on Saturday considered a supplemental Scientific and Technical Team (STT) report analyzing proposed 2025 salmon management alternatives and took no final guidance, instead pausing until further modeling inputs can be incorporated and reconvening for guidance the following morning.

Angela Forstall introduced the agenda item and said the STT report, recently released, summarizes analysis of management alternatives the Salmon Advisory Subpanel recommended. STT lead Dr. Michael O'Farrell said the packet contains preseason approximations for many fisheries and noted some values are preliminary because not all inputs are available for final modeling.

Tribal and public testimony highlighted concerns about very low returns of Upper Columbia summer Chinook and asked the council to shift ocean harvest timing rather than reduce total quota. Cindy Marchand of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation said 2024 escapement fell below forecasts and that a 2020 flood impaired the tribe's Chief Joseph Hatchery brood collection, reducing natural-origin brood stock. "Any effort to allow escapement of natural origin, upper Columbia summer Chinook will have tremendous benefits to our efforts to fully and appropriately supply brood to the Chief Joe Hatchery program," Marchand said, and she recommended that non-treaty ocean fishing reduce spring impacts by shifting effort later in the year.

Public commenter Joel Kawahara, a salmon troller from Quilcene, Washington, likewise urged timing shifts instead of quota cuts. "I'd rather see fish moved instead of cut," Kawahara said. He also noted apparent inconsistencies between the STT's tables and prior briefings and asked the STT to check calculations before final modeling.

STT and council staff briefed the council that some model inputs (notably northern aggregate allocations tied to Pacific Salmon Commission calibration) are expected in the coming days and that the PSC-related model runs should be completed and available prior to the April council meeting. John Carey confirmed aggregate abundance model runs are expected next week and that final catch limits will be available prior to the April meeting.

Council members identified specific modeling issues and asked clarifying questions; some members recommended retaining one alternative that uses a historical default river-share allocation for Sacramento River fall Chinook to preserve transparency in the public process. George Bradshaw and the California SAS expressed a preference to include a "status-quo" alternative that retains the model default river-share (historical average around 14.5%) rather than fixing the in-river share at 15% as directed in a separate motion, so the public can see both approaches.

The council did not adopt any final guidance on management measures during the session and agreed to reconvene the salmon agenda item at 08:00 the following morning to provide guidance after additional STT runs and review.

Next steps: the STT will update analyses when PSC and other inputs are available, and the council will take up guidance and potential alternative revisions at the next scheduled salmon agenda session.