North Pacific Fisheries Management Council
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) is one of eight regional councils established by the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act in 1976 (which has been renamed the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act) to oversee management of the nation's fisheries. With jurisdiction over the 900,000 square mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) off Alaska, the Council has primary responsibility for groundfish management in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) and Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI), including cod, pollock, flatfish, mackerel, sablefish, and rockfish species harvested mainly by trawlers, hook and line longliners and pot fishermen.
The Council has recently taken action to be proactive in preparing for and responding to climate change. The Council recently adopted an Fishery Management Plan to close the Arctic Ocean to all commercial fishing until additional research into its unique characteristics can be evaluated. Extensive trawl area closures have been established to protect vulnerable crab habitat and to slow the northern expansion of the trawl fleet into newly ice-free waters. Management measures are being developed to respond adaptively to varying distributions of target and bycatch fish species, because of changing climate in the North Pacific, and a pilot Fishery Ecosystem Plan (FEP) has been developed for the Aleutian Islands, which maps interactions among climate factors and ecosystem components and suggests indicators for the Council to monitor.
Phone: (907) 271-2809
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