MINUTES OF THE FOURTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING OF THE CANADA-U.S. GROUNDFISH COMMITTEE

Northwest Fisheries Science Centre

Seattle, WA
  1. Call to Order
    2.

    David Hanson (U.S) called the meeting to order at 10:40 a.m. on May 6, 1999.

    Parent Committee Members

    Dave Hanson, Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission
    Marilyn Joyce, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canada

    Technical Sub-committee members and others present:

    Bill Barss, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
    Rick Methot, Northwest Fisheries Science Centre
    Mark Wilkins, Alaska Fisheries Science Centre
    Tom Jagielo, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
    Rob Kronlund, Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans
    Mark Saunders, Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans
    Stephen Phillips, Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission

  2. Appointment of Secretary

    3. Mark Saunders of the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans was appointed secretary for the meeting.

  3. Approval of Agenda
    4.

    The agenda was approved (see Appendix A)

  4. Adoption of Minutes of May 1998 Meeting
    5.

    Minutes of the Fourtieth Annual Meeting (1998) were adopted.

  5. Progress on 1998 Recommendations from the Parent Committee to Itself
    1. All agencies need to be solicited to attend next year’s meeting. TSC Chair needs to contact Parent Committee and report on 1999 anticipated meeting attendance, follow-up letter will be drafted if attendance is needed from TSC members.

      2. Dave Hanson reported that he had contacted both U.S. fishery management councils but funding for travel was not forthcoming. Marilyn Joyce noted that with the increasing trans-boundary concerns that inter-agency discussion of these management issues should be given a higher priority. Ms Joyce well be writing a letter to Dr. Hanson expressing these concerns. The letter will be attached to a letter written to U.S. councils by Dave Hanson encouraging their participation.

      The Parent Committee noted a lack of participation from the NMFS-SWR/SWFSC.
    2. The Committee needs to improve its capability in transferring information electronically. PSMFC will take the lead in assisting in this area.

      3. The PSMFC did an excellent job of developing a web site for the TSC. Documents were posted and easily accessed by TSC members. Well done!

    3. The Parent Committee needs to have a meeting to revisit progress on recommendations, via conference call, in July 1998.

    Most issues were dealt with during the course of 1998 and a conference call was held during February 1999 to discuss progress.

         VI. Progress on 1998 Recommendations from the TSC to the Parent Committee

    1. The TSC notes that the combined Can./U.S. harvest of hake continues to exceed the adopted yield option and recommends to the Parent Committee that the bilateral negotiations be encouraged to arrive at a solution.

      2. The Parent Committee noted its continuing concern regarding this issue and has continued to urge both sides to negotiate a solution.
    2. This year, the Pacific whiting assessment will be delayed until after the coastwide joint U.S./Canada acoustic survey of Pacific whiting. Because of the shortened timetable, the TSC recommends to the Parent Committee that a joint U.S./Canada technical review meeting be convened in early 1999 to review the assessment, and recommend to U.S. and Canadian managers a range of yield options for 1999.

      3. A joint Canada/U.S. technical review of the hake assessment was conducted in Vancouver, B.C. Canada during February 1999. This ensured that the same scientific advice on Pacific hake was given to management agencies in Canada and the U.S. The Parent Committee commends both NMFS and DFO for taking this important step.
    3. Canadian and U.S managers adopted divergent yield options in 1998 for trans-boundary stocks of Pacific hake/lingcod, and possibly yellowtail rockfish. The TSC asks that the Parent Committee recommend that Canadian and U.S. managers develop a process to discuss yield options to prevent over harvest of trans-boundary stocks.

    No action was taken. See 1999 recommendations Parent Committee to Itself.

         VII. 1999 Recommendations of the TSC to the Parent Committee

    1. The TSC notes that the combined Canadian/U.S. harvest of hake continues to exceed the adopted coast wide yield option and recommends to the Parent Committee that the bilateral negotiations be encouraged to arrive at a solution. Further, Canadian and U.S. managers have adopted divergent yield options for trans-boundary stocks including yellowtail rockfish and lingcod. The TSC asks that the Parent Committee recommend that Canadian and U.S managers develop a process to discuss yield options to prevent overharvest of trans-boundary stocks.

      2. Parent committee endorses bringing together Canadian and U.S. managers to begin informal discussion of approaches to joint management of trans-boundary stocks.
    2. The TSC requests that the parent committee solicit an annual summary of groundfish activities from the PSMFC, especially the PacFIN office, in order to make the annual TSC report more comprehensive.

      3. Parent committee agreed this was reasonable and the U.S. member will draft a letter to the PSMFC requesting provide a summary from the PacFIN program.
    3. The TSC endorses the Sardine Symposium 2000 to be held in California the week of May 22, 2000. The TSC requests that the Parent Committee write a letter to the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission asking them to host the symposium.

      4. The U.S. member committed the PSMFC to hosting the symposium pending the receipt of funding. A number of potential funding sources are being explored.
    4. The TSC requests that the parent committee write a letter to Dr. Michael Tillman explaining the importance of the TSC and requesting his annual participation and provide an annual report to TSC by the SWFSC. Send a copy of the request to the NWFSC Director.

      5. The Parent Committee agreed to do this. The letter will include a rationale for participation including the need to exchange information and co-ordinate research on lingcod, hake, sablefish, sardine and nearshore rockfish.
    5. The recently created TSC web site served well as a way to give committee members access to draft agency reports prior to the 1999 meeting, which was the site’s primary intended function this year. TSC is optimistic that the purpose of the site could be expanded to include posting of annual reports. This would provide much wider access, and also has the potential of reducing the need for publication and distribution of hard copies. The TSC suggest that the 1999 annual report be posted to the web site, and recipients of the 1999 published report be polled concerning whether their needs could be met solely by web site access to future annual reports. The TSC asks the Parent Committee for guidance on the best use of this resource.

      6. The Parent Committee applauds the success of commission staff in implementing the TSC web page. The Committee endorses

      • the need for hard copies of the report for at least another year
      • polling recipients regarding the appropriateness of an electronic only form
      • continued development of the web page.

    6. It is anticipated that Canadian and U.S. researchers on trans-boundary yellowtail and lingcod stocks will continue to submit separate assessment documents. The TSC recommends that Canadian and U.S. researchers 1) assess the potential for joint assessment and technical review and 2) co-ordinate timing of assessment and review processes to allow managers to consider the current advice from both countries in developing yield options. The TSC asks that the Parent Committee take action to facilitate this process.

      7. Both Parent Committee members agreed to take the issue back to their respectiveresponsible management agencies to begin development of a process.
    VIII. 1999 Recommendations from Parent Committee to TSC

    The parent commends the TSC for convening an excellent 1999 meeting.

    1. The Parent Committee recommends that the TSC review the format for agency reports . Mark Saunders is to prepare a draft format which is to be forwarded to the TSC chair for discussion at the January TSC planning conference call.

    IX. 1999 Recommendations from Parent Committee to Itself
  1. Canadian and U.S. letters to be written to encourage management participation at TSC. (see item V1.)
  2. Canadian and U.S. members are to explore options for developing a process by which Canadian and U.S. managers can jointly manage trans-boundary stocks. (see item VII 1.)
  3. U.S member to draft a letter to PSMFC requesting a summary of annual activities, especially for PacFIN. (see item VII 2.)
  4. Review progress on recommendations by convening a September conference call.

X. Other Business

The U.S. member would like greater co-ordination of U.S. agencies using IJFA funding for nearshore rockfish research.

 XI. 2000 Meeting Location

The 2000 Annual TSC meeting will be held May 11, in Nanaimo, B.C. Canada.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:55 a.m.

APPENDIX A

FOURTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING OF THE CANADA-U.S. GROUNDFISH COMMITTEE

May 6, 1999

AGENDA

  1. Call to Order
  1. Appointment of Secretary
  2. Approval of Agenda
  3. Adoption of Minutes of May 1998 Meeting
  4. Progress on 1998 Recommendations from the Parent Committee to Itself
  5. Progress on 1998 Recommendations from the TSC to the Parent Committee
  6. 1999 Recommendations of the TSC to the Parent Committee
  7. 1999 Recommendations from Parent Committee to TSC
  8. 1999 Recommendations from Parent Committee to Itself
  9. Other Business
  10. 2000 Meeting Location