February 2003 - North of Falcon

Recently I have been party to a flurry of emails soliciting input from the Washington State Council of the Federation of Fly Fishers (WSCFFF) on the North of Falcon (NOF) policies setting the recreational and salmon season in the Pacific Northwest. The WSCFFF has been asked to review the policy and offer input, as they have in the past. One of our own esteemed members, Vern Young, has been intimately involved in this process and has been successful with the introduction of catch and release regulations for native steelhead.

I'll have to admit at my first reading of the "policy", I was left with the impression that the whole process was really about insuring that recreational fishermen were guaranteed their "fair share" of the "harvest" in negotiations with the tribes and commercial fisheries. I was a bit disturbed that while the policy mentions the intent to promote conservation, little in the written document would lead readers to conclude that conservation was a concern. The entire policy document seems to be focused on harvest - a word that bothers me a bit - primarily because, on the surface, it doesn't seem to be connected to any language that emphasizes conservation.

One member pointed out that while the policy used the word "harvest" over 20 times, the word conservation was only used twice! Emails exchanged by other Council members suggested similar concerns.

I will admit, however, that while I've been aware of the NOF process, I had no real clue of what has gone on in the past or of the progress that has been made as a result of the process to date. The intent of this piece is to "get myself up to speed", so to speak, and perhaps introduce others to the purpose of NOF. Therefore from the WDFW web site (http://wdfw.wa.gov/fish/northfalcon/faq.htm) the following in formation was obtained.

What is the North of Falcon process?

Each year state, federal and tribal fishery managers gather to plan the Northwest's recreational and commercial salmon fisheries. This pre-season planning process is generally known as the North of Falcon process, which involves a series of public meetings between federal, state, tribal and industry representatives and other concerned citizens.

The North of Falcon planning process coincides with the March and April meetings of the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PMFC), which sets the ocean salmon seasons at these meetings. In between the two PFMC meetings, the states of Washington and Oregon and the Treaty Tribes sponsor two additional meetings. Fishery managers generally refer to the entire pre-season process as North of Falcon, although only the two meetings hosted by Washington and Oregon are actually titled North of Falcon meetings.

How did the process get its name?

The name comes from Cape Falcon in northern Oregon, which marks the southern border of active ocean management for Washington salmon stocks. The boundary was initially used to note the southern most migration of significant numbers of Columbia River origin Chinook stocks.

What is the first step?

The pre-season process starts in late February when the 2001 run-size forecasts are first available. Wild Coho run sizes from various areas of the state are a key component in management planning, including Canadian Coho in recent years. The abundance of Chinook and Coho stocks from the Columbia River are also important. Specific forecasts for Puget Sound Chinook do not influence fishery planning as significantly because very strict harvest impact limitations are already in place to protect these stocks that are listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act. These limits take into account the continued expectations for low abundance levels for Puget Sound Chinook.
What happens at the March and April council meetings?

At the March PFMC meeting, preliminary decisions are made about a range of possible ocean fishing seasons. The April council meeting finalizes recommendations to the Secretary of Commerce regarding ocean commercial troll and recreational fishing seasons and catch limits off Washington, Oregon and California. Public testimony is received at both of these council meetings as well as hearings scheduled between the two meetings.

What happens at the North of Falcon meetings?
The two North of Falcon meetings are an opportunity for discussion, analysis and negotiation among all interested parties. Participants investigate the biological consequences of options for the outside (ocean) and inside (Puget Sound, coastal, and Columbia River) fisheries and try to achieve a consensus on an overall management plan for the upcoming fishing year. The process is supported by technical analyses provided by professional biologists from various state, tribal and federal management agencies.
What does the final management plan look like?

There are several pieces to the final pre-season plan. Besides the PFMC recommendations for the ocean fisheries, the State of Washington and the Treaty Tribes develop written agreements governing various terminal areas (e.g. Grays Harbor, Skagit River). There are also numerous verbal agreements between participants covering various aspects of the pre-season plan. Subsequent to the April PFMC meeting, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife adopts and publishes recreational fishing regulations in the Recreational Fishing pamphlet. Commercial regulations are sent to all licensed commercial fishers, buyers and industry representative organizations.
For more information on the North of Falcon process, or to provide input to the 2002 regulations, please contact Pat Pattillo at PATTIPLP@dfw.wa.gov.