The PWCC Home Page

CURRENT NEWS:

· Pacific whiting featured on the new National Marine Fisheries Service seafood information page FishWatch

· Pacific whiting fishery announces entry into MSC certification assessment

· PWCC featured in Environmental Defense's assessment of Limited Access Privilege Programs

· NMFS profiles the PWCC in the document -- Design and Use of Limited Access Privilage Programs

Welcome to the Pacific Whiting Conservation Cooperative’s (PWCC) website.  Our site provides information about PWCC and our member companies [About PWCC], and the Pacific whiting fishery [Fishery].  Detailed information about research projects [Research] and bycatch avoidance initiatives [Catch Management] sponsored by PWCC is also provided.

The Pacific whiting fishery in U.S. and Canadian waters is governed by the Pacific Hake Agreement.  The Hake Agreement became law on January 12, 2007 when President Bush signed the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006.  The U.S. and Canada are currently implementing provisions of the Hake Agreement, including appointments to various technical, management, and advisory committees.  During the implementation phase, the whiting fishery is being managed in accordance with provisions in the Agreement, most notably the harvest sharing framework that allocates 73.88% of the annual harvest to U.S. fisheries and 26.12% to Canadian fisheries.

In the U.S., the whiting fishery is managed by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), specifically the NMFS-Northwest Region.  The shoreside sector of the fishery is managed cooperatively between NMFS and state fishery management agencies; information about the shoreside fishery is available from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife-Shoreside Hake Observer Program.

Each year, the at-sea fishery (comprised of catcher/processor and mothership sectors) starts on May 15^th.   The primary shoreside fishery opens June 15^th.

For 2007, based on the most recent stock assessment, the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) recommended to NMFS a 242,591 mt harvest level for the U.S. portion of the fishery.   After providing 32,500 mt for treaty Indian tribal fisheries and 2,000 mt for research catch; the quota is divided among the three fishery sectors.  The catcher/processor sector is allocated 34% or 70,751 mt.  The mothership sector allocation is 24% or 49,942 mt.   The shoreside sector is allocated 42% or 87,398 mt.

Conservation of the Pacific whiting resource and associated species is paramount to the PWCC.  Since 1999, the PWCC has conducted an annual survey of juvenile Pacific whiting off the west coast to help estimate the future abundance of the resource.  This survey is a cooperative effort between the PWCC and the NMFS-Northwest Fisheries Science Center.   In recent years, the survey has also been conducted in coordination with the NMFS-Southwest Fisheries Science Center's juvenile rockfish survey.  This collaborative research provides the only index of abundance for West Coast juvenile rockfish and whiting, and has become a key component of west coast groundfsh stock assessments.

Recently, Pacific whiting was featured on the new NMFS seafood information page FishWatch. The NMFS FishWatch site provides consumers “the most accurate and timely information available on the sustainability of U.S. seafood fisheries.” In addition to stock status and fishery management information, the site also provides nutritional and other information for consumers to consider when making seafood choices. NMFS states – “Population levels of Pacific whiting are high, and no overfishing is occurring.” “Biomass of the coastal stock is 80% of the biomass needed to support maximum sustainable yield.” “There are few habitat concerns in the Pacific whiting fishery, given that pelagic trawls have very little bottom habitat impact.” “Whiting is a good source of selenium, vitamin B, magnesium, and protein.”

In May 2007, U.S. and Canadian Pacific whiting fisheries announced entry into a full fishery certification assessment under the Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) sustainable fishing certification program. The assessment will evaluate the Pacific whiting fishery for compliance with the MSC's Standard for well-managed and sustainable fisheries. Parties in the assessment include both processing and harvesting sectors inclusive of all three sectors of the U.S. fishery, the Makah Tribal Fishery, and the Association representing the harvesting sector of Canada. Information about the whiting MSC assessment process (including opportunities for public engagement) is available here from the MSC.

Updated March 3, 2008