Proposed Rule2026-03296
Fisheries Off West Coast States; West Coast Salmon Fisheries; Rebuilding Plan for the Overfished Queets River Spring/Summer Chinook Salmon Stock
Primary source
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Published
February 19, 2026
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS proposes to approve and implement the rebuilding plan recommended by the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) for the overfished Queets River Spring/Summer Chinook salmon stock (Queets sp/ su Chinook salmon). NMFS determined in October 2023 that this stock was overfished. The rebuilding plan will be part of the framework that guides the development of annual management measures for ocean salmon fisheries until NMFS determines that the overfished stock is rebuilt.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 33 (Thursday, February 19, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 33 (Thursday, February 19, 2026)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 7952-7956]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-03296]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 660
[Docket No. 250209-0098]
RIN 0648-BN25
Fisheries Off West Coast States; West Coast Salmon Fisheries;
Rebuilding Plan for the Overfished Queets River Spring/Summer Chinook
Salmon Stock
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
[[Page 7953]]
ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS proposes to approve and implement the rebuilding plan
recommended by the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) for the
overfished Queets River Spring/Summer Chinook salmon stock (Queets sp/
su Chinook salmon). NMFS determined in October 2023 that this stock was
overfished. The rebuilding plan will be part of the framework that
guides the development of annual management measures for ocean salmon
fisheries until NMFS determines that the overfished stock is rebuilt.
DATES: Comments on this proposed rule must be received on or before
March 23, 2026.
ADDRESSES: A plain language summary of this proposed rule is available
at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/docket/NOAA-NMFS-2024-0113">https://www.regulations.gov/docket/NOAA-NMFS-2024-0113</a>. You may
submit comments on this document, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2024-0113, by
any of the following methods:
Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public comments via
the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Visit <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> and
type NOAA-NMFS-2024-0113 in the Search box. Click on the ``Comment''
icon, complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments.
NOAA-NMFS-2024-0113.
Instructions: Comments sent by any other method, to any other
address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period,
may not be considered by NMFS. All comments received are a part of the
public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on
<a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> without change. All personal identifying
information (e.g., name, address), confidential business information,
or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily by the sender
will be publicly accessible. NMFS will accept anonymous comments (enter
``N/A'' in the required fields if you wish to remain anonymous).
Electronic copies of the draft rebuilding plan may be obtained from
the West Coast Regional Office website at <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/rebuilding-plan-overfished-queets-river-spring-summer-chinook-salmon-stock">https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/rebuilding-plan-overfished-queets-river-spring-summer-chinook-salmon-stock</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shannon Penna, Fishery Management
Specialist, at 562-980-4239, or <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#0c5f646d62626362225c6962626d4c62636d6d226b637a"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="0b58636a65656465255b6e65656a4b65646a6a256c647d">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA)
established a national program for the conservation and management of
the fishery resources of the United States to prevent overfishing and
to rebuild overfished stocks. To that end, the MSA requires fishery
management plans (FMPs) to specify objective and measurable criteria
for identifying when the fishery to which the FMP applies is overfished
(MSA section 303(a)(10)). The MSA includes national standards which
must be followed in any FMP. NMFS has developed guidelines, based on
the national standards, to assist in the development and review of
FMPs, amendments, and regulations prepared by Councils and the
Secretary (50 CFR 600.305(a)(1)). National Standard 1 (NS1) addresses
the need under the MSA for FMPs to specify conservation and management
measures that shall prevent overfishing while achieving, on a
continuing basis, the optimum yield from each fishery for the U.S.
fishing industry (50 CFR 600.310). The NS1 guidelines include status
determination criteria (SDC) and other reference points that are used
to determine if overfishing has occurred, or if the stock or stock
complex is overfished (50 CFR 600.310(e)(2)) and specifies Council
actions required to address overfishing and rebuilding for stocks and
stock complexes (50 CFR 600.310(j)).
Ocean salmon fisheries in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)
off Washington, Oregon, and California are governed by the Council's
Pacific Coast Salmon FMP (Salmon FMP). The Salmon FMP identifies stocks
included in the fisheries that are managed under the Salmon FMP and the
SDC and reference points that are used to determine when a stock is
overfished and when it is rebuilt. For salmon, these metrics are based
on the stock's spawning escapement (i.e., fish that escape the ocean
and in-river fisheries to spawn) and the abundance of adult spawners
that are expected, on average, to produce maximum sustainable yield
(MSY), which is expressed as S<INF>MSY</INF>.
The SDC for overfished is defined in the Salmon FMP to be when the
3-year geometric mean of a salmon stock's annual spawning escapements
falls below the minimum stock size threshold (MSST), where MSST is
generally defined as 0.5*S<INF>MSY</INF> or 0.75*S<INF>MSY</INF>--
depending on the stock. The default SDC in the Salmon FMP for
determining that an overfished stock is rebuilt is when the 3-year
geometric mean spawning escapement exceeds S<INF>MSY</INF>. Stock-
specific values for the S<INF>MSY</INF> and MSST reference points are
listed in table 3-1 of the Salmon FMP. The status of salmon stocks is
assessed annually. When NMFS determines that a stock is overfished, by
virtue of meeting the overfished criteria in the Salmon FMP, described
above, NMFS notifies the Council. The MSA requires Councils to develop
and implement a rebuilding plan within 2 years of being notified by
NMFS that a stock is overfished.
Overfished Determination
The annual stock assessment for Queets sp/su Chinook salmon in 2023
used escapement data for 2019 through 2021 to determine if the stock
was overfished. The 3-year geometric mean spawning escapement for
Queets sp/su Chinook salmon for the 2019-2021 period was 314, which is
less than the stock's MSST of 350. NMFS notified the Council that this
stock was overfished on October 13, 2023, and the overfished
determination was announced in the Federal Register on June 28, 2024
(89 FR 53961). To be determined to be rebuilt, this stock must achieve
a 3-year geometric mean escapement of S<INF>MSY</INF> or greater.
S<INF>MSY</INF> for Queets sp/su Chinook salmon is 700.
Table 3-1 of the Salmon FMP defines the following conservation
objectives and reference points governing status determination criteria
for Queets sp/su Chinook salmon:
<bullet> S<INF>MSY</INF> = 700
<bullet> MSST = 350
<bullet> Maximum fishing mortality threshold (F<INF>MSY</INF> Proxy) =
78 percent
The S<INF>MSY</INF> escapement goal of 700 for Queets sp/su Chinook
salmon was derived based on a spawner-recruit analysis for brood years
1969 to 1976, developed in 1982 by the Quinault Department of Natural
Resources. This S<INF>MSY</INF> escapement goal is also used by the
Pacific Salmon Commission (PSC) and was reviewed and accepted by the
PSC's Chinook Technical Committee in 2004. For Queets sp/su Chinook
salmon, the MSST is defined as half of S<INF>MSY</INF>, which equates
to 350 fish. The F<INF>MSY</INF> proxy is based on the mean of
F<INF>MSY</INF> values calculated for 20 stocks of Chinook salmon from
the Sacramento River to Northern Washington.
On May 1, 2025, the overfished determination was changed to `not
overfished-rebuilding,' based on the most recent 3-year (2021-2023)
geometric mean (Review of 2024 Ocean Salmon Fisheries Stock Assessment
and Fishery Evaluation Document for the Pacific Coast Salmon Fishery
Management Plan (SAFE document)). The rebuilding plan will remain in
place until the stock is determined to be rebuilt.
Fishery Management
There is uncertainty regarding the distribution of ocean fishery
impacts to
[[Page 7954]]
Queets sp/su Chinook salmon due to the lack of a designated
exploitation rate (ER) indicator stock. Under the assumption that
Queets River fall Chinook salmon are a suitable surrogate, U.S. west
coast ocean salmon fisheries for which the Pacific Fishery Management
Council has responsibility likely impact Queets sp/su Chinook salmon in
the EEZ mainly in the area north of Cape Falcon, Oregon. A significant
portion of the stock's fishing mortality is likely to occur in
southeast Alaska and British Columbia ocean salmon fisheries, and a
minor portion is taken in ocean salmon fisheries off Washington, based
on using Queets River fall Chinook salmon as a surrogate (Salmon FMP
table 1-1, Pacific Fisheries Management Council 2024). Management of
this stock is subject to the Pacific Salmon Treaty (PST) between the
United States and Canada, and also must be consistent with Indian
Tribal treaty fishing rights. The State of Washington and Indian Tribes
with reserved fishing rights on the Washington coast and in Puget Sound
negotiate management objectives and State/Tribal sharing of the salmon
fishery resource through the North of Falcon Process and under the
auspices of Hoh v. Baldrige and U.S. v. Washington. An escapement goal
for Queets sp/su Chinook has been established under the PST, and is the
same (700) as the goal in the FMP. The salmon fisheries in the U.S.
west coast EEZ are managed consistent with the Tribal/State agreements
and with limits and objectives set under the PST, in addition to the
conservation objectives and other parameters set under the MSA. The
escapement goal has been achieved for this stock in only four of the
last 25 years (i.e., 2002, 2012, 2016 and 2017) despite significant
reductions in in-river fisheries and likely minor catch levels in ocean
fisheries in the U.S. west coast EEZ. 2025 Review of Fisheries, Table
B-29, p. 250. In most years, natural escapement has been well below the
goal.
Rebuilding Plan
The Council transmitted their recommended rebuilding plan to NMFS
on July 25, 2025. The plan was developed throughout several Council
meetings in 2023 and 2024 and was informed by the analyses of the
Council's Salmon Technical Team (STT). The STT held public meetings and
work sessions with State and Federal agencies, Tribal governments, and
the general public to assess available information on various factors
that could impact the productivity of these stocks and lead to the
overfished determination. These factors included freshwater survival,
marine survival, and harvest impacts.
Overfishing on Queets sp/su Chinook salmon, defined as the ER on a
stock exceeding the maximum fishing mortality threshold, is not likely
to have occurred during the years that led to the overfished
determination. The STT's report concluded that the potential factors
that led to an overfished situation for this stock was caused by 3
consecutive years of poor ocean conditions from 2015 to 2017
corresponding closely with and potentially contributing to the below-
average spawning escapement that occurred from 2019 to 2021, and
unfavorable freshwater conditions in 4 years between 2014 and 2019 that
likely caused a negative impact on spawning and rearing success in
those years.
The STT's report is contained within the draft rebuilding plan (see
ADDRESSES).
The Council considered two alternatives for the rebuilding plan:
(1) the existing management framework, and (2) suspending all non-
Tribal treaty Council-area ocean salmon fisheries north of Cape Falcon.
Alternative I: Status Quo. During the rebuilding period, continue
to use the current management framework and reference points, as
defined in the Salmon FMP and the PST, to develop annual fishery
regulations. Under this scenario, the results of the rebuilding time
analysis suggest that the probability of achieving rebuilt status
stabilizes at a maximum of approximately 1 percent in year 4.
Alternative II: Suspend non-Tribal treaty salmon fisheries in the
EEZ north of Cape Falcon to minimize the impacts of fisheries within
the purview of the Council to the extent feasible on Queets sp/su
Chinook salmon until the stock meets the criteria for rebuilt status.
This is considered an `action' alternative. Because data does not exist
to inform the estimation of the ER from the fisheries in the west coast
EEZ on Queets sp/su Chinook, the STT identified the high and low ends
of a range of possible ERs. For Alternative II, the STT evaluated the
rebuilding time under two different scenarios; one assuming the high
end of the ER range, and the other assuming the low end of that range.
The probabilities of achieving rebuilt status under this Alternative
stabilize under a similar timeframe as Alternative I (after 4 years) at
a maximum of 1 percent for the low ER scenario (assuming lower impacts
from Council-area fisheries) and 2 percent for the high ER scenario
(assuming higher impacts from Council-area fisheries). See Rebuilding
Plan table 4.5.
The Council's recommendation for the rebuilding plan for Queets sp/
su Chinook salmon, which NMFS proposes to approve, is Alternative I.
This alternative meets the MSA requirement to rebuild the stock as
quickly as possible, taking into account the status and biology of any
overfished stock and the needs of fishing communities (50 CFR
600.310(j)(3)(i)). The Council did not recommend Alternative II because
it would result in considerable negative impact to the fishing
communities while providing little to no benefit with regards to
increasing the projected rebuilding probability or shortening the time
to rebuilding. The stock will be rebuilt when the 3-year geometric mean
of natural-area adult escapement meets or exceeds S<INF>MSY</INF>, the
default rebuilt criterion in the Salmon FMP.
When a stock or stock complex is overfished, a Council must specify
a time period for rebuilding the stock or stock complex based on
factors specified in MSA section 304(e)(4). This target time for
rebuilding (T<INF>target</INF>) shall be as short as possible, taking
into account the status and biology of any overfished stock, the needs
of fishing communities, recommendations by international organizations
in which the U.S. participates, and interaction of the stock within the
marine ecosystem. In addition, the time period shall not exceed 10
years, except where the biology of the stock, other environmental
conditions, or management measures under an international agreement to
which the U.S. participates, dictate otherwise (50 CFR
600.310(j)(3)(i)). The NS1 guidelines also describe the following
rebuilding benchmarks: the minimum time to rebuild (T<INF>min</INF>)
and the maximum time to rebuild (T<INF>max</INF>) (50 CFR
600.310(j)(3)(i)). These benchmarks serve to establish the range of
target times to rebuild that the Council may consider. Under the NS1
guidelines, T<INF>min</INF> is calculated by assuming no fishery
mortality, regardless of the source of the mortality. It is not
possible, however, to implement a T<INF>min</INF> scenario through a
rebuilding plan applicable to the EEZ off the west coast; because this
stock is impacted in fisheries occurring off Alaska and Canada, and in-
river. Additionally, it is not clear that a ``no fishing'' regime is
consistent with Tribal treaty rights. Therefore, while NMFS' authority
to suspend fisheries affecting this stock is limited, the Council
analyzed a `no-fishing' alternative to identify T<INF>min</INF> and to
serve as a bookend in the analysis of rebuilding probabilities.
[[Page 7955]]
Council-area salmon fisheries are set annually each April. The
Council's SAFE document is released annually in February and provides
escapement data for the previous year. Analyses to determine rebuilding
times in the Council's recommended rebuilding plan used the most recent
available escapement data for Queets sp/su Chinook salmon, which
included estimates through the 2023 return year. As a result, year 1 in
the STT's calculations of T<INF>min</INF> and T<INF>target</INF> was
defined as 2024.
Tmin. The rebuilding analysis of T<INF>min</INF>, as with the
analysis of Alternative II, considered high and low potential ER
scenarios given uncertainty regarding ERs for Queets sp/su Chinook.
However, the ER scenarios used for the T<INF>min</INF> analysis include
all ocean and freshwater fisheries impacting the stock, whereas the
scenarios for Alternative II included only U.S. west coast EEZ ERs. The
rebuilding analysis determined that a viable estimate of rebuilding
time could only be calculated in one scenario under the assumption of
high ocean ERs, as it assumes substantial total ocean fishery impacts,
which, if all fisheries were closed and the impacts didn't occur, would
translate into a considerable expected increase to escapements. In this
case, the estimated rebuilding time was 5 years; however, there is high
uncertainty in this scenario. When assuming lower ocean ERs, the
probability of achieving rebuilt status did not reach the 50 percent
threshold and stabilized at a maximum of approximately 15 percent,
suggesting that rebuilt status may be unlikely to occur in the
foreseeable future, even under a scenario with zero fishing impacts. As
a result of this uncertainty, T<INF>min</INF> is expressed as a range,
from 5 years to potentially never achieving rebuilt status.
Tmax. Given the uncertainty associated with estimating
T<INF>min</INF>, the rebuilding plan defines T<INF>max</INF> as a range
as well. The NS1 guidelines state that if T<INF>min</INF> for the stock
or stock complex is 10 years or less, then T<INF>max</INF> is 10 years
(50 CFR 600.310(j)(3)(i)(B)(1)). In the event that T<INF>min</INF>
exceeds 10 years, NS1 guidelines offer three potential methods for
determining T<INF>max</INF>: (1) T<INF>min</INF> plus one generation
time, (2) the time to achieve rebuilt status if fished at 75 percent of
MFMT, or (3) T<INF>min</INF> multiplied by two (50 CFR
600.310(j)(3)(B)(3)). In this case, the generation time may not
accurately reflect the productivity of the stock, and fishing at a rate
that is 75 percent of MFMT would reflect an unrealistically high ER. As
a result, the rebuilding plan uses method three (T<INF>min</INF>
multiplied by two) and defines T<INF>max</INF> as a range from 10 years
under the assumption of high ocean ERs to potentially never achieving
rebuilt status if low ERs are assumed.
Ttarget. The Council has recommended the Alternative I (status quo)
management strategy alternative during the rebuilding period, which
would continue use of the current management framework and reference
points. The rebuilding plan does not identify a specific
T<INF>target</INF>, because under both alternatives the probability of
achieving rebuilt status never exceeded 50 percent, and in fact the
probability in both cases was quite low. This suggests the Council-area
fisheries likely have limited to no effect on the rebuilding trajectory
for this stock. As described above, the only scenario in which the
probability of achieving rebuilt status reached 50 percent is the
scenario in which all fisheries affecting the stock are closed, and a
high fishery ER is assumed (in other words, closure of the fisheries
would significantly increase escapement to the spawning grounds). As
also discussed above, there is high uncertainty regarding the ER on
this stock, so it is possible that the rebuilding time estimated for
the high ER scenario significantly overestimates the impact of the
fisheries on the rebuilding trajectory for the stock. Additionally,
closure of all of the fisheries affecting the stock is not within NMFS'
authority. For these reasons it is not possible to identify a
T<INF>target</INF>.
Under the proposed rebuilding plan, impacts on Queets sp/su Chinook
salmon in Council-area salmon fisheries would continue to be limited by
managing fisheries impacts on other stocks consistent with the
escapement thresholds, ER limits, and provisions for adjustment
outlined in the Salmon FMP, and consistent with the PST and other
applicable laws. As discussed above, there is no difference in time to
rebuild between this rebuilding plan and the alternative in which all
non-Tribal treaty fisheries in the U.S. west coast EEZ would be closed.
However, the impacts to fishing communities of such a closure would be
significant.
The extremely limited effects of the ocean fisheries in the U.S.
west coast EEZ on the escapement of this stock, and, in turn, its
rebuilding trajectory, may warrant reconsideration of its
classification in the Salmon FMP. Alternatively, an investigation into
the feasibility of re-evaluating the reference points for this stock,
as recommended by the STT in the rebuilding plan, may be warranted.
Classification
Pursuant to MSA section 304(b)(1)(A), the NMFS Assistant
Administrator has determined that this proposed rule is consistent with
the Salmon FMP, other provisions of the MSA, and other applicable law,
subject to further consideration after public comment.
This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
This proposed rule is not an Executive Order 14192 regulatory
action because this rule is not significant under Executive Order
12866.
The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business
Administration that this proposed rule, if adopted, would not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
As a result, an initial regulatory flexibility analysis is not
required and none has been prepared.
For purposes of the Regulatory Flexibility Act analysis, and
pursuant to NMFS' December 29, 2015, final rule (80 FR 81194), NMFS'
small business size standard for businesses, including their
affiliates, whose primary industry is commercial fishing, is $11
million in annual gross receipts. This standard applies to all
businesses classified under North American Industry Classification
System (NAICS) code 11411 for commercial fishing, including all
businesses classified as commercial finfish fishing (NAICS 11411),
commercial shellfish fishing (NAICS 114112), and other commercial
marine fishing (NAICS 114119) businesses (50 CFR 220.2; 13 CFR
121.201).
This proposed rule would directly affect the west coast ocean
salmon commercial troll fishery. Using the Socioeconomic Assessment of
the 2024 Ocean Salmon Fisheries (chapter IV) of the Review of 2024 SAFE
document for the Salmon FMP the most recent year of complete fishing
data, 2024, had 241 distinct commercial vessels land fish caught in
Washington and Oregon, north of Cape Falcon. The Council's SAFE
document lists ex-vessel value for 2024 salmon landings at $6.1 million
(in 2024 dollars). Therefore, no vessel met NMFS' threshold for being a
large entity, which is $11 million in annual gross receipts. We note,
however, that the rebuilding plan implemented by this proposed rule
would not change harvest policy, and, thus, by definition, would have
no direct or indirect economic impact on these small entities.
Because all directly regulated entities are small, these
regulations are not expected to place small entities at a significant
disadvantage in comparison with large entities. The Council
recommended, and NMFS proposes approving, the status quo alternative
for
[[Page 7956]]
the Queets sp/su Chinook salmon rebuilding plan. This rebuilding plan
is consistent with the provisions of the existing Salmon FMP.
Therefore, this proposed rule to approve and implement the rebuilding
plans, consistent with the parameters required under NS1, is largely
administrative. This action does not change salmon harvest policy, and
economic activity is not expected to change from the baseline for
Queets sp/su Chinook salmon. Therefore, this action is also not
expected to significantly reduce profit for the directly regulated
small entities. As a result, an initial regulatory flexibility analysis
is not required and none has been prepared.
This proposed rule contains no information collection requirements
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
This proposed rule was developed after meaningful consultation and
collaboration with the Tribal representative on the Council, and Tribal
representatives played key roles in the drafting of the rebuilding
plan.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 660
Fisheries, Fishing, Recordkeeping and reporting requirements.
Dated: February 17, 2026.
Sarah Malloy,
Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National
Marine Fisheries Service.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, NMFS proposes to amend 50
CFR part 660 as follows:
PART 660--FISHERIES OFF WEST COAST STATES
0
1. The authority citation for part 660 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq., 16 U.S.C. 773 et seq., and 16
U.S.C. 7001 et seq.
0
2. Amend Sec. 660.413, by adding paragraph (b) to read as follows:
Sec. 660.413 Overfished species rebuilding plans.
* * * * *
(b) Queets River Natural Spring/Summer Chinook. The Queets River
Natural Spring/Summer Chinook salmon stock was declared overfished in
2023. The rebuilding plan is to manage the fishery consistent with the
FMP and this subsection. The stock will be considered rebuilt when the
3-year geometric mean of natural-area adult escapement meets or exceeds
S<INF>MSY</INF> (the default criterion in the Salmon FMP).
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2026-03296 Filed 2-18-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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