The fishery conservation and management act of 1976 (act) declared a fishery conservation zone in ocean waterssurrounding the united states from 3 to 200 miles offshore

Under this act the pacific fisheries managementcouncil (pfmc) was established in 1976. In 1977, the pfmc recognized the need for salmon resource management andimplemented the fishery management plan (FMP) for commercial and recreational salmon fisheries off the coasts ofwashington, oregon, and california. This FMP has been revised multiple times since 1977 and this planningdocument was updated through amendment 21 in september of 2021. The klamath river is regarded as one of the moreimportant producers of fall-run chinook salmon (krfc) to california and southern oregon commercial and sportfisheries. Krfc consist largely of naturally produced (native sportfish) stocks as well as hatchery producedstocks. Pfmc management practices focus on harvest opportunities when stocks can support harvest and provide aframework for harvest restrictions when abundance is forecasted to be low. The state of california, withmanagement jurisdiction of fisheries in coastal waters within three miles of shore and inland sport fisheries, implements krfc management practices and regulations conforming to pfmc objectives. Therefore, krfc run-size datais a critical management component for chinook salmon sport fisheries and commercial fisheries conducted incalifornia and oregon. In addition to the harvestable stock of krfc, other important anadromous salmonids occurin the klamath river including spring run chinook salmon, coho salmon and steelhead trout. With theimplementation of the coho salmon harvest control rule in 2022 (national marine fisheries service (nmfs) 2022) asdetailed in the southern oregon northern california coast (soncc) coho salmon biological opinion the need forstatus and trend data from this portion of the evolutionarily significant unit (ESU) is required to manage thisemerging fishery.