February 6, 2023 — The following was released by Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Management Board is scheduled to meet via webinar on March 2 from 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM. The purpose of the meeting is to review and consider final approval of proposed regional scup and black sea bass recreational measures for the 2023 fishing year. The draft agenda is available athttp://www.asmfc.org/files/
Webinar Information
To register for the webinar, please go tohttps://attendee.
Meeting Process
The Board Chair will provide an opportunity to the public to bring matters of concern to the board’s attention at the start of the meeting. The Board Chair will ask members of the public to raise their hands to let the chair know they would like to speak. Depending upon the number of commenters, the Board Chair will decide how to allocate the available time on the agenda (typically 10 minutes) to the number of people who want to speak.
The webinar will begin 15 minutes prior to the start of the meeting so that people can troubleshoot any connectivity or audio issues they may encounter. If you are having issues with the webinar (connecting to or audio related issues), please contact Chris Jacobs at 703.842.0790.
Public Comment Guidelines
With the intent of developing policies in the Commission’s procedures for public participation that result in a fair opportunity for public input, the ISFMP Policy Board has approved the following guidelines for use at management board meetings:
For issues that are not on the agenda, management boards will continue to provide opportunity to the public to bring matters of concern to the board’s attention at the start of each board meeting. Board chairs will ask members of the public to raise their hands to let the chair know they would like to speak. Depending upon the number of commenters, the board chair will decide how to allocate the available time on the agenda (typically 10 minutes) to the number of people who want to speak.
For topics that are on the agenda, but have not gone out for public comment, board chairs will provide limited opportunity for comment, taking into account the time allotted on the agenda for the topic. Chairs will have flexibility in deciding how to allocate comment opportunities; this could include hearing one comment in favor and one in opposition until the chair is satisfied further comment will not provide additional insight to the board.
For agenda action items that have already gone out for public comment, it is the Policy Board’s intent to end the occasional practice of allowing extensive and lengthy public comments. Currently, board chairs have the discretion to decide what public comment to allow in these circumstances.
In addition, the following timeline has been established for the submission of written comment for issues for which the Commission has NOT established a specific public comment period(i.e., in response to proposed management action)
- Comments received by 5 PM on Wednesday, February 15 will be included in the main meeting materials.
- Comments received by 5 PM on Wednesday, February 22 will be included in the supplemental materials.
The submitted comments must clearly indicate the commenter’s expectation from the ASMFC staff regarding distribution. As with other public comment, it will be accepted via mail and email.
For more information, please contact Tracey Bauer, FMP Coordinator, at tbauer@asmfc.org.