October 4, 2023 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s 81st Annual Meeting will be held October 16-19, 2023 at the Beaufort Hotel,
2440 Lennoxville Road, Beaufort, North Carolina. The room block is now closed and the hotel is sold out. This will be a hybrid meeting to allow for remote participation by Commissioners, committee members, and interested stakeholders in all meetings. The main webinar link provided below will be for all board meetings, the ACCSP Coordinating Council, the Executive Committee, and the Business Session of the Commission. Webinar links for meetings of the Law Enforcement Committee and the Atlantic Coastal Fish Habitat Partnership Steering Committee/Habitat Committee can be found on the agendas for those meetings.
The final agenda and meeting materials for the Annual Meeting are now available athttps://www.asmfc.org/home/
Webinar Information
Board meetings will be broadcast daily via webinar beginning Monday, October 16 at 9 a.m. and continuing daily until the conclusion of the meeting (expected to be 1:30 p.m.) on Thursday, October 19. To register for the webinar, please go to:https://attendee.
If you are joining the webinar but will not be using voice over internet protocol (VoIP), you can also call in at +1 (562) 247-8422, access code 438-306-259. A PIN will be provided to you after joining the webinar.
For those who will not be joining the webinar but would like to listen to the audio portion only, press the # key when asked for a PIN.
Each day, the webinar will begin 15 minutes prior to the start of the first 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), please contact Chris Jacobs at 703.842.0790.
Meeting Process
Board chairs will ask both in-person and virtual board members if they wish to speak. In-person members can simply raise their hands at the meeting without logging on to the webinar, while virtual members will raise their hands on the webinar. The chair will work with staff to compile the list of speakers, balancing the flow of questions/comments between in-person and virtual attendees. The same process will be used for public comment. 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.
Getting to Beaufort
Located on the Crystal Coast, an 85-mile stretch of coastline in North Carolina the Beaufort Hotel is easily accessible by automobile or airplane. Three airports are within an easy drive: Raleigh-Durham International Airport (168 miles); Albert J. Ellis Airport (Jacksonville, NC – 61 miles); and Coastal Carolina Regional Airport (CCRA – 39 miles). From the first two airports, it would be best to rent a car to get to Beaufort and from CCRA you can take a taxi or an Uber.
Registration
Please read the following carefully since we have changed the way we are handling meeting registration. All participants are required to register for the Annual Meeting events. However, only those who will not be reimbursed for travel by the Commission (see travel authorization #23-051) will need to pay the registration fee (e.g., guests and federal participants). The meeting registration fee is $200/per participant and $150/per spouse or guest if you register by October 6, 2023. After
October 6th and in Beaufort the fees will be $225 and $175, respectively. The registration fee covers the Monday night welcome reception, the Tuesday night dinner, and the Wednesday Hart Award Luncheon, as well event materials. You may register by returning the attached and linked registration form (by email to lhartman@asmfc.org, or US mail to 1050 N. Highland Street, Suite 200A-N, Arlington, VA 22201). Once you have registered, payment can be made in several ways (1) credit card, which can be made here; (2) check, cash or credit card at the ASMFC Registration Desk at the Annual Meeting; or (3) mail a check to ASMFC (address above).
Fishing Tournament
Plans are well underway for the 30th Annual Laura Leach Fishing Tournament. Everyone is invited and encouraged to participate. You will receive a t-shirt with your $20 entry fee; and 100% of the tournament proceeds will be donated to Wounded Warrior Project. The tournament runs from Sunday (10/15) through Wednesday morning (10/18); the raffle drawing and tournament prizes will be awarded at Wednesday Hart Award Luncheon.
Public Comment Guidelines
To provide 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).
1. Comments received three weeks prior to the start of a meeting week (September 25) have been included in the briefing materials.
2. Comments received by 5 PM on Tuesday, October 10 will be included in supplemental materials.
3. Comments received by 10 AM on Friday, October 13 will be distributed electronically to Commissioners/Board members prior to the meeting.
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.
We look forward to seeing you at the Annual Meeting!