December 2, 2021 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The materials for the December 17th meeting of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Northern Shrimp Section are now available here. The Section will meet via webinar on December 17th from 9-11 AM. The purpose of the meeting is to review the results of the 2021 Stock Assessment Update Report and set specifications for the 2022 fishing season. The Northern Shrimp Advisory Panel will be meeting on December 16th from 9-10:30 AM to develop recommendations regarding 2022 specifications for the Section’s consideration; more information on the Panel’s meeting can be found here.

Section Webinar Information

To register for the webinar go to https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3795028573879517455 (Webinar ID: 433-977-227). If you are joining the webinar but will not be using VoIP, you can also call in at +1 (914) 614-3426. A PIN will be provided to you after joining the webinar; see webinar instructions for details on how to receive the PIN. For those who will not be joining the webinar but would like to listen in to the audio portion only, you can do so by dialing +1 (914) 614-3426, access code 361-188-250.

The webinar will allow registrants to listen to the Section’s deliberations and view presentations and motions as they occur.  The Section will provide the public the opportunity to bring matters of concern to the Section’s attention at the start of the meeting. The Section 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 Section Chair will decide how to allocate the available time on the agenda (typically 10 minutes) to the number of people who want to speak.

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/sections 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/section 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/section 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 by 5 PM on Monday, December 6 will be included in the supplemental materials.

2. Comments received by 10 AM on Thursday, December 16 will be distributed electronically to Section 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, fax, and email.