Saving Seafood

Coastal Pelagic Species Management Team to hold online meeting Monday, October 4, 2021

September 20, 2021 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Pacific Fishery Management Council’s (Pacific Council) Coastal Pelagic Species Management Team will hold an online meeting Monday, October 4, 2021, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Pacific Daylight Time, or until business for the day has been completed.

Please see the meeting notice on the Council’s website for additional details.

For further information:

Apply for the Marine Resources Education Program

February 23, 2017 — Interested in learning about how federal biologists manage fisheries across the Gulf of Mexico and up the Atlantic Seaboard from Florida north to North Carolina?

How about taking a spot on the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council’s Coastal Migratory Pelagics Advisory Panel?

Here’s your chance: There’s a March 17 deadline for applying for membership on the advisory panel, a three-year term for the group which will merge the biology of pelagic fish – most of the offshore species, fish that do not live on the bottom nor near the shore – and the folks who catch those species into advice for the 17-member Gulf Council.

The message from the Gulf Council stated, “Advisory panel members are appointed by the Council and will serve a three-year term.” Most advisory panels meet no more than twice each year and per-day and travel expenses are paid for ad-hoc panel members.

Read the full story at The Acadiana Advocate

Ocean Plans In New England And Mid-Atlantic Released

July 12, 2016 — Both the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Ocean Plans have been released and are open for public comment

Back in May, Rip Cunningham wrote that the soon-to-be-released ocean plans for the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic are about ‘doing the best job possible of coordinating all the previously independent ocean development regulations [and giving] concerned citizens a process to make sure that they are recognized in the development process.’ Rip’s article called on the fishing community to have an open mind about the planning processes and to take the time to read and comment on them. Simply put, he asks people to give the plans a chance and to be active participants.

Now that both plans are released and open for public comment, let’s take a look at what’s in them.

The Northeast and Mid-Atlantic plans have the same basic framework. Using interactive maps and narrative text, they describe the region’s major ocean resources and uses, and lay out actions and commitments to consider and engage those users when decisions are being made that might affect them. For commercial and recreational fisheries, both plans contain a dedicated subchapter describing the industry and a series of maps developed in consultation with fisheries representatives that should help decision-makers understand current fishing uses and trends, the potential impacts proposed development projects would have on fishermen, and which agencies should be reaching out to when potential conflicts arise. Here are some more specifics on each of the two plans:

Northeast Regional Ocean Plan was released on May 25th and public comments are due on July 25th. Click here to read the plan or to submit a comment.

Read the full story at On the Water