Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to Meet at Bar Harbor
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission will hold it’s 75th Annual meeting at the Hotel in Bar Harbor October 23-27. The meeting was last held in Maine in 2001 at Rockport. There are 15 coastal states including Pennsylvania, in the ASMFC which was established by Congress in 1942. The annual meeting places rotate among these 15 states. The last two held in Maine were in Rockport.
This years meeting will be held at the Harborside Hotel, 55 West Street, Bar Harbor, Maine. The meeting is open to the public. The agenda for the meeting is available at: fishermensvoice.com or via this link: http://www.asmfc.org/home/2016-annual-meeting
Among topics of regional interest are American lobster, River herring Menhaden and Spiny Dogfish. There will be a live streaming webinar open to the public as well.
Live-Streaming Webinar
Board/Section meeting proceedings will be broadcast daily via webinar at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6632926318150310403 beginning at 8:30 a.m. on October 24th, continuing daily until the conclusion of the meeting (expected to be 4:00 p.m.) on October 27th. The webinar will allow registrants to listen to the proceedings of the Commission’s management boards/sections during the 75th Annual Meeting, October 24-27, 2016. Registrants will also be able to view presentations and motions as they occur. No comments or questions will be accepted via the webinar. Should technical difficulties arise during the streaming of the broadcast, the boards/sections will continue their deliberations without interruption. We will attempt to resume the broadcast as soon as possible. Board/Section summaries, presentations, and audio files will be available at http://www.asmfc.org/home/2016-Annual-Meeting the week of October 30th.
Annual Meeting Registration
All meetings are open to the public free of charge. However, if you plan on attending any of the Annual Meeting social events, please help us prepare for these events by registering soon. Click here to access the fillable registration form; once completed please email to lhartman@asmfc.org.
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 use a speaker sign-up list in deciding 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 3 weeks prior to the start of a meeting week will be included in the briefing materials.
2. Comments received by 5:00 PM on October 18, 2016 will be distributed electronically to Commissioners/Board members prior to the meeting and a limited number of copies will be provided at the meeting.
3. Following the October 18, 2016 5:00 PM deadline, the commenter will be responsible for distributing the information to the management board prior to the board meeting or providing enough copies for the management board consideration at the meeting (a minimum of 50 copies).
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.
The complete agenda is available at: http://www.asmfc.org/home/2016-annual-meeting; OR via a link at: fishermensvoice.com