November 21, 2017 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council
The New England Fishery Management Council is reminding stakeholders of the opportunities available to provide input into the ongoing external review about how the Council conducts business.
The Council initiated this independent review to learn more about its strengths and weaknesses and, most importantly, to identify areas for improvement. As such, the Council is encouraging people who interact with the Council to take advantage of the different avenues for providing feedback.
Stakeholder input is critical to the success of the review and is confidential. Specific statements, ideas, and perspectives will not be attributed to individuals. Instead, feedback and insights will be summarized in a report that will be presented to the review panel members and posted on the New England Council’s website.
Here are more details about how you can provide input.
ONLINE SURVEY: The survey, which only takes 15-to-20 minutes to complete, is designed to solicit input about Council communications and the ability of stakeholders to participate in the Council process. Take the Survey Now!
PORT MEETINGS: Six of the Northern New England port meetings already have taken place. Eight more are still to come following the Thanksgiving holiday:
- Tuesday, November 28, Gloucester, MA – Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries Annisquam River Station, 30 Emerson Ave., 5 p.m.
- Wednesday, November 29, Scituate, MA – Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Office, 175 Edward Foster Road, 5 p.m.
- Thursday, November 30, New Bedford, MA – UMass Dartmouth SMAST-East, Room 101, 836 South Rodney French Boulevard, 5 p.m.
- Friday, December 1, Chatham, MA – Chatham Community Center, 702 Main Street, 5 p.m.
- Saturday, December 2, Plymouth, MA – Hotel 1620 Plymouth Harbor Amphitheater, 180 Water Street, 3 p.m.
- Monday, December 4, Stonington, CT – La Grua Center, 32 Water Street, 5 p.m.
- Monday, January 8, Montauk, NY – Montauk Playhouse Community Center, 240 Edgemere Street, 5 p.m.
- Tuesday, January 9, Cape May, NJ – Rutgers University, 1636 Delaware Ave., 5 p.m.
WEBINAR OPTION: Anyone who cannot attend a port meeting in person or who simply wants to provide additional input is encouraged to take part in the webinar meeting, which will be held at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, November 28. Register at Council Program Review Webinar or call in at +1 (213) 929-4212 and supply the access code 839-533-461.
IMPORTANT REMINDER: These meetings, as well as the online survey, are meant to focus on Council operations,not current management actions.
REVIEW PANEL: The review itself will be conducted by an external panel of managers and scientists from other regions and/or international fisheries entities who have a strong understanding of U.S. federal fisheries management but no recent involvement or affiliation with the New England Council. The review panel will meet for one week in early 2018 to discuss Council operations and conduct its work. The meeting will be open to the public. The Council has enlisted the help of two contractors to support this process. One of the contractors, the Fisheries Leadership & Sustainability Forum, is responsible for collecting stakeholder input for the review panel. The New England Council is not involved in collecting this confidential input.
ADDITIONAL MATERIALS: More information about the process that is being used to conduct the external review, as well as the terms of reference and other background documents, is available at Council Program Review.
QUESTIONS: Contact Fisheries Forum Co-Director Kim Gordon at (831) 641-7906, kim.gordon@duke.edu or Council Public Affairs Officer Janice Plante at (607) 592-4817, jplante@nefmc.org.