January 18, 2023 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
The final agenda and meeting materials for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Winter Meeting (to be held January 31 – February 2 at the Westin Crystal City, 1800 Richmond Highway, Arlington, VA) are now available at https://asmfc.sharefile.
This will be a hybrid meeting (both in-person and remote) to allow for remote participation by Commissioners and interested stakeholders (meeting process details are provided below). The agenda is subject to change. The agenda reflects the current estimate of time required for scheduled Board meetings. The Commission may adjust this agenda in accordance with the actual duration of Board meetings. Interested parties should anticipate Boards starting earlier or later than indicated herein.
Webinar Information
Meeting proceedings will be broadcast daily via webinar beginning Tuesday, January 31 at 9:30 a.m. and continuing daily until the conclusion of the meeting (expected to be 11:30 a.m.) on Thursday, February 2. To register for the webinar, please go to https://attendee.
Meeting Process
In terms of 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 the public and interested stakeholders when the Board Chair provides an opportunity 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.
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 issues), please contact Chris Jacobs at 703.842.0790.
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 (January 10) have been included in the briefing materials.
2. Comments received by 5:00 PM on Tuesday, January 24 will be included in supplemental materials.
3. Comments received by 10:00 AM on Friday, January 27 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 Winter Meeting.