NOAA has announced that the draft NOAA Catch Share Policy will be released for public comment on December 10, 2009. The draft policy encourages and supports the evaluation of catch share programs as authorized under the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
According to NOAA, the draft policy is the result of months of careful consideration by the agency which received input from the NOAA Catch Share Task Force and from a range of stakeholder groups. The draft policy will be open for public comment until April 10, 2010.
We encourage you to read the draft, share it with others and submit comments to NOAA. The draft NOAA Catch Share Policy will be available on NOAA’s Catch Shares webpage at www.nmfs.noaa.gov/catchshares.
An online comment form has been established to collect public comments on the document. A link to the comment page ison the Catch Share website or you can find it directly at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/catchsharescomments.
NOAA also plans to hold briefings at various stakeholder venues during the public comment period. More information will be forthcoming and posted online as it becomes available.