The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council is currently recruiting applicants for its advisory panels (APs), and scientific and statistical committees (SSCs).
Advisory panel members provide information and guidance to the council on the development of federal fishery management plans. The council has 22 advisory panels composed of individuals who are engaged in the harvest of federally managed species or who are knowledgeable and interested in the conservation and management of the fishery. Members include recreational and commercial fishermen, seafood dealers and processors, non- governmental organizations, scientists, and concerned citizens.
Letters of interest are now being accepted for the following advisory panels: Coastal Migratory Pelagics; Coral; Data Collection; Florida/Alabama Habitat Protection; Mississippi/Louisiana Habitat Protection; Texas Habitat Protection; Outreach and Education; Red Drum; Red Snapper; Reef Fish; Southeast Data, Assessment and Review NGO; Shrimp; Spiny Lobster.
The council is also recruiting for its scientific and statistical committees. SSCs are comprised of economists, biologists, sociologists, and natural resource attorneys who are knowledgeable about the technical aspects of fisheries in the gulf.
The following SSCs exist: Standing SSC; Socioeconomic SSC; Special Coral; Special Mackerel; Special Red Drum; Special Reef Fish; Special Shrimp; Special Spiny Lobster; and Ecosystems Management.
Finally, the Southeast Data, Assessment and Review Workshop Pool is also open for recruitment. Scientists are selected from the SEDAR Workshop Pool to participate in the stock assessment or assessment review meetings, but individual scientists do not attend each meeting.
Appointments are for two years and will be made during the April 15-18, 2013 council meeting in Gulfport, Miss. Membership provides individuals with an opportunity to become more directly involved in the management decision-making process.
Anyone interested in serving should submit a letter of interest to the council office indicating the committee and/or panel of interest. Please include a current resumé or description of qualifications. Applicants may apply to more than one panel or committee. However, appointments are limited to a maximum of two standing advisory panels. Membership on ad hoc panels is unlimited.
Positions are unpaid, but travel expenses are reimbursed. Depending upon the level of activity for a given fishery management plan, each panel or committee may meet from zero to three or four times per year, except for the standing SSC, which may meet four or more times per year. (The standing SSC meets for all SSC meetings, while the species SSCs meet jointly with the standing SSC for issues specific to the species SSC.)
Letters of interest should be mailed to the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, 2203 N. Lois Ave., Tampa, FL 33607; faxed to (813) 348-1711; or e-mailed to AP-SSC.Applicant@gulfcouncil.org by April 8, 2013.
Callifornia crabbing: Here's a fun video shot on the decks of the Majestik while catching Dungeness crab off the coast of northern California.
Over 500 lots of seafood processing equipment formerly owned by Adak Seafood will be sold at auction on Tuesday, June 18, starting at 10 a.m. Hawaiian-Aleutian Daylight Time at the Hilton Garden Inn in Anchorage Alaska.
The equipment is located in a recently updated 250,000 square foot state-of-the-art processing facility in Adak, Alaska. Farmington Hills, Mich.-based Hilco Industrial, which conducts 75 machinery and equipment auctions in a wide range of industries annually, will conduct the auction.
Adak Seafood opened originally as Ada Fisheries in Anchorage in 1986. The facility, updated in 2005, is located on the island of Adak, the southernmost city in Alaska near the western end of the Aleutian Islands. The facility processed cod primarily, as well as halibut, blackcod, crab and pollock, Hilco says.
Alaska fisherman and commercial fisheries activist Kevin Adams was elected chairman at the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute board of directors meeting on May 9 in Anchorage.
The governor-appointed board consists of seven members: five seafood processors and two industry representatives actively engaged in commercial fishing. Adams was appointed to fill a harvester seat by Gov. Frank Murkowski in 2004.
With 38 years of fishing experience in Bristol Bay, Adams has long been an active member in the Alaska fishing industry, ASMI says. He has worked for both the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation and the Bering Sea Fisherman's Association, and represents Alaska fishermen on numerous boards.
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