New England council elects 2025-26 officers

The New England Fishery Management Council opened its September meeting in Gloucester, Mass., by electing new officers and committee members.

Daniel Salerno of New Hampshire was elected chair and Melanie Griffin of Massachusets as vice chair. Salerno manages two Northeast groundfish sectors and has over 30 years of industry and research experience, according to council staff. He co-chairs the Northeast Trawl Advisory Panel, and the U.S. side of the Transboundary Management Guidance Committee.

The New England Fishery Management Council elected Daniel Salerno of New Hampshire as chair and Melanie Griffin of Massachusets as vice chair at the opening of its Sept. 24 meeting in Gloucester, Mass. NEFMC photo.

Griffin is a policy analyst with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, and represents the state during council deliberations. She has served on the council’s executive committee for several years, and chairs the council scallop committee.

The council awelcomed aboard its newest member Andrew “Andy” Dangelo of Rhode Island. Dangelo is “a veteran headboat operator with more than 40 years of experience in the for-hire recreational fishing industry,” according to a brief council biography. “Since 1981, he has owned and operated Maridee Inc., running charter trips from Point Judith targeting cod and tuna in Rhode Island Sound and around Block Island.”

Dangelo holds a Coast Guard master license and serves as treasurer of the Rhode Island Party and Charter Boat Association.

The New England council welcomed new member Andrew “Andy” Dangelo of Rhode Island, a veteran headboat operator with more than 40 years of experience in the for-hire recreational fishing industry. NEFMC photo.

In votes to select committee members, the council chose from a slate of five candidates to fill the three spots on the executive committee which is made up of the council’s chair, vice chair, and three elected members. The council voted to reelect Megan Ware of Maine and John Pappalardo of Massachusetts and chose Michael Pierdinock from Massachusetts to fill the remaining seat.

Other people joining the council deliberations include Renee Zobel, marine program supervisor for the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, who joined the Council as the New Hampshire state designee in June. Zobel serves on the Scallop and Habitat Committee, the On-Demand Fishing Gear Conflict Working Group, and chairs the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Herring Technical Committee.

North Carolina captain Robert Ruhle has taken on the role of New England Council Liaison from the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. Ruhle is a fourth-generation fisherman from Wanchese N.C., where he owns the F/V Darana R, and operates the Northeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program Survey in partnership with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.