CONTACT: Gordon Helm               FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                   3/28/97

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has extended the deadline for nominees to send in an application to serve on an advisory panel on the future use of the Individual Fishery Quota as a management tool in selected fisheries, the Commerce Department announced today. The new deadline is April 14, 1997. Officials want to ensure that everyone who wants to apply has enough time to do so.

Individual Fishery Quotas (IFQs) will be the focus of a study by the National Academy of Science's National Research Council. NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service wants public input in the study, and is asking for advisory panel nominations. The study on IFQs by the National Research Council complies with provisions of the newly reauthorized Sustainable Fisheries Act as mandated by the U.S. Congress.

The fisheries service will announce the selection of members to fill two 15-member advisory panels no later than May 1, 1997. One panel will serve as advisor for West Coast fisheries, the other for East Coast fisheries.

Panel members may serve as technical advisors to the NRC committee, dealing with any issues relating to IFQ implementation. Members may provide expert testimony at public hearings on IFQs, and may also be asked to help facilitate NOAA's public hearings by developing potential questions and guiding the discussions. Members will be expected to attend one public hearing or one public NRC meeting on IFQs but will not be asked to attend NRC committee meetings. There is no compensation for membership on an advisory panel, but the fisheries service will pay for the travel of each advisory panel member to one public hearing or one NRC public meeting on IFQs. Finally, the advisory panels will serve as an "information clearinghouse."

Interested members of the public should submit a statement of interest to the Director of the Office of Science and Technology, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD, 20910. The statement should include a description of the nominee's background and experience, particularly with respect to IFQs; current occupation and position; reasons for wanting to participate on an advisory panel; and a statement identifying why the nominee should be considered for membership.

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