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NOAA 2004-R147 |
NOAA
News Releases 2004 NOAA Home Page NOAA Public Affairs |
NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service is hosting the second in a series of constituent meetings on the East Coast, at the Jacques Cousteau Coastal Education Center to receive input for the development of a marine recreational fisheries management plan for the next five years. NOAA Fisheries is specifically requesting information from marine anglers to help mold the policies and programs related to offshore recreational fisheries. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce. “The constituent meetings will help ensure our strategic plan reflects the priorities of marine anglers,” said Bill Hogarth, NOAA Fisheries director. “Getting their input through public meetings and written comments is critical to ensure the final plan will include the recreational anglers’ viewpoint.” The meeting will be 6 to 9 p.m. June 3 at the Peabody Holiday Inn, One Newbury Street (Rt. 1), Peabody, Mass. A final meeting on the East Coast is planned for New Bern, North Carolina on a date to be determined.A meeting will be held in Seal Beach, California, on Tuesday evening (6 to 9 PM), May 4, 2004, so as to provide working anglers a good opportunity to attend. This meeting is one of several to be conducted around the Country during the next few months. Meetings on the Pacific Coast are also planned for Portland, Oregon (May 26th) and Honolulu, Hawaii (date to be determined). According to Dr. Bill Hogarth, the agency director, “the Recreational Fisheries Strategic Plan will address science, management, and outreach issues related to recreational fisheries by linking them to the overall agency mission.” “I have taken a personal involvement with the plan development and holding the public constituent meetings should help ensure that the plan clearly reflects the priorities of marine anglers,” he said. It is anticipated that the final Plan will be available to the public in early September. The public meetings provide anglers an opportunity to weigh in ondiscuss issues such as data collection, marine managed areas, artificial reef programs, management processes, information exchange, cooperative research and more. In addition to the public meetings, written comments will also be accepted. Comments may be sent to Michael Kelly, Chief, Division of Constituent Services Room 9554, NOAA Fisheries (F/CS), 1315 East-West Hwy, Silver Spring, MD 20910, and should be received by July 30 to ensure that they are given full consideration. Copies of the draft plan and the email submission address can be found on the Web at: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/recfish. NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship of our nation’s coastal and marine resources. On the Web: NOAA: http://www.noaa.gov NOAA Fisheries: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov Pervious Plan: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/ocs/anglerinfo.html Draft
Plan: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/recfish |
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