PFMC ANNOUNCEMENT: Request for Nominations

December 1, 2005



REQUEST FOR NOMINATIONS


The purpose of this letter is to solicit nominations for an at-large seat on the Pacific Fishery Management Council that will become vacant on August 10, 2006. Mr. Robert Alverson currently holds this seat. Mr. Alverson is completing his third three-year term and has primarily been representing Washington’s commercial fishing interests, in addition to the conservation needs of the marine resources off the West Coast. Mr. Alverson is not eligible for reappointment.

Background:
Congress created eight regional fishery management councils when it passed the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act in 1976. The regional councils prepare, monitor, and revise fishery management plans for fisheries requiring conservation and management. Councils are planning bodies that make recommendations, but have no rule making authority. The U.S. Secretary of Commerce is the federal rule making authority for fishery management, and must approve and implement the regional councils’ plans and recommendations. The Pacific Council has federal fishery management plans for salmon, groundfish (e.g., rockfish, flatfish, whiting, and sablefish), coastal pelagic species (e.g., sardines, anchovy, and mackerel), highly migratory species (e.g., tunas, billfish, and sharks), and allocates the Pacific halibut harvest in the ocean area from 3 to 200 nautical miles off the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and California.

The Pacific Council has 14 voting members that include representatives from the states of California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington; the National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA-Fisheries); coastal tribes; and eight private citizens appointed by the Secretary of Commerce. Non-government Council members serve three-year terms (not to exceed three consecutive terms). The U.S. Secretary of Commerce appoints the non-government positions from lists of nominees submitted by the Governors of the four states.

The Council meets five times a year – March, April, June, September, and November – in West Coast locations (primarily Portland, Oregon and San Francisco or Sacramento, California). The federal government provides travel expenses and per diem for Council meetings. More information is available on the Council’s website at www.fakr.noaa.gov/PFMC .