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Sending comments? Written comments must be received at the NEFMC office no later than 8:00 a.m., Thursday, April 8, 2021 to be considered at this meeting. Please address comments to Council Chairman Dr. John Quinn or Executive Director Tom Nies at: NEFMC, 50 Water St., Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950. Email submissions should be sent to comments@nefmc.org.

IMPORTANT: Due to ongoing federal and state travel restrictions and public safety guidelines related to COVID-19, this meeting will be conducted by webinar. Please continue to monitor this webpage for updates.

PUBLIC COMMENTS:  The Council’s “Guidelines for Providing Public Comments” can be found here.

Open Period for Public Comment – Sign Up Now: On Thursday, April 15 at 11:00 a.m., the Council will give the public an opportunity to provide brief comments on issues relevant to Council business but not listed on the agenda. Interested in speaking? Email Janice Plante at jplante@nefmc.org to get on the list.

  • Don’t forget! If you want to speak during opportunities for public comment, you need to: (1) register for the webinar; and (2) actually “join” the webinar. People who call in by telephone without joining the webinar will be in listen-only mode. Those who take both steps – register and then join the webinar – will see the meeting screen and be able to click on a “raise hand” button, which will let the meeting organizer know you want to be unmuted to speak.
  • Here is the Council’s “Remote Participation Guide” with instructions for how to provide oral comments during the webinar meeting.
  • Having trouble with the webinar? We have a Help Desk! Our staff is only a phone call or email away. Click HERE for assistance.

Tuesday, April 13, 2021

12:00 p.m. Reports on Recent Activities - Council Chairman, Council Executive Director, Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO) Regional Administrator, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) General Counsel, Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC), Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC), Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, U.S. Coast Guard, NOAA Enforcement, and SAFMC Dolphin/Wahoo

1:30 Climate Science at Northeast Fisheries Science Center (Dr. Vince Saba, NEFSC)            

2:15 Break 

2:30 Northeast Region Coordinating Council (NRCC) Climate Change Scenario Planning Initiative (Council Staff)                      

3:00 NOAA Listening Session on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad (Dr. Paul Doremus, NOAA Fisheries)                      

4:15 Congressional Update (David Whaley)                      

Wednesday, April 14, 2021

9:00 a.m. Atlantic Herring Committee Report (Rick Bellavance)                      

11:00 Skate Committee Report (Dr. Matt McKenzie)                      

12:30 p.m. Lunch Break 

1:30 Habitat Committee Report (Eric Reid)                      

3:00 Atlantic Sea Scallop Biological Opinion (Jen Anderson, GARFO)                      

3:15 Scallop Report (Vincent Balzano)                      

4:15 Northeast Trawl Advisory Panel (NTAP) (Terry Alexander)                      

Thursday, April 15, 2021

9:00 a.m. State of the Ecosystem 2021 (Dr. Sean Lucey, NEFSC)                      

10:00 Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) (SSC Chair Dr. Jason McNamee)                      

10:30 Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management (EBFM) MSE Steering Committee (Dr. Matt McKenzie)        

11:00 Open Period for Public Comment - Opportunity for the public to provide brief comments on issues relevant to Council business but not listed on this agenda (please limit remarks to 3-5 minutes) 

11:15 Groundfish Report (Terry Alexander)                      

12:15 p.m. Other Business 

This meeting will be recorded. Consistent with 16 USC 1852, a copy of the recording is available upon request.