NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service today announced that it is seeking nominations by Sept. 24 from individuals interested in serving on the American Fisheries Advisory Committee, which is responsible for making recommendations to the Commerce Secretary for Saltonstall-Kennedy financial assistance awards to address fishing community needs in optimizing economic benefits, as well as recommendations to assist in the development of annual Notice of Funding Opportunities related to the awards.
The 22-member Committee will meet no more than twice annually and include representation from the Atlantic, Pacific, Gulf Coast, and Great Lakes states, Alaska, Hawaii and the Pacific territories, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Idaho, and Arkansas. Members from these regions will have expertise in at least one of the following areas: seafood harvesting or processing; recreational or commercial fishing; growing seafood; fisheries science; and/or food distribution, marketing, retail, or food service.
Additionally, the Committee will include 4 at-large members with experience in food distribution, marketing, retail, or food service; the recreational fishing industry supply chain, such as fishers, manufacturers, retailers, and distributors; the commercial fishing industry supply chain, such as fishers, manufacturers, retailers, and distributors; and an employee of NMFS with expertise in fisheries research.
