Five meetings of importance to the commercial fishing
industry are scheduled in Seattle in September, on issues ranging from crab and
groundfish to ecosystems and fisheries observers.
The Joint Groundfish Plan Teams began a four-day meeting
Sept. 10 at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, with an agenda that includes
status updates on several fisheries, reports on bottom trawl surveys and more.
The agenda is at http://www.afsc.noaa.gov/REFM/stocks/plan_team/draft_assessments.htm
The Bering Sea Crab Science Symposium, sponsored by Alaska
Bering Sea Crabbers, will be held Sept. 16 at Leif Erickson Lodge. Bob Foy,
director of the Kodiak Fisheries Research Center, will present an overview and
preliminary results from the National Marine Fisheries Service summer trawl
survey. Foy will also discuss biological studies conducted through the Alaska
King Crab Research, Rehabilitation, and Biology program. The agenda is at http://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/npfmc/PDFdocuments/catch_shares/Crab/CrabScience913.pdf
The ecosystem committee is scheduled to meet Sept. 16-Sept.
17 at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, to discuss several issues related to
ecosystem based management. The agenda is at http://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/npfmc/PDFdocuments/conservation_issues/EcosystemCmteWorkshpAgenda913.pdf
The crab plan team meets Sept. 17-Sept. 20 at the Alaska
Fisheries Science Center, to revise stock assessments and fisheries evaluations
on all crab. The agenda is at http://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/npfmc/PDFdocuments/membership/PlanTeam/Crab/913CPTagenda.pdf
The observer advisory committee will be at the Alaska
Fisheries Science Center Sept. 18-Sept. 19 on issues ranging from
implementation of observer restructuring to the draft 2014 observer annual
deployment plan. That agenda is at http://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/npfmc/PDFdocuments/conservation_issues/Observer/OACagenda913.pdf
NPFMC officials also note that the sablefish gear committee
will be meeting at NPFMC offices in Anchorage on Sept. 30, and that a Bering
Sea canyons workshop is on tap at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center in
Seattle for Oct. 15-16. Agendas for the last two meetings are not available at
this time.
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