[Rimarinefisheries] States Schedule Public Hearings on Atlantic Cobia Draft Addendum II

States Schedule Public Hearings on Atlantic Cobia Draft Addendum II

 

Arlington, VA – The Atlantic coastal states of New York through Georgia have scheduled hearings to gather public input on Draft Addendum II to Amendment 1 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Cobia, which considers recreational allocation, harvest target evaluation, and the timeline for setting management specifications. South Carolina will also be conducting a hearing; the details of which will be released when they become available.

 

Some hearings will be conducted in-person, and some hearings will be conducted via webinar. If you are unable to participate in your state’s scheduled hearing, you are welcome to participate in any of the virtual hearings. The public hearing details follow:

 

 

The Commission’s Coastal Pelagics Management Board initiated the Draft Addendum to consider updating recreational allocations using more recent harvest data, which reflects increased cobia landings in some Mid-Atlantic states in recent years. Draft Addendum II presents options for Atlantic cobia management, including a framework for recreational allocation, ways to account for data uncertainty and respond to quota overages, and an extended multi-year specification setting. For the recreational allocation framework, Draft Addendum II considers options for the data timeframe to form the basis for allocations, and options for the geographic scope of allocations (state-by-state, regional, or coastwide).

 

Webinar Instructions

Please note that in order to comment during virtual webinar hearings you will need to use your computer or download the GoTo app for your phone. Those joining by phone only will be limited to listening to the presentation and will not be able to provide input. In those cases, you can send your comments to staff via email or US mail at any time during the public comment period. To attend the webinar in listen only mode, dial 562.247.8422 and enter access code 240-122-968. If you are unable to participate in your state’s scheduled hearing, you are welcome to participate in any of the virtual hearings.

 

For all virtual hearings, please click HERE [attendee.gotowebinar.com] and select the hearing(s) you plan to attend from the dropdown menu to register for a public hearing webinar. Hearings will be held via GoToWebinar, and you can join the webinar from your computer, tablet or smartphone. If you are new to GoToWebinar, you can download the software by (clicking here [support.goto.com]) or via the App store under GoTo. We recommend you register for the hearing well in advance of the hearing since GoToWebinar will provide you with a link to test your device’s compatibility with the webinar. If you find your device is not compatible, please contact the Commission at info@asmfc.org (subject line: GoToWebinar help) and we will try to get you connected. We also strongly encourage participants to use the computer voice over internet protocol (VoIP) so you can ask questions and provide input at the hearing.

 

Hearing Presentation Recording

For those who cannot attend any in-person or virtual hearings, the Commission will also post a recording of the hearing presentation on the Commission’s YouTube page so that stakeholders may watch the presentation and submit comment at any time during the comment process. This recording will be available by early June, with the recording link provided at https://asmfc.org/about-us/public-input [asmfc.org].

Submitting Comments

The Draft Addendum document will be available on the Commission’s Public Input webpage no later than May 30 at https://asmfc.org/about-us/public-input [asmfc.org]. All those interested in the management of Atlantic cobia are encouraged to provide input either by participating in public hearings, which may be conducted in-person or via webinar, or providing written comment. Public comment will be accepted until 11:59 PM (EST) on July 8, 2024 and should be sent to Emilie Franke, FMP Coordinator, at 1050 N. Highland St., Suite 200 A-N, Arlington, Virginia 22201; or at comments@asmfc.org (Subject line: Cobia Draft Addendum II).

 

If your organization is planning to release an action alert in response to the Draft Addendum, please contact Emilie Franke at efranke@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740, so she can work with you to develop a unique subject line to enable us to better organize and summarize incoming comments for Board review.

 

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The press release can also be found at https://www.asmfc.org/uploads/file/6650ca92pr17AtlCobiaDraftAddendumII_PublicHearings.pdf [asmfc.org]

 

Tina Berger

Director of Communications

Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission

1050 N. Highland Street, Suite 200 A-N

Arlington, VA 22201

703.842.0749

Tberger@asmfc.org  l  www.asmfc.org [asmfc.org]

 

Sustainable and Cooperative Management of Atlantic Coastal Fisheries

 

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