Alaska Board of Fisheries to hold Work Session in October

The Alaska Board of Fisheries (board) will meet October 15-16, 2020, beginning at 8:30am, through the Internet-based video communication company Zoom to hold its work session.

At the board’s September 16, 2020, special meeting to review its 2020/2021 meeting schedule in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the board decided to conduct the work session through an Internet-based platform. The board also determined it would postpone the December 2020 Prince William Sound Finfish and Shellfish and the Southeast and Yakutat Finfish and Shellfish meetings to a date to be determined in the spring of 2021.

In addition to normal work session agenda items listed below, the board will also consider new meeting dates for the Prince William Sound and Southeast meetings. The board will also consider if there are issues and proposals that are urgent in nature and must be acted on sooner than the anticipated dates of the Prince William Sound and Southeast meetings.

No regulatory action is taken at this meeting. Agenda topics may include: electing officers, accepting agenda change requests (ACRs), reviewing petitions, meeting organization, creating board generated proposals, establishing committees for the 2020/2021 meeting cycle, setting locations and dates for the 2022/2023 meeting cycle, informational reports, executive sessions and administrative issues that come before the board.

The board’s 2020 ACRs are available for review on the board’s website. ACRs are submitted by the public, advisory committees, and agencies seeking regulatory change for regions and species not up for review in the current meeting cycle. The board accepts ACRs as proposals for the 2020/2021 meeting cycle based on guidelines in 5 AAC 39.999 which includes the ACR is: For a fishery conservation purpose or reason; to correct an error in a regulation; and to correct an effect on a fishery that was unforeseen when a regulation was adopted.

The agenda and other meeting documents, including ACRs, are available prior to the meeting on the board’s meeting webpage at: http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=fisheriesboard.meetinginfo&date=10-15-2020&meeting=tele.

The work session is open to the public, but no oral public testimony will be taken. Written comments, due by September 30 may be mailed to Boards Support Section, P.O. Box 115526, Juneau, AK 99811-5526, emailed to dfg.bof.comments@alaska.gov, submitted on the board’s webpage at www.boardoffisheries.adfg.alaska.gov, or faxed to (907) 465-6094. After September 30, written public comments are limited to 10 single-sided or 5 double-sided pages in length from any one individual or group. These comments are accepted as record copies and inserted in board member workbooks at the beginning of the board meeting.

During the meeting, written public comments up to an equivalent of 10 pages from any one individual or group may be submitted through email at dfg.bof.comments@alaska.gov. Once deliberations begin, the board will ONLY accept written public comments not more than an equivalent of five single-sided pages. The board may relax this requirement if specific information is requested by the board requiring more pages allowed under this standard. Individuals not in attendance can submit written comments by fax to (907) 465-6094.

A live audio stream is intended to be available on the board’s website at www.boardoffisheries.adfg.alaska.gov where the interested public may also view the meeting in a live format..