The Council made many Plan Team appointments at this meeting. Teresa A’mar, currently at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center as an Operations Research Analyst and Nathaniel Nichols of ADFG in Kodiak as an Area Management Biologist have been appointed to the Groundfish Plan Team. Mike Byerly and John Olson have been appointed to the Scallop Plan Team. Byerly is a Groundfish Research Biologist for ADFG in Homer, and Olson is Marine Habitat Resource Specialist for NMFS in Anchorage. Krista Milani has been appointed to the BSAI Crab Plan Team and is currently a Resource Management Specialist for NMFS in Juneau. Also to the Crab Plan Team, an 11-month acting appointment was made for Katie Palof (filling in for Laura Slater) of ADFG in Juneau who is the Southeast Region Shellfish Biometrician. Welcome all to the Plan Teams!
Nicole Kimball, Abigail Turn, and Dennis Jaszka and Brett Iwataki (occupying a shared position) have been appointed to the Observer Advisory Committee. The Council is soliciting for a western GOA trawl representative.
John Abel was selected as the 3A representative for the Charter Halibut Management Committee. The Council continues soliciting for a 2C representative from one of the smaller communities to complement representation from Juneau and Sitka.
Council member Theresa Peterson will Co-Chair the Ecosystem Committee along with Bill Tweit.