In June 2018, the Council established an ad-hoc Community Engagement Committee and is soliciting nominations for the new committee. The Council took action after reviewing a staff discussion paper requested in April 2018, which presented considerations for how the Council could foster engagement with rural and Alaska Native communities. The paper presented a series of questions to the Council regarding potential scope, membership, and role of a Community Engagement Committee.
The Council established the Committee, and adopted the following charter:
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council’s Community Engagement Committee is established to identify and recommend strategies for the Council and Council staff to enact processes that provide effective community engagement with rural and Alaska Native Communities. Effective community engagement may involve two-way communication between the Council and communities at additional stages of the Council process or a project and allow for community concerns, information, perspectives, and priorities to be shared clearly with the Council, whether part of an active Council action or not.
The Council is seeking nominations from rural and tribal representatives and people with necessary expertise to accomplish the committee’s goals of assisting the Council in developing successful engagement and outreach tools and processes to facilitate improved communication and understanding between rural communities and tribes and the Council. The committee will not develop specific policy recommendations. Staff contact is Steve MacLean.
