Congratulations to Donna Kalez from Dana Wharf Sportfishing and CCA California State Board of Directors! Donna is the newest member on NOAA’s Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee, MAFAC. MAFAC is a unique Federal Advisory Committee that values the members’ level of commitment and the recommendations, papers, and reports that they have produced on topics such as increasing domestic aquaculture, adaptive fisheries management, resilient fishing communities, recreational fisheries policy, and improving recovery of protected species.
The Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee was established in 1971 under a federal charter by the Secretary of Commerce to provide advice on living marine resource matters under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Primarily, these matters fall under NOAA Fisheries.
Members represent a diverse set of perspectives from commercial, recreational, environmental, academic, state, tribal, and consumer fisheries interest groups. Members draw on their expertise and other appropriate sources to assist in:
- Setting national living marine resource policies.
- Developing and implementing Departmental initiatives and programs.
- Evaluating and recommending needed changes during reauthorization processes for the Magnuson-Steven, Endangered Species, and Marine Mammal Protection Acts.
- Assessing other areas of interest to the Secretary and relevant to the mission and goals of NOAA Fisheries.
Committee advice is derived from public deliberations and is typically conveyed in meeting summaries, written findings and recommendations, and formal reports transmitted to NOAA and the Department.
The committee functions solely as an advisory body, complying fully with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, and is available to the Secretary of Commerce and NOAA on an ongoing basis as an expert source for consultation during the development of marine resource policy. The committee generally meets in person twice a year. All meetings are open to the public. The Committee is managed by NOAA Fisheries’ Office of Policy.
