The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) will meet Monday, August 23 through Thursday, August 26 at the Hilton Palacio del Rio Hotel located at 200 S. Alamo St. in San Antonio, Texas. Virtual participation will also be available by webinar. The meeting will begin with the induction of new and reappointed Council members.
The public will have two opportunities to interact with the Council during the meeting. An informal Question and Answer session will be held immediately following Reef Fish Committee on Tuesday, August 24, 2021. Leaders from the Gulf Council, NOAA Fisheries, and Southeast Fisheries Science Center will answer questions from the public about the science and management of fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico. Public testimony will be held from 2:45 – 5:30 PM central time on Wednesday, August 25, 2021. In-person and virtual participants will have equal opportunity to participate.
In-person attendees: In effort to promote a safe meeting experience, attendees will be required to wear masks and socially distance in meeting rooms. We ask meeting attendees to wear a mask indoors while moving about the hotel property. In the meeting spaces, Council members, staff, and the public may remove masks when seated or when providing public testimony.
In-person attendees wishing to give public testimony must sign-up using the kiosk outside the meeting room on Wednesday, August 25. Staff will be available to assist with the registration process.
Virtual attendees: Equal opportunity to participate during the Council meeting will be provided via webinar. To provide public testimony, you must register online and join the webinar. A registration link to provide testimony will be available on the Council meeting materials webpage beginning at 8:30 AM, CDT on Wednesday, August 25th. Registration to provide virtual testimony will close one hour before public testimony begins (1:45 PM CDT). Virtual participants must register for the webinar under the same name they use to register to provide testimony. Instructions on how to use the webinar and troubleshoot if you experience difficulty can be found here.
The meeting will convene on the following days and times (CDT):
Monday, August 23, 2021, 8:15 AM – 5:30 PM
Administrative/Budget Committee
Shrimp Committee
Mackerel Committee
Sustainable Fisheries Committee
Closed Session 4:15 – 5:30 PM
Tuesday, August 24, 2021, 8:30 AM – 5:30 PM
Reef Fish Committee
*Public Q&A will be held immediately following the meeting
Wednesday, August 25, 2021, 8:30 AM – 5:30 PM
Data Collection Committee
Habitat Protection and Restoration Committee
Law Enforcement Committee
Full Council Session
· Presentation of the 2020 Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award
· Presentation on Movement Patterns and Discard Mortality of Cobia
· Presentation on Assessing the Influence of Sargassum Habitat on Greater
Amberjack Recruitment
· Public testimony will be held from 2:45 – 5:30 PM
Thursday, August 26, 2021, 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM
Full Council Session
· Committee Reports
· Supporting Agencies Updates
· Election of Chair and Vice-chair
The Committee and Council Agendas, and meeting materials will be posted as they become available on the Council Meetings webpage.