The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced on 17 October that it has made three out-of-cycle appointments to seats on Regional Fishery Management Councils.
Two of the appointments are new members of management councils, while one was reappointed.
In the South Atlantic Council – which includes members from Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina – Joseph D. Whitaker, of South Carolina, was appointed to a vacant at-large seat.
In the Western Pacific Council – which includes members from American Samoa, Guam, Hawaii, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Frederick McGrew Rice, of Hawaii, was appointed to an at-large seat.
Both Rice and Whitaker will serve through 10 August, 2020.
In the Pacific Council – which includes members from California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington – a vacant tribal seat was filled by Joseph Y. Oatman, who was being reappointed to his role. Oatman will occupy that seat until 10 August, 2021.
The three new members will sit on the regional fishery management councils that partner with NOAA to maintain ocean fish stocks.
