Commerce secretary Gina Raimondo has appointed seven new members to NOAA’s Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee, including Natasha Hayden of Kodiak, vice president of lands and natural resources for the Afognak Native Corp.
Also among the new appointees is Brett Veerhusen of Seattle, principal of Ocean Strategies.
MAFAC members draw on their expertise to evaluate and make recommendations on national living marine resources policies. The members represent a wide spectrum of fishing, aquaculture, protected resources, environmental, academic, tribal, state, consumer and other related national interests from across the United States. They ensure the nation’s marine resource policies and programs meet the needs of these stakeholders.
MAFAC recently identified priority initiatives for incoming NOAA and Commerce leaders to improve seafood businesses and trade, support recreational opportunities, strengthen science and fishery data, enable adaptive management, and recover protected species.
In recent years MAFAC has provided advice on a number of issues, including reestablishing a National Seafood Council under the Fish and Seafood Promotion Act, to service the nation’s seafood industry by conducting marketing, education, research and promotion of domestic seafood.
