NEWS

New MAFAC Member from Hawaii Appointed

(April 22, 2013) Acting Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank has appointed John Corbin of Kaneohe, Hawaii as a new member to NOAA’s Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee. The Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee, or MAFAC, advises the Secretary of Commerce on all living marine resource matters that are the responsibility of the Department of Commerce.  Members are appointed for 3-year terms.

The appointment of John Corbin was effective April 17, 2013.Mr. Corbin has a 30 year long career working in aquaculture, fisheries, and the seafood industry.  For 26 years, Mr. Corbin served as the Manager of the State of Hawaii’s Aquaculture Development Program and assisted hundreds of private firms, large and small, with technical information, site and species selection, permitting, animal health management, and marketing.  He currently provides consulting services and assists public and private organizations with aquaculture planning, policy, and development.  Mr. Corbin has special expertise is in tropical island and ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) aquaculture.  He is a member of the American Fisheries Society, World Aquaculture Society, and US Aquaculture Association (Charter member), among other professional organizations and reviews scientific papers for journals and grant proposals for many state and national agencies. Mr. Corbin fills the seat vacated by John ‘Randy’ Cates, whose second term on the Committee ended in late February 2013. 

MAFAC members draw on their expertise to evaluate and recommend priorities and needed changes in national programs and policies, including the periodic reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act. The members represent a wide spectrum of fishing, environmental, academic, state, tribal, consumer, and other related national interests, and ensure the nation’s living marine resource policies and programs meet the needs of all stakeholders.

NOAA Announces 9 New Appointments to the Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee’s Recreational Fisheries Working Group

On February 27, the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries appointed nine new members to its Recreational Fisheries Working Group. Representing marine recreational fishing interest across the nation, including the U.S. territories, these appointees provide advice to the agency’s Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee, also known as MAFAC. Over the next year, the working group will help guide updates to the NOAA Regional Recreational Fisheries Action Agendas, assist in planning for a second National Saltwater Recreational Fisheries Summit, and provide advice and guidance to the agency on other recreational fisheries issues and activities identified by MAFAC.    

The appointees include:

MAFAC was established in 1971 to advise the Secretary of Commerce on living marine resource matters.  Through this advice and at the request of the Secretary, the Committee helps ensure the Nation’s living marine resource policies meet the needs of commercial and recreational fishermen, and of environmental, tribal, academic, consumer, and other national interests.  In 2010, MAFAC established a Recreational Fisheries Working Group to support its work on issues of importance to the recreational fisheries community. 

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The Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee (MAFAC) advises the Secretary of Commerce on all living marine resource matters that are the responsibility of the Department of Commerce. MAFAC members will draw on their expertise and other appropriate sources, such as the National Marine Fisheries Service, to evaluate and recommend priorities and needed changes in national programs which includes the ongoing reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens, the Endangered Species and the Marine Mammal Protection Acts. The members represent a wide spectrum of fisheries interests, environmental, academic, state, tribal, consumer and other related national interests.

The committee functions solely as an advisory body (complying fully with the Federal Advisory Committee Act) who reports to the Secretary. 

For more information contact:
Executive Director, MAFAC