COUNCIL NEWS

Council Charter Revised

February 26, 2009--A revised sanctuary advisory council charter has been approved and signed. This revised charter includes the following changes:

Addition of Two Non-Voting Seats

Under the previous council charter, the council consisted of the following 19 members (including alternates): Recreational Diving, Diving Operators, Oil and Gas Industry, Recreational Fishing, Commercial Fishing, Research, Education, Conservation, Minerals Management Service, United States Coast Guard and NOAA Fisheries.

The revised charter adds two additional non-voting, governmental seats—Environmental Protection Agency and NOAA Office of Law Enforcement.

Elimination of Alternate Seats

The revised charter also eliminates alternate seats, thereby creating 16 non-governmental primary members (two members per constituency). Converting all of the alternate seats to primary seats is a move to more fully engage all of the council members equally, allowing even better representation of each constituent group.

Under this revised charter, the council now consists of 21 total council members.

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