For Immediate Release
May 22, 2020
The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council would like to gain a better understanding of how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted fishing and fishing communities. At its June 2020 meeting, the Council plans to discuss impacts of COVID-19 and may consider management changes to ease those impacts.
We aim to gather input from fishermen and those involved in fishing-related businesses whose fishing effort or businesses has been directly affected by COVID-19. The Council will continue to follow guidelines set by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act while considering temporary or long-term changes to regulations that may offset economic impacts from the pandemic.
Submit your comments online, here: https://tinyurl.com/COVID19Fish
Please submit your response by 5:00 PM, EST on June 10, 2020 so it can be summarized and presented to the Council at its June meeting. The agenda and meeting materials for the June Council meeting can be found here: https://gulfcouncil.org/meetings/council/.
Thank you for taking the time to share your experience and ideas with us.