For those interested...
The meeting was poorly attended. There were maybe 6 or 7 folks in the audiance including myself and most were charter captains I believe (which I am not).
Long story short is that Don Swanson (of CCA) was the only one to vote against moving forward with the prohibiting of new charter captains in the groundfish fishery. Bud Brown abstained, and the rest voted in favor.
This is all still in its infancy and there were many many unanswered questions at today's meeting on the details.
For those interested in letting the Council know how they feel,
A report will be given by the RAP Chair, Barry Gibson, to the full council on February 8th (Portsmouth, NH) along with the RAP recommendations.
Details at...
http://www.nefmc.org/calendar/agendas/feb06_agenda.pdf
At that time the Council will certainly take input from the audiance and then decide yea or nay on whether or not to develop a limited entry plan for the New England party/charter fleet.
Hope that gives folks enough notice and I hope to see you there.
Best,
Mike F.