Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council Meets March 10 in Marathon

The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council will convene at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, March 10, at Marathon City Council Chambers, 9805 Overseas Hwy, Marathon, FL 33050, for a full-day meeting scheduled to run until 3 p.m. NOAA and ONMS leadership team members are slated to join the session, and the community announcement lists Elizabeth Trueblood as the contact for the meeting.

Agenda items confirmed in the Feb. 27 community announcement include updates from the council’s two working groups and a presentation from staff of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Fish and Wildlife Research Institute on sponge restoration in Florida Bay and takeaways from the Florida Keys Marine Science Conference and Workshop. A public comment opportunity is scheduled for approximately 2:15 p.m. The announcement also states that an agenda and supporting materials will be posted online, although the provided excerpt did not include the URL for those documents.

Residents who cannot attend in person may listen in real time via GoToWebinar by registering in advance, or by phone at +1 (415) 655-0052 using PIN 457-579-141 for dial-in access. The Feb. 27 notice specifies that the meeting is open to the public and that meeting agendas are subject to change; questions prior to the meeting were directed to Liz Trueblood at elizabeth.trueblood@noaa.gov.

The Sanctuary Advisory Council has a long institutional history: the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and Protection Act authorized the council in 1990, and its first meeting was held in February 1992. The council’s mission statement, adopted unanimously on December 6, 2005, frames the body as an interactive liaison between residents and visitors of the Florida Keys and sanctuary staff, promoting restoration and maintenance of biodiversity and ecological resilience while striving for a vibrant, ecologically sustainable ecosystem and economy through the best available science and conservation-based management. Council membership represents sectors including boating; conservation and environment; diving; education and outreach; South Florida ecosystem restoration; commercial and recreational fishing; elected county government; submerged cultural resources; research and monitoring; tourism; and the community at large.

Past agendas give a sense of issues the council typically addresses, from sanctuary boundary proposals and sanctuary-wide regulations to water quality priorities and derelict-vessel management. For example, a December 2022 draft agenda included discussion items such as Area to Be Avoided, the Tortugas Region, Pulley Ridge, discharge rules, fish feeding, and conservation-area expansions; a September 2020 Water Quality Protection Program steering meeting with the SAC emphasized coordination on water quality priorities.

The March 10 meeting is one of four regular SAC meetings held annually. Members of the public and media seeking copies of the March 10 agenda, the names of FWC/FWRI presenters, or clarification on in-person public comment procedures were advised to contact Elizabeth Trueblood at elizabeth.trueblood@noaa.gov.