The forum will be the last among the series of meetings conducted by the council in the CNMI.
“We would like to hear from more fishermen,” the council’s communications officer Sylvia Spalding said in an interview.
She said the council’s main focus is to hear the concerns of fishermen and residents regarding the marine environment and fisheries on off-shore waters and see what the council can do to help them.
Last week, the council held a symposium for students and a series of community meetings on Tinian and Rota.
Spalding said the council would like to hear recommendations from the community, “most especially the fishermen on how they manage [their fisheries] and what grant opportunities they want and can be made available for them.”
Other issues that will be discussed in the meeting on Monday include fishery management measures for the Marianas Trench marine national monument, federal bottom fishing permit requirements and the Marianas archipelago lunar calendar and fishing almanac.
This is the first time the fishery council visited the islands and held community meetings here.
