Engagement Strategy. Given the great economic and societal importance of the Pacific halibut fishery for Alaska and the West Coast of the US, the IPHC has a long history of working together with communities and stakeholders. On an annual basis, contacts between communities and stakeholders and the IPHC take place formally in the framework of advisory bodies to the IPHC that include the Conference Board, the Processors Advisory Group, the Management Strategy Advisory Board and the Research Advisory Board. In addition to these meetings where communities and stakeholders discuss with IPHC scientists key aspects of the Pacific halibut fishery and biology, the IPHC interacts locally with communities and stakeholders during the fishing season in ports throughout Alaska that host IPHC field staff. For the purpose of the proposed project, the research plans and results related to our proposed studies on Pacific halibut stock structure and distribution, as assessed by assigning individuals to populations of origin, will be formally presented to IPHC's advisory bodies and feed- back and comment will be requested. Reports on the presentation and discussion of the proposed research to the community and stakeholders will be produced and made publicly available in the IPHC website (xxxxx://xxx.xxxx.xxx). In addition, results of the proposed project with be presented to the general public in simple and easy to understand posters in IPHC-attended events such as ComFish Alaska, Pacific Marine Expo and Fisherman’s Fall Festival in Seattle, WA, and through local newspaper and radio medias (particularly in Pribilof and western Aleutian Islands). It is noteworthy that the present proposal has received formal support from stakeholder groups in St. Xxxx, AK in the Pribilof Island area (Central Bering Sea Fishermen's Association), in Adak, AK in the Western Aleutian Island area (Adak Community Development Corporation and the City of Adak) and in the northwest California area (Humboldt Area Saltwater Anglers) that are invested in the Pacific halibut resource and that have direct and explicit interest in the results of the proposed study (see attached letters of support). Dissemination and outreach activities will be particularly directed to those areas in the form of news releases and presentations to stakeholder groups, including a presentation to the City council of Adak on the implications of the proposed research for Pacific halibut management in that area and a presentation in St. Xxxx, AK on the...
Engagement Strategy. B&N will prepare an Engagement Strategy document detailing planned public and stakeholder engagement activities including scheduling details and identifying responsible parties. This task assumes that B&N will develop the content for the public meeting advertisements and that BMCMPO will be responsible for distributing the news releases/legal notices to the local media and on the BMCMPO website. This task also assumes that the consultant team will document advertisement, content, and feedback from each outreach activity.
