There is also a Longline panel. Highly Migratory Tuna will have an advisory panel but this is not specified by law. NMFS has issued a Federal Register notice requesting comment on panels and panel selections. Fishery Management Plans currently exist for Swordfish, Atlantic Billfish and Sharks. The Longline advisory panel has just been created, nominations to this and the Billfish panel are open at this time.
Every advisory panel requires several recreational representatives.
Let's work smart to get good representation on each panel. There is no reason that commercial interests should dominate them. Yellowfin tuna in the Northeast is caught mostly by recreational fishermen, not commercials. Heavy fishing by purse seine interests impact our season in a big way and without strong recreational representation, we stand the chance of losing influence to a panel stacked with commercial fishermen or lobbyists. It is important to note that the current commercial regulations do not require ANY permit to land yellowfin, bigeye or longfin tuna in the United States.