The New England Fishery Management Council has elected Eric Reid as chair and Rick Bellavance as vice chair, returning the two Rhode Islanders as officers for the third year in a row during the Sept. 25-28 meeting week in Plymouth, Mass.
New member Jackie Odell of Massachusetts was appointed to her first three-year term on the council as an at-large member. Three current council members were reappointed to new three-year terms: John Pappalardo of Massachusetts, Daniel Salerno of New Hampshire and Alan Tracy of Maine.
Re-elected to the chair, Eric Reid is a fisheries consultant based in North Kingstown, R.I., with a 54-year career in commercial and recreational fisheries. He also serves as the New England council’s liaison to the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, as U.S. commissioner to the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) and representing Rhode Island at the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.
Vic chair Rick Bellavance is the owner/operator of Priority Charters, LLC, a charter fishing business located in Point Judith, R.I. He has worked in the recreational and commercial fishing industries for over 30 years and currently serves as the president of the Rhode Island Party and Charter Boat Association. He also represents the New England council on the NOAA Fisheries Highly Migratory Species Advisory Panel and the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) U.S. advisory committee.
New council member Jackie Odell is executive director of the Northeast Seafood Coalition, a position she has held since 2003, representing small commercial fishing businesses in the federal groundfish fishery. Before her appointment to the council, Odell previously served on its Groundfish Advisory Panel (GAP) for 20 years and was the GAP’s vice chair for the last 10 years.
She has been a member of the NOAA Fisheries Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Team since 2010 and is a member of the board of directors for the Massachusetts Fishermen’s Partnership, the Gloucester Fishing Community Preservation Fund, and the Northeast Sector Service Network.
