18A:65-87 - Coordinating Board; membership; duties
18A:65-87 Coordinating Board; membership; duties.
2. a. The Fisheries Information and Development Center Coordinating Board, hereinafter referred to as the board or the coordinating board , shall consist of seven members, as follows: the Chairman of the Marine Fisheries Council; three representatives of the commercial fishery industry, representing the range of commercial fisheries in the State, including shellfish and finfish fisheries and fisheries in State and federal waters; and three representatives of the recreational fishery industry, representing the range of recreational fisheries in the State, including the hook and line and the party and charter boat fishery industry. The Governor, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the General Assembly each shall appoint one representative of the commercial fishery industry and one representative of the recreational fishery industry. Other public and private institutions of higher education and their faculties may be considered for participation in the work of the center in the future, as determined by the coordinating board.
b.The coordinating board shall organize as soon as practicable following the enactment of this act. The Chairman of the Marine Fisheries Council shall serve ex officio. Each appointed member of the board shall serve a term of four years. Board members shall be reappointed or replaced in the same manner as the original appointment or selection of the board member being reappointed or replaced. All policies and procedures concerning the hiring of board employees and reimbursement of board member expenses shall be the same as and consistent with the policies and procedures of Rutgers, The State University.
c.The coordinating board shall meet at least quarterly and shall meet as soon as practicable following the appointment of members to choose a chairperson, by a majority vote of the board members. The chairperson shall serve a term of two years and may be re-elected.
The coordinating board shall coordinate communication and information exchange between the center and the private and public sectors of the State.
The coordinating board shall have the authority to approve all expenditures and staffing of the center, except:
(1)expenditures and staffing decisions that may be delegated to the director by the board; and
(2)any administrative, salary or staffing expenditures that would cause the approved administrative, salary and staffing expenditures for the year to exceed 5% of the initial appropriation to the center for the establishment of the center and organization of the board or, after the first year of the board's operation, 5% of the total funding available to the center annually.
The administrative, salary and staffing costs of the center shall not exceed 5% of the total funding available to the center annually. The coordinating board shall review, assess, approve or deny annual statements of work for the research and development program, identify key research and development initiatives, and approve the final design of research programs and the members of research teams, and shall ensure that 95% of the total funding available to the center annually and from the initial appropriation to the center made by this act is used to accomplish the goals of the scientific research programs conducted pursuant to subsection c. of section 1 of this act.
The coordinating board shall convene a peer review committee appropriate to each science initiative which shall include representatives of the management and industry groups expected to be affected by the initiative. The coordinating board shall conduct a yearly assessment of research needs of the fishery, set priorities of work to be accomplished, review and assess the progress of the research and development programs and recommend the continuation or termination of specific projects to the director of the center.
L.1999,c.419,s.2.