Councilor McBride asked whether some provision could be made to expand the ability of someone who has spent a career in our fisheries but does not currently have a striped bass permit to get one so that he could get a couple of striped bass tags? This would not necessarily require a formal legislative or regulatory process. This can be done at the federal level by executive fiat or proclamation. Chairman Wise responded that the recommendations of the subcommittee report that had already been accepted and approved by the Council contained provisions for new permits to be issued under certain circumstances. New striped bass and fluke permits would be available once the numbers of said permits dropped below a cap and the annual commercial quota for each species reached a certain level. Basically, those holding foodfish licenses but not having one or both of these permits would qualify based on the age of their foodfish permit. The Council discussed whether those holding clamming licenses but not foodfish permits are thereby prevented from applying for a new striped bass/fluke special harvesting permit if new such permits are being issued and whether thus excluding clammers was appropriate. After an extended discussion, Chairman Wise asked the Subcommittee on Special Striped Bass & Fluke Commercial Harvest Permits to reconvene to discuss this issue, come up with a recommendation, and present it to the Council at its January 2003 meeting.