This meeting was the Council’s annual review of marine fishery and fishery-related legislation pending before the New York State Legislature. In addition to recording in this bulletin the discussion and any position adopted by the Council on these several pieces of legislation, the Council Chairman communicates directly with the various bill sponsors and the collective membership of the Senate and Assembly Committees on Environmental Conservation, which have jurisdiction over virtually all of the bills discussed. The views noted in the Discussion section for each bill are the salient views expressed, often by individuals; they should not be construed as the consensus feelings of the Council, unless this is explicitly stated.

It was suggested at the meeting that, henceforth, the number and make-up of the Council at each of its meetings be recorded in that meeting’s minutes and bulletin. This bulletin begins that practice. Fourteen of the fifteen members of the Marine Resources Advisory Council attended the 15 April 1999 meeting: seven representatives of the recreational fishing industry, six representatives of the commercial fishing industry, and the chairman. Several recreational fishery representatives were not able to remain for the entire meeting. This accounts for the variable numbers of votes recorded as the Council took positions on these legislative proposals. The meeting began with a quorum of members and, despite the departures, it ended with that quorum intact.

The bills and legislative proposals are not presented in the order in which they were discussed at the meeting, but rather in ascending numerical order by bill number.