False Killer Whale Take Reduction Team (2009-Present)

In Fall 2009, CONCUR was asked to help the NOAA/NMFS Pacific Islands Regional Office (PIRO) prepare for and convene the pre-meeting of the False Killer Whale Take Reduction Team meeting held November 2009 in Honolulu, Hawaii. CONCUR’s work on this effort focused on several key tasks: (1) providing strategic planning advice to PIRO; (2) working closely with PIRO and Science Center staff to conceptualize and refine an agenda to guide the pre-meeting; (3) convening a series of planning calls to identify meeting planning needs, including meeting materials, presentations and participants; (4) reviewing and revising all draft handouts and presentations; (5) facilitating the two-day pre-TRT meeting; and (6) preparing a succinct Key Outcomes meeting summarizing key points and next steps. Importantly, CONCUR’s work with NMFS on this effort was heavily informed by a series of confidential stakeholder interviews conducted prior to the pre-TRT meeting. These interviews, summarized in a written report provided to NMFS, included discussions with more than twenty fisheries interests, conservation advocates, state/federal fisheries resource managers, gear researchers, biologists and others.

In early 2010, CONCUR was selected by NMFS to facilitate the False Killer Whale Take Reduction Team, which is a formal regulatory negotiation process aimed at reducing false killer whale takes under an aggressive timeline. Parties to the dialogue include 19 negotiators representing a range of commercial fishing, conservation, fishery managers, gear specialists and scientific researchers. Initial meetings, held in Honolulu, brought together Team members, NMFS staff and others to initiate discussions focused on identifying potential strategies for reducing false killer whale takes below a state known as Potential Biological Removal (PBR). CONCUR’s role in the effort includes strategic planning with NMFS, preparation of draft and final meeting materials, review of and comment on draft presentations, outreach to Team members both before and after each meeting, structuring and guiding negotiations in real time, and preparation of Key Outcomes Memoranda (PDF) summarizing the meeting’s primary results and future steps.