Regional Panels

The first regional panel was established by the National Aquatic Nuisance Protection and Control Act of 1990 (NANPCA), simultaneous with the establishment of the ANS Task Force. That first panel was the Great Lakes Regional Panel, followed by the establishment of the Western Regional Panel, included in the passage of the National Invasive Species Act of 1996, which reauthorized the NANPCA. The NISA included language that encourages the ANS Task Force to establish additional regional panels. As a result, the Gulf of Mexico Regional Panel was established in 1999 and the Northeast Regional Panel in 2001.

During 2002 the Mississippi River Basin Regional Panel was formed, and there is currently interest in forming a Pacific Islands Regional Panel and a Mid-Atlantic Regional Panel.

Note in the figure above that there are overlaps in regional panel coverage, indicated in the striped colors. For the Gulf of Mexico region, the State of Texas is a member of both the Western and Gulf of Mexico Regional Panels. In addition to this, the formation of the Mississippi River Basin Regional Panel has resulted in additional overlaps in coverage with the Gulf of Mexico Regional Panel, including the States of Mississippi and Louisiana. As additional regional panels are established, states having multiple memberships are likely to continue to expand. This overlap in coverage presents a challenge to the regional panels and the states that hold multiple memberships, requiring that panels coordinate their efforts in order to address aquatic invasive species in their respective regions in an effective and efficient manner.

A cooperative program of state, federal agencies and the private sector administered by the
Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission.*

* Current site content modified from original content developed by the University of Southern Mississippi/College of Marine Sciences/Gulf Coast Research Laboratory through a grant administered by the Gulf of Mexico Program.