The chair of the Marine Resources Advisory Council and the chair of the Marine Recreational Fishing Advisory Council are ex officio members of the council.__The composition of the council must reflect a geographic distribution along the coast of the State.__The council may invite to carry out the duties of the council other participants on an ad hoc basis, including representatives of private or governmental organizations or individuals with expertise or interest in marine, education, labor or health matters.

2.__Term.__The term of an appointed member is 3 years, except a vacancy of a member before the expiration of the member's term must be filled in the same manner as the original member for the unexpired portion of the member's term.__An appointed member may not serve more than 2 consecutive terms.

3. Officers. The officers of the council are the chair, vice-chair and secretary.__The term of the officers is one year.__The Governor shall appoint the first chair of the council.__Except for the appointment of the original chair, the council shall elect a member of the council for each officer position at the first regular meeting of each year.__ The officers have the following duties:

A.__The chair shall call and preside at council meetings;

B.__The vice-chair shall call and preside at council meetings when the chair is absent; and

C.__The secretary shall record all meetings of the council and preserve these records.

4. Meetings.__The council shall hold regular quarterly meetings and may hold special meetings with the commissioner or the commissioner's designee.__A member of the council may participate and is deemed present at a meeting of the council or of a subcommittee of the council by telephone, electronically or by any other means by which all members participating in the meeting are able to communicate with each other.__The council shall ensure adequate facilities for full attendance at council meetings by the public.

5. Quorum.__A majority of the current members of the council present constitutes a quorum.

6. Council actions.__The council may act in the following ways: