Comment on "Any Comments on the Sociology Section, Tony?"

In response to J. Anthony Paredes's "Any Comments on the Sociology Section, Tony?: Committee Work as Applied Anthropology in Fishery Management" (see SA 33:5/85Q1428), the experiences & functions of anthropologists within different regional councils devoted to policy development issues are discussed. Personal experiences as a member of the Scientific & Statistical Committee of the Gulf Coast Fishery Management Council are drawn on. Difficulties with getting social & cultural data incorporated into the decision-making process & an emphasis on group work are common to anthropologists in such settings. Efforts to keep political issues out of policy deliberations & to focus only on scientific questions are described, along with attempts to break the pairings between politics/allocation & science/conservation. The responsibilities of anthropologists, who, as social scientists, have a firsthand knowledge of minorities & other groups usually unrepresented in the political & policy-making processes, are discussed. 3 References. K. Hyatt