[Federal Register: December 22, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 245)]
[Notices]               
[Page 76031-76032]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr22de05-39]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 120505C]

 
Large Coastal Shark 2005/2006 Stock Assessment Workshop

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice; public workshop.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces the time and location for the large coastal 
shark (LCS) stock assessment workshop, the second of three workshops 
for the LCS stock assessment to be conducted in 2005/2006.

DATES: The Assessment workshop will start at 1 p.m. on Monday, February 
6, 2006, and will conclude at 1 p.m. on Friday, February 10, 2006.

ADDRESSES: The Assessment workshop will be held at the Doubletree Hotel 
Coconut Grove, 2649 South Bayshore Drive, Miami, FL 33133.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julie Neer at (850) 234-6541; or Karyl

[[Page 76032]]

Brewster-Geisz at (301) 713-2347, fax (301) 713-1917.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Atlantic shark fisheries are managed 
under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act. The Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Highly 
Migratory Species (HMS FMP) is implemented by regulations at 50 CFR 
part 635.
    Stock assessments are periodically conducted to determine stock 
status relative to current management criteria. Collection of the best 
available scientific data and conducting stock assessments are critical 
to determine appropriate management measures for rebuilding stocks. 
Based on the last LCS stock assessment in 2002, NMFS determined that 
the LCS complex is overfished and overfishing is occurring. LCS are 
currently under a 26-year rebuilding plan. Potential changes to 
existing management measures will be based, in large part, on the 
results of this 2005/2006 stock assessment.
    This assessment will be conducted in a manner similar to the 
Southeast Data, Assessment, and Review (SEDAR) process. SEDAR is a 
cooperative process initiated in 2002 to improve the quality and 
reliability of fishery stock assessments in the South Atlantic, Gulf of 
Mexico, and U.S. Caribbean. SEDAR emphasizes constituent and 
stakeholder participation in assessment development, transparency in 
the assessment process, and a rigorous and independent scientific 
review of completed stock assessments. SEDAR is organized around three 
workshops. The first is a Data workshop where datasets are documented, 
analyzed, reviewed, and complied for conducting assessment analyses. 
This workshop was held from October 31 through November 4, 2005, in 
Panama City, Florida. The second is an Assessment workshop where 
quantitative population analyses are developed and refined and 
population parameters are estimated. The third and final is a Review 
workshop where a panel of independent experts reviews the data and 
assessment and recommends the most appropriate values of critical 
population and management quantities. All workshops are open to the 
public. More information on the SEDAR process can be found at http://www.sefsc.noaa.gov/sedar/
.

    NMFS announces the Assessment workshop, the second of three 
workshops for the LCS 2005/2006 stock assessment, which will be held 
from February 6 - February 10, 2006, at the Doubletree Hotel Coconut 
Grove, Miami, FL (see DATES and ADDRESSES). Prospective participants 
and observers will be contacted with the Assessment workshop details. 
This workshop is open to the public. Persons interested in 
participating or observing the Assessment workshop should contact Julie 
Neer (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT). The final workshop, the 
Review workshop, will be announced at a later date in the Federal 
Register.

Special Accommodations

    These meetings are physically accessible to people with 
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other 
auxiliary aids should be directed to Julie Neer at (850) 234-6541 by 
January 30, 2006.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq.

    Dated: December 16, 2005.
Emily Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E5-7697 Filed 12-21-05; 8:45 am]

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