[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 236 (Thursday, December 10, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65523-65524]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-29386]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XT24
Fisheries of the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico; Southeastern
Data, Assessment, and Review (SEDAR)
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of SEDAR Methods and Procedures Workshop 4: Evaluating
Assessment Uncertainty.
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SUMMARY: SEDAR procedural workshops provide an opportunity for focused
discussion and deliberation on topics that arise in multiple
assessments and are structured to develop best practices for addressing
common issues across assessments. The SEDAR Steering Committee agreed
that the three completed procedural workshops were effective and that
similar workshops should be held to address other issues that affect
multiple assessments. Continuing to address such global issues is
recognized as an important to continuing improvements in efficiency and
quality.
The 4th procedural workshop will consider methods of addressing
uncertainty in SEDAR assessments, including topics such as developing
appropriate confidence intervals in both parameter estimates and
projection outputs, methods of characterizing and expressing assessment
uncertainty beyond that reflected in confidence intervals, use of
sensitivity analyses and recommendations on standard sensitivities, and
relating uncertainty to overall risk evaluation and especially the risk
of overfishing occurring. Participants will prepare a SEDAR procedures
document addressing their recommendations that will be used to guide
future SEDAR assessments. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
DATES: The SEDAR Uncertainty Procedural Workshop will take place
February 22-26, 2010; SEDAR Uncertainty Procedural Workshop
[[Page 65524]]
Schedule: February 22, 2008: 1 p.m. - 8 p.m.; February 23-25, 2010: 8
a.m.-8 p.m.; February 26, 2010: 8 a.m. - 1 p.m.
ADDRESSES: The SEDAR Uncertainty Procedural Workshop will be held at
the Charlotte Marriott SouthPark, 2200 Rexford Road, Charlotte, NC
28211; telephone: (800) 228-9290 or (704) 364-8220.
Council address: South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, 4055
Faber Place Drive, Suite 201, North Charleston, SC 29405.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julie A. Neer, SEDAR Coordinator, 4055
Faber Place Drive, Suite 201, North Charleston, SC 29405; telephone:
(843) 571-4366.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Gulf of Mexico, South Atlantic, and
Caribbean Fishery Management Councils, in conjunction with NOAA
Fisheries and the Atlantic and Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commissions
have implemented the Southeast Data, Assessment and Review (SEDAR)
process, a multi-step method for determining the status of fish stocks
in the Southeast Region. SEDAR includes three workshops: (1) Data
Workshop, (2) Assessment Process and (3) Review Workshop. The product
of the Data Workshop is a data report which compiles and evaluates
potential datasets and recommends which datasets are appropriate for
assessment analyses. The product of the Stock Assessment Process is a
stock assessment report which describes the fisheries, evaluates the
status of the stock, estimates biological benchmarks, projects future
population conditions, and recommends research and monitoring needs.
The assessment is independently peer reviewed at the Review Workshop.
The product of the Review Workshop is a Summary Report documenting
Panel opinions regarding the strengths and weaknesses of the stock
assessment and input data. Participants for SEDAR Workshops are
appointed by the Gulf of Mexico, South Atlantic, and Caribbean Fishery
Management Councils and NOAA Fisheries Southeast Regional Office and
Southeast Fisheries Science Center. Participants include data
collectors and database managers; stock assessment scientists,
biologists, and researchers; constituency representatives including
fishermen, environmentalists, and NGO's; International experts; and
staff of Councils, Commissions, and state and federal agencies.
Each SEDAR workshop panel is asked to provide research and
monitoring recommendations to improve future assessments and feedback
on the process to help improve SEDAR itself. Over time, certain key
topics emerge that reveal a research need or procedural suggestion that
is common to multiple assessments. The SEDAR Steering Committee
endorses procedural workshops such as that noticed here to address
those issues that affect multiple assessments and require more time and
resources to resolve than are typically available during the normal
assessment development process. The goal of these workshops is to
develop guidelines and practices that will increase the efficiency of
subsequent SEDAR assessments.
Although non-emergency issues not contained in this agenda may come
before this group for discussion, those issues may not be the subject
of formal action during this meeting. Action will be restricted to
those issues specifically listed in this notice and any issues arising
after publication of this notice that require emergency action under
section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act, provided the public has been notified of the Council's
intent to take final action to address the emergency.
Special Accommodations
These meetings are physically accessible to people with
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other
auxiliary aids should be directed to the Council office (see ADDRESSES)
at least 10 business days prior to each workshop.
Dated: December 4, 2009.
William D. Chappell,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E9-29386 Filed 12-9-09; 8:45 am]
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