[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 3 (Wednesday, January 5, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 543-544]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-33282]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XA127
New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of a public meeting.
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SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold
a 3-day Council meeting on Tuesday-Thursday, January 25-27, 2011 to
consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive
economic zone (EEZ).
DATES: The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, January 25 and at
8:30 a.m. on each of the following two meeting days.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Sheraton Harborside Hotel,
250 Market Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801; telephone: (603) 431-2300 and
fax: (603) 433-5649.
Council address: New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water
Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950; telephone: (978) 465-0492.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul J. Howard, Executive Director,
New England Fishery Management Council; telephone: (978) 465-0492.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Following introductions and any announcements, the Council will
begin its meeting with a series of brief reports from the Council
Chairman and Executive Director, the NOAA Fisheries Northeast Regional
Administrator, Northeast Fisheries Science Center and Mid-Atlantic
Fishery Management Council liaisons, NOAA General Counsel,
representatives of the U.S. Coast Guard and the Atlantic States Marine
Fisheries Commission, as well as NOAA Enforcement. These reports will
be followed by a review of any experimental fishery permit applications
that have been received since the last Council meeting in November
2010. The Chairman of the Habitat Committee will then provide a brief
update on activities to date to complete Habitat Omnibus 2, an action
that will amend all of the Council's Fishery Management Plans (FMPs)
with respect to Essential Fish Habitat and minimizing the habitat
impacts of fishing activities. Members of the Council's Scientific and
Statistical Committee (SSC) will report on their white paper and
further outline approaches to undertaking ecosystem-based fisheries
management. Prior to a lunch break, an Ocean Observatories Initiative
representative will present an outline of their project--a networked
sensor system array proposed for offshore Southern New England to
measure the physical, chemical, geological and biological variables in
the ocean and its seafloor. During the afternoon session, the Council
will accept public comments on issues related to fisheries management,
but not listed on the meeting agenda. Later, the Skate Committee will
discuss and the Council will consider approval of an action to lower
the skate wing possession limit for the 2011 fishing year. A Northeast
Fisheries Science Center representative will report on the November
2010 Stock Assessment Workshop/Stock Assessment Review Committee
meeting that determined the status of Loligo, and five species of hake.
The day will conclude with a report on the recent International
Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) meeting. The
focus will be on bluefin tuna and northern swordfish.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
During the morning session, the Council may initiate a framework
adjustment to the Northeast Multispecies FMP that could include a catch
cap for haddock taken in the herring midwater trawl fishery. Following
this discussion, the Herring Committee will ask the Council to approve
management alternatives for inclusion in a Draft Environmental Impact
Statement that will accompany Amendment 5 to the Atlantic Herring FMP.
The action may address the following: catch monitoring alternatives;
river herring bycatch; midwater trawl access to the groundfish closed
areas; interactions with the Atlantic mackerel fishery; and protection
for spawning herring. This agenda item will be discussed until the
meeting adjourns at the end of the business day.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
The last day of the Council meeting will begin with a discussion of
an amendment to the Northeast Multispecies FMP that could authorize
state-operated permit banks as well as groundfish fleet diversity and
accumulation limits. The Council also may discuss recent legislation
that will affect the U.S./Canada Resource Sharing Understanding and may
comment on the NMFS proposed rule for Framework Adjustment 45 to the
Multispecies FMP. NOAA General Counsel in the Northeast Region will
provide an update on case developments and/or regulatory issues that
have arisen over the last six-to-eight months. Following this review,
the Council plans to initiate Framework Adjustment 23 to the Sea
Scallop FMP. The action could require scallop dredge vessels to use a
turtle excluder device, possibly modify the amount of yellowtail
flounder allocated to the scallop fishery and modify the limited access
general category program in the Northern Gulf of Maine. The Council
also plans to take final action on Framework Adjustment 7 to the
Monkfish FMP. Included are measures to revise the biomass reference
points, and accordingly, the Annual Catch Target in the monkfish
Northern Management Area. Days-at-sea and trip limits for the 2011-13
fishing years also will be modified. Before adjournment, the Council
may address any other outstanding business related to this meeting.
Although other non-emergency issues not contained in this agenda
may come before this Council for discussion, those issues may not be
the subjects of formal action during this meeting. Council 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 Act,
provided that the public has been notified of the Council's intent to
take final action to address the emergency.
[[Page 544]]
Special Accommodations
This meeting is physically accessible to people with disabilities.
Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids
should be directed to Paul J. Howard (see ADDRESSES) at least 5 days
prior to the meeting date.
Dated: December 30, 2010.
William D. Chappell,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-33282 Filed 1-4-11; 8:45 am]
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