[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 67 (Thursday, April 7, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19329-19330]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-8343]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XA358
New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC); 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 meeting on Tuesday through Thursday, April 26-28, 2011, to
consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive
economic zone (EEZ).
DATES: The meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 26, 2011 through
Thursday, April 28, 2011. The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. on Tuesday,
April 26th and at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, April 27th and Thursday,
April 28th.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Mystic Hilton Hotel, 20
Coogan Boulevard, Mystic, CT 06355; telephone: (860) 572-0731; fax:
(860) 572-0238.
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, April 26, 2011
Following introductions and any announcements, the Council will
receive brief reports from its Chairman and Executive Director, the
NOAA Fisheries Regional Administrator (Northeast Region), 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 staff
from the Vessel Monitoring Systems Operations and Law Enforcement
offices. There also will be a review of any experimental fishery permit
applications that have been made available for review since the January
Council meeting. The Council will then receive a presentation and
discuss one of its 2011 priorities, a proposed NEFMC-sponsored catch
shares workshop. The discussion will include consideration and possible
approval of a workshop goal and objectives. Prior to a break, Mr. Eric
Schwaab, Assistant Administrator for NOAA Fisheries, will address the
Council about the agency's management review of fisheries in the
Northeast. The focus will be on the relationships among the NEFMC, the
Northeast Regional Office, and the Northeast Fisheries Science Center
and factors that affect the effectiveness of the three entities to
carry out their responsibilities under fisheries law. Following a
break, an open public period is scheduled for any interested party who
wishes to provide brief comments on issues relevant to Council business
but not otherwise listed on the meeting agenda. A representative of the
Department of the Interior will summarize that agency's offshore wind
initiative, including the Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island Task
Force efforts to date. The day will conclude on Tuesday with a report
from the Council's Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC). Items
for review and discussion, along with SSC recommendations, include the
following: (1) A review of the Massachusetts Fisheries Institute report
Economic and Scientific Conditions in the Mass. Multispecies
Groundfishery; (2) recommendations for a FSV Bigelow survey calibration
method that would be used to determine skate Allowable Biological Catch
(ABC) and the status of the skate complex resource; (3) guidance to the
Whiting Plan Development Team on options and methods for determining
ABCs for silver, red and offshore hake; and (4) a report on conclusions
from a peer review panel that evaluated the NEFMC Habitat Plan
Development Team's swept area seabed impact (SASI) model.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
The second session will begin with a report from the Council's
Research Steering Committee about several final cooperative research
project reports, including the University of Rhode
[[Page 19330]]
Island's ``mini-eliminator trawl'' project. During the Monkfish
Committee report to follow, the Council will receive a briefing on the
recent scoping hearings and recommendations from its Monkfish Advisory
Panel, each concerning the possible development of a monkfish catch
shares program. The committee also will review its discussion about the
use of trip limit exemptions in the monkfish cooperative research
program. The Northeast Fisheries Science Center staff will summarize
its recommendations for 2011-12 observer sea-day allocations. During
the afternoon, the Council will discuss and possibly modify an option
in the Environmental Impact Statement for Herring Amendment 5 that
would require federally-permitted fish dealers to accurately weigh all
landings of herring. They also will receive the last of three briefings
about ecosystem-based fisheries management by staff of the Northeast
Fisheries Science Center. The Habitat Committee will summarize any
recommendations from its most recent meeting, and at the end of the
day, the Habitat Plan Development Team will provide an overview of the
impact of the SASI model peer review on the development of the
Council's Habitat Omnibus Amendment.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
The last day of the Council meeting will begin with a presentation
about ``management area coordination.'' This will consist of an
overview of the relationships between the current groundfish mortality
closures and the current and proposed essential fish habitat closures,
and their impact on access to fishery resources. The Council will
address groundfish management for the remainder of this day. It intends
to take final action on Framework Adjustment 46 to the Northeast
Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP), which would cap the amount
of haddock the herring fleet would be allowed to take as bycatch in
that fishery. The Council also may take final action on Amendment 17 to
the Multispecies FMP. Amendment 17 would create a mechanism for the
operation of NOAA-funded, state-operated permit banks. Other
groundfish-related business items include a report on workshop planning
for the purpose of examining the last year of sector operations, and a
Groundfish Committee recommendation to delay further work on an
amendment to consider accumulation limits in the fishery. Any other
outstanding business will be discussed after the groundfish agenda
items have been completed.
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.
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: April 4, 2011.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-8343 Filed 4-6-11; 8:45 am]
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