[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 8 (Wednesday, January 13, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1752-1753]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-623]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XT67
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 to consider actions affecting New England
fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
DATES: The meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 26 through
Thursday, January 28, 2010. The meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m. on each
of the 3 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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul J. Howard, Executive Director,
New England Fishery Management Council; telephone: (978) 465-0492.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Following introductions and any announcements, the Council will
receive 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. During the
morning session the Council also will review sector implementation as
developed in the Northeast Multispecies (Groundfish) Fishery Management
Plan (FMP) as part of a report to be provided by the National Marine
Fisheries Service Regional Office staff from Gloucester, MA. After a
lunch break, the Council will review and provide feedback to the
Northeast Fisheries
[[Page 1753]]
Science Center on their performance monitoring and evaluation plan
concerning existing and future catch share programs. The Council's
Herring Committee will present an overview of the management measures
proposed in Amendment 4 to the Atlantic Herring FMP, including the
establishment of annual catch limits and accountability measures, and
select final measures before submitting the action to NMFS. NOAA
leadership will present a briefing on its Catch Shares Policy and
conduct a question and answer session following the presentation.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
The second day of the Council meeting will begin with a discussion
about and possible reconsideration of Framework 21 to the Atlantic Sea
Scallop FMP. Pending the outcome of this agenda item, the Council also
may revisit Framework 44 to the Northeast Multispecies FMP to change
the yellowtail flounder allocation to the scallop fleet in that action.
Later, the Groundfish Committee will ask for approval of alternative
rebuilding strategy options for the Georges Bank yellowtail flounder
stock. The Chairman of the Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC)
will report on the committee's comments concerning a model developed by
the Habitat Plan Development Team (PDT) to analyze alternatives to
minimize adverse impacts of fishing activities. The SSC also will
report on the process-related issues addressed at the last SSC meeting
as well as the comments of SSC members on the published proposed rule
concerning practices and procedures related to National Standard 2. The
Habitat Committee will comment, where appropriate, about the model
developed by its PDT, as well as on President Obama's Interagency Ocean
Policy Task Force Report: Interim Framework for Effective Coastal and
Marine Spatial Planning.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
The Council will begin the last day of the meeting with a
discussion of several outstanding issues related to work priorities for
2010. The Northeast Fisheries Science Center staff will follow with two
reports, one on the status of projected observer days-at-sea for the
upcoming year in accordance with the Council's Standard Bycatch
Reporting Methodology rules and another on the Vessel Calibration
Workshop held late last year. The Council also intends to approve a
range of alternatives to be analyzed in Amendment 3 to the Red Crab
FMP. The action will include annual catch limits and accountability
measures, and possibly a total allowable catch for the fleet. The day
will conclude with an open period for public comments about items not
listed on the agenda but related to Council business and any other
outstanding issues that were postponed until the end of the 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.
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: January 11, 2010.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-623 Filed 1-12-10; 8:45 am]
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