[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 102 (Wednesday, May 28, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30554-30555]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-12199]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XD310
New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; public meeting.
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SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is
scheduling a peer review by the Center for Independent Experts (CIE) on
June 12-13, 2014. The review panel is being convened for the purpose of
providing expert technical comments and advice on the use of a final
report prepared by Compass Lexecon for the Council in Amendment 18 to
the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan. The report is
titled, ``Recommendations for Excessive-Share Limits in the Northeast
Multispecies Fishery'' and was submitted to the Council in December
2013. The peer review is being coordinated by NMFS and hosted by the
Council.
DATES: This meeting will be held on Thursday June 12, 2014 and Friday
June 13, 2014. The meeting will be open to the public on the first day,
June 12 and begin at 9 a.m. The review panel will meet in a closed
session on June 13, 2014.
ADDRESSES:
Meeting address: The meeting will be held at the Hawthorne Hotel,
18 Washington Square West, Salem MA 01970; telephone: (978) 744-4080;
fax: (978) 745-2626.
Council address: New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water
Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas A. Nies, Executive Director,
New England Fishery Management Council; telephone: (978) 465-0492.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The New England Fishery Management Council
has been developing Amendment 18 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery
Management Plan. One goal of Amendment 18 is to consider establishing
accumulation limits in the fishery. Through this Amendment, the Council
has been working to identify an ``excessive share'' threshold for the
fishery. All federal fishery management plans must comply with National
Standard 4 of the Magnuson-Stevens Act (16 U.S.C. 1851(a)(4)),
requiring that fishing privilege allocations be carried out so that
``no particular individual, corporation, or other entity acquires an
excessive share of such privileges.'' During the course of the
Council's deliberations, it was decided that additional expertise from
an external contractor was needed to help determine if excessive shares
exist in the fishery today and describe potential constraints that
could prevent excessive shares from existing in the future. To provide
this expertise, the economic consulting firm Compass Lexecon was
contracted to give advice on an appropriate excessive share threshold
for the Northeast Multispecies Fishery.
Compass Lexecon performed their analysis in the latter half of
2013. Their research involved receiving input from fishery stakeholders
via surveys and interviews and analyzing NMFS fishery data. Compass
Lexecon assessed available models for evaluating the presence of market
power, and made recommendations with regard to setting accumulation
limits. Their final report will be evaluated by the Center for
Independent Experts (CIE) on June 12-13, 2014.
The National Marine Fisheries Service's Office of Science and
Technology coordinates and manages a contract providing external
expertise through the CIE to conduct independent peer reviews of NMFS
scientific projects. CIE reviewers are selected by the CIE Steering
Committee and CIE Coordination Team to conduct the independent peer
review in compliance with predetermined Terms of Reference of the peer
review. Each CIE reviewer is contracted to deliver an independent peer
review report to be approved by the CIE Steering Committee, and the
Chairman will provide a summary report. Further information on the CIE
process can be obtained from www.ciereviews.org.
Special Accommodations
This meeting is physically accessible to people with disabilities.
Requests for
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sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids should be directed
to Thomas A. Nies, Executive Director, at (978) 465-0492, at least 5
days prior to the meeting date.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: May 21, 2014.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2014-12199 Filed 5-27-14; 8:45 am]
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