[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 6 (Friday, January 9, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1395-1396]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-00147]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XD700
New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting.
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SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold
a 3-day meeting on January 27-29, 2015 to consider actions affecting
New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
DATES: The meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 27, 2015 through
Thursday, January 29, 2015, starting at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, January
27; and
[[Page 1396]]
8:30 a.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, January 28 and 29.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Sheraton Harborside Hotel,
250 Market Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801; telephone: (603) 431-2300;
fax: (603) 431-7805. For online information see
www.sheratonportsmouth.com/.
Council Address: New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water
Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950; telephone: (978) 465-0492.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas A. Nies, Executive Director,
New England Fishery Management Council; telephone: (978) 465-0492.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
The Council meeting will begin with introductions and brief reports
from the NEFMC Chairman and Executive Director (to include a review and
approval of an updated version of the Council's Statement of
Organization, Practices, and Procedures), the NOAA Fisheries Regional
Administrator, the Northeast Fisheries Science Center and Mid-Atlantic
Fishery Management Council liaisons, NOAA General Counsel and NOAA Law
Enforcement, and representatives of the Atlantic States Marine
Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), U.S. Coast Guard and the Northeast
Regional Ocean Council. A brief closed session will follow during which
the Council will approve Scientific and Statistical Committee
appointments for 2015-17. The Council will then provide an opportunity
for the public to provide brief comments on items that are relevant to
Council business but otherwise not listed on the published agenda.
During the afternoon session, the Council expects to discuss and
determine an appropriate level of Council participation with ASFMC
during the development of management measures for the Jonah Crab
fishery in the EEZ. The Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program
staff (ACCSP) will provide an overview of its integrated data
collection and distribution systems that are conducted in partnership
with NOAA Fisheries, including dealer data collection and vessel trip
reporting. During the a discussion of measures that will address
recreational groundfish fishery activities, the Council will discuss
recommendations for proactive accountability measures for Gulf of Maine
haddock and Gulf of Maine cod for fishing year 2015. The day will close
with a report, the Performance of the Northeast Multispecies Groundfish
Fishery, May 2013-April 2014 to be presented by Northeast Fisheries
Science Center staff.
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
The NEFMC Herring Committee will ask the Council to cover several
issues that will continue until after the lunch break. They are as
follows: (1) An update on the industry-based river herring bycatch
avoidance program; (2) an update on the River Herring Technical Expert
Working Group process, its timeline, and products; (3) a review of the
NEFMC staff discussion document that addresses considerations related
to adding river herring and shad as stocks in the Atlantic herring
fishery; and (4) consideration and possible approval of related Herring
Committee recommendations. The recommendations address cooperative
research priorities for any research set-aside that may be allocated in
2016-18 during the Atlantic herring fishery specifications process; and
approval of a scoping document for an amendment to the Atlantic Herring
Fishery Management Plan that will address control rules for the
Atlantic herring fishery to account for herring's role as forage in the
ecosystem. During the remainder of the afternoon the Council's Observer
Policy Committee will request that the Council review and approve a
Draft Environmental Assessment for an omnibus amendment that could
establish provisions for industry-funded monitoring (IFM) across all
federally-managed fisheries in the Northeast. Related recommendations
provided by the both the Observer Policy and Herring Committees will be
considered. It is also expected that the Council will select preferred
alternatives as well as options proposed to address observer coverage
requirements for Atlantic herring vessels.
Thursday, January 29, 2015
During the final day of the meeting the Council will focus on three
reports. During the first, there will be an overview of the 2014
independent evaluation of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center's
processes and modeling approaches used to develop stock assessments.
This will be followed by a briefing on NOAA Fisheries Draft Climate
Science Strategy. The last will be an update on the annual state of the
Northeast Continental Shelf ecosystem.
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 Thomas A. Nies (see ADDRESSES) at least 5 days
prior to the meeting date.
Dated: January 6, 2015.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-00147 Filed 1-8-15; 8:45 am]
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