[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 243 (Friday, December 18, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79030-79031]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-31859]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XE364
Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of a public meeting.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will hold a two-
day meeting of its Standing and Special Reef Fish Scientific and
Statistical Committee (SSC).
DATES: The meeting will convene on Tuesday, January 5, and Wednesday,
January 6, 2016; starting 9 a.m. on Tuesday and 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday,
and will adjourn approximately 2 p.m. on Wednesday.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Hilton Westshore Tampa
Airport Hotel, 2225 N. Lois Avenue, Tampa, FL 33607; telephone: (813)
877-6688.
Council address: Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, 2203 N.
Lois Avenue, Suite 1100, Tampa, FL 33607; telephone: (813) 348-1630.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steven Atran, Senior Fishery
Biologist, Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council; email:
[email protected]; telephone: (813) 348-1630.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Agenda
The Chairman will start the meeting with introductions and adoption
of agenda, and approval of minutes from the September 1-2, 2015
Standing and Special Reef Fish Scientific and Statistical (SSC)
meeting; and selection of an SSC representative to attend the January
2016 Council meeting. The Committee will review the National Marine
Fisheries Service's (NMFS) assessment prioritization process and will
discuss the concept of best scientific information available. The
Committee will receive an update on SEDAR 43 Gray Triggerfish
Projections from the Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) and
will make recommendations for a new rebuilding plan including the
selection of a projected recruitment scenario, time to rebuild in the
absence of fishing, determination of a maximum probability of
overfishing (P*) when setting the allowable biological catch (ABC) and
recommendations for the overfishing limit (OFL) and ABC. The Committee
will discuss a constant catch vs. a constant fishing mortality rate (F)
approach to setting catch limits with respect to stability of
management; and will receive a projection from the Florida Fish and
Wildlife Research Institute on constant catch overfishing limits (OFL)
and acceptable biological catch (ABC) for west Florida shelf stock of
hogfish. Next, the Committee will review the SEDAR 42 Red Grouper
Benchmark Assessment. If the Committee accepts the assessment and
sufficient information is available, the Committee will recommend
overfishing limits (OFL) and acceptable biological catch (ABC) levels
for constant F and constant catch for red grouper. The Committee will
review an options paper for a possible framework action to adjust the
recreational red snapper annual catch target (ACT) buffer; receive a
presentation from the NMFS Southeast Regional Office on their methods
for setting season length, and review methods for assigning probability
of exceeding the annual catch limit (ACL) at a given ACT buffer. The
Committee will receive a presentation from the SEFSC on Integrated
Ecosystem Assessment and Management Strategy Evaluation as it pertains
to multi-species; and will review Draft Amendment 44 regarding the
setting of minimum stock size thresholds (MSST) and maximum sustainable
yield (MSY) proxies. The Committee will review proposed revisions to
the SEDAR process. The Committee will also review the terms of
reference and project schedule for SEDAR 49--Gulf of Mexico Data-
limited Species, and select appointees for the data, assessment and
review groups. Lastly, the Committee will review the SSC meeting
schedule for 2016; and will discuss other business, if any.
-- Meeting Adjourns --
The Agenda is subject to change, and the latest version along with
other meeting materials will be posted on the Council's file server. To
access the file server, the URL is https://public.gulfcouncil.org:5001/webman/index.cgi, or go to the Council's Web site and click on the FTP
link in the lower left of the Council Web site (http://www.gulfcouncil.org). The username and password are both ``gulfguest''.
Click on the ``Library Folder'', then scroll down to ``SSC meeting-
2016-01''.
The meeting will be webcast over the internet. A link to the
webcast will be available on the Council's Web site, http://www.gulfcouncil.org.
Although other non-emergency issues not on the agenda may come
before the Scientific and Statistical Committee for discussion, in
accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act, those issues may not be the subject of formal action
during this meeting. Actions of the Scientific and Statistical
Committee will be restricted to those issues specifically identified in
the agenda and any issues arising after publication of this notice that
require emergency action under Section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management Act, provided the public has been
notified of the Council's intent to take action to address the
emergency.
[[Page 79031]]
Special Accommodations
This meeting is physically accessible to people with disabilities.
Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids
should be directed to Kathy Pereira at the Gulf Council Office (see
ADDRESSES), at least 5 working days prior to the meeting.
Dated: December 15, 2015.
Jeffrey N. Lonergan,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-31859 Filed 12-17-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P