[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 207 (Monday, October 27, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55592-55593]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-28419]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 102097A]


Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council; Public Meetings

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of public meetings.

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SUMMARY: The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) and 
its committees will convene public meetings.

DATES: The meetings will be held on November 10-13, 1997. See 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for specific dates and times.

ADDRESSES: These meetings will be held at the Holiday Inn Longboat Key, 
4949 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Longboat Key (Sarasota), FL; telephone: 941-
383-3771.
    Council address: Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, 3018 
U.S. Highway 301 North, Suite 1000, Tampa, FL 33619.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wayne E. Swingle, Executive Director, 
Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council; telephone: (813) 228-2815.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Council

    November 12
     8:30 a.m.--Convene.
    8:45 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.--Appointment of Committees.
     9:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon--Receive public testimony on a control date 
for dolphin/wahoo; interim/emergency action on red snapper size limits; 
and reef fish total allowable catch (TAC). During the meeting the 
Council will review stock assessments for red snapper and gag (grouper) 
and determine whether to specify or modify the TAC for these stocks for 
the 1998 fishing year. The Council will also consider whether to 
request by emergency rule that the minimum size limit for red snapper 
remain at 15 inches or be set at 14 inches. Without some action the 
minimum size limit will become 16 inches on January 1, 1998. The 
Council will also consider whether to specify a control date for the 
fisheries for dolphin (fish) and wahoo. If approved, the control date 
would notify commercial fishermen that if a limited access system is 
developed for these fisheries, persons that enter the fishery after 
that date may not be allowed to participate.
    1:30 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.--Receive a report on a peer-group review of 
management of the red snapper fishery and the information used for 
management. This review was mandated by Congress through passage of the 
Sustainable Fisheries Act (SFA). In complying with this mandate, NMFS 
empaneled three groups of scientists from outside the Gulf region to 
conduct the peer-group review during July and August. The panels 
reviewed information provided by NMFS and by the commercial fishing 
industry related to: (1) the statistical information and analyses, (2) 
the economic information and analyses, and (3) management and science 
procedures and data, including stock assessments.
    3:15 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.--Hear a status report on development of new 
bycatch reduction device (BRD) designs and a protocol for certifying 
BRDs for use in trawls.
    3:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.--Receive a summary of the report by NMFS to 
Congress that identified overfished stocks in each region. For the 
Gulf, stocks that were identified include: red snapper, red drum, Gulf-
group king Mackerel, jewfish, and Nassau grouper. The Council has 
previously prohibited any harvest or possession of red drum, jewfish, 
and Nassau grouper in Federal waters. NMFS will also discuss the new 
provisions of the SFA that will apply to restoration of these stocks. 
If only the impacts on fishing communities are taken into consideration 
TACs must be specified that will restore the stock to maximum 
sustainable yield (MSY) within 10 years. This consideration will likely 
require reducing TAC for some stocks.
    4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.--Receive a report of the Reef Fish Management 
Committee.
    5:30 p.m.--CLOSED SESSION - Appointment of members to Reef Fish and 
Red Snapper Advisory Panels and chairs to the Louisiana/Mississippi 
Habitat Advisory Panel.
    November 13
    8:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.--Continue the report of the Reef Fish 
Management Committee.
    10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.--Receive a report of the Mackerel Management 
Committee
    2:00 p.m. - 2:15 p.m.--Receive a report of the Migratory Species 
Management Committee.
    2:15 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.--Receive a report of the Habitat Protection 
Management Committee.
    2:30 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.--Receive a report of the Stone Crab 
Management Committee.
    2:45 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.--Receive a report of the Administrative 
Policy Committee.
    3:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.--Receive reports of the Highly Migratory 
Species Billfish Advisory Panel, Longline Advisory Panel, Tuna, 
Swordfish, and Shark Advisory Panel, and International Commission for 
the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas Advisory Committee.
    3:30 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.--Receive a report on NMFS/Council Working 
Group meeting.

[[Page 55593]]

    3:45 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.--Receive Enforcement Reports.
    4:00 p.m. - 4:25 p.m.-- Receive Director's Reports.
    4:25 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.--Other business to be discussed.
    November 10
    9:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.--Convene the Reef Fish Management Committee 
to review stock assessments for red snapper and gag, biological 
information on gray triggerfish, and the recommendations of the 
scientific and statistical committee, stock assessment panel, 
socioeconomic panel, and advisory panels. The committee will develop 
their recommendations to the Council on TAC for red snapper and gag 
stocks. The committee will also select preferred alternatives for Draft 
Reef Fish Amendment 16 which will be presented at public hearings in 
February, 1998. This amendment contains alternatives for phasing out 
the fish trap fishery, removing some species from Federal management, 
instituting bag and size limits for certain species that will be 
compatible with the limits in Florida waters, and restrictions on 
harvest of speckled hind and warsaw grouper.
    2:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.--Convene the Administrative Policy Committee 
to develop the functions or charges for three new ad hoc committees for 
marine reserves, vessel monitoring, and sustainable fisheries.
    5:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.--Convene the Stone Crab Management Committee 
to consider a draft amendment that proposes to extend the moratorium on 
registration of commercial vessels by NMFS.
    November 11
    8:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.--Convene the Habitat Protection Committee 
consider action on a cooperative agreement related to completion of an 
amendment describing essential fish habitat and hear a status report on 
preparation of this amendment. They will also consider action on a 
proposed dredge-and-fill project in Louisiana and hear a report on a 
project to culture fish in cages on an oil platform off Texas.
    10:30 a.m. - 12:00 noon--Convene the Migratory Species Committee to 
consider recommendations of the Billfish Advisory Panel on provisions 
for an amendment regulating the harvest of marlin and sailfish that 
will be implemented by NMFS next year.
    1:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.--Convene the Mackerel Management Committee to 
select preferred alternatives for Draft Mackerel Amendment 9 that will 
be submitted to the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council for 
consideration. Public hearing on the amendment will be scheduled in 
February, 1998. Amendment 9 includes alternatives that would:
    1. Possible changes to the fishing year for Gulf group king 
mackerel - currently July 1;
    2. Possible prohibitions of sale of mackerel caught under the 
recreational allocation;
    3. Provisions for mandatory reporting requirements for commercial 
and for-hire vessels;
    4. Reallocations of TAC for the commercial fishery for Gulf group 
king mackerel in the Eastern Zone (Florida east coast and Florida west 
coast) - currently 50/50 split;
    5. Reallocations of TAC for Gulf group king mackerel between the 
recreational and commercial sectors - currently 68 percent and 32 
percent, respectively;
    6. Additional subdivisions of the commercial, hook-and-line 
allocation of TAC for Gulf group king mackerel by area and/or season 
for both the Florida west coast and the Western Zone (Alabama through 
Texas);
    7. Possible trip limits for vessels fishing for Gulf group king 
mackerel in the Western Zone;
    8. Further restrictions on the use of net gear to harvest Gulf 
group king mackerel off the Florida west coast;
    9. Possible changes to the minimum size limit for Gulf group king 
mackerel (currently 20-inches fork length) and establishment of a 
maximum size limit or both a minimum and maximum, (i.e. a slot limit); 
and
    10. Consideration of re-establishing an annual allocation of Gulf 
group Spanish mackerel for the purse seine fishery.
    Although other issues not contained in this agenda may come before 
the Council for discussion, in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens 
Fishery Conservation Act, those issues may not be the subject of formal 
Council action during these meetings. Council action will be restricted 
to those issues specifically identified in the agenda listed in this 
notice.

Special Accommodations

    These meetings are physically accessible to people with 
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other 
auxiliary aids should be directed to Anne Alford at the Council (see 
ADDRESSES) by November 3, 1997.

    Dated: October 22, 1997.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 97-28419 Filed 10-22-97; 2:14 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F