[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 55 (Monday, March 23, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13840-13842]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-7461]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 031698B]


Western Pacific 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 Western Pacific Fishery Council will hold its 95th meeting 
in Pago Pago, American Samoa.

DATES: The Council's Standing Committees will meet on April 14, 1998. 
The full Council will meet on April 15-16, 1998. See SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION for specific dates and times.

ADDRESSES: The 95th Council meeting will be held at the American Samoa 
Legislature, Fono Guest House, Pago Pago, American Samoa; telephone: 
(684) 633-4456.
    Council address: Western Pacific Fishery Management Council, 1164 
Bishop St., Suite 1400, Honolulu, HI 96813.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kitty M. Simonds, Executive Director; 
telephone: 808-522-8220.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The meetings are as follows:
    Tuesday, April 14, 1998
    7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.--Enforcement;
    8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.--Crustaceans;
    9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.--Vessel Monitoring System (VMS);
    10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.--Pelagics and Bottomfish;
    1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.--Indigenous Fishing Rights and Ecosystem & 
Habitat;
    3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.--Precious Corals and Executive/Budget & 
Programming.
    The full Council will meet on April 15-16, 1998, from 9:00 a.m. to 
5:00 p.m., each day.
    The full Council will address the agenda items below. The order in 
which agenda items will be addressed may change. The Council will meet 
as late as necessary to complete its scheduled business.
    Wednesday, April 15, 1998
    A. Call to order, opening remarks, introductions
    1. Approval of Agenda and 94th Council Minutes; and
    2. Guest Speaker: Ueta Fasili, Assistant Director Dept. of 
Agriculture, Forests & Fisheries, Samoa

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    B. Reports from the Islands, American Samoa, Guam, Hawaii, and 
Northern Mariana Islands (NMI)
    C. Enforcement
    1. Reports from the U.S. Coast Guard, NMFS Office of Enforcement, 
and NOAA General Counsel for Enforcement Southwest;
    2. Report on Multilateral High Level Conference second 
intersessional meeting on monitoring, control, & surveillance;
    3. Draft cooperative agreement for Guam and NMI;
    4. Standing Committee recommendations; and
    5. Public comment
    D. VMS
    1. Status of NMFS Industry Advisory Panel and National VMS Policy;
    2. Report on the Hawaii VMS program; and
    3. Standing Committee recommendations
    E. Pelagics
    1. Fourth quarter report for longline fisheries in Hawaii & 
American Samoa in 1997;
    2. Draft amendment for new measure for an area closure for large 
pelagic vessels in the American Samoa exclusive economic zone (EEZ) 
(second meeting);
    3. Reports on international workshops and meetings;
    4. Protected species interactions: albatross, turtles, and sharks;
    5. Western Pacific Shark Fishery project;
    6. Fishing activity and data issues in the Council EEZ;
    7. Status of fishing activities at Midway and Palmyra;
    8. Recreational fishing initiatives;
    9. Socio-cultural study of pelagic fishing in American Samoa;
    10. Scientific and Statistical Committee and Standing Committee 
recommendations; and
    11. Public comment/hearing
    F. Crustaceans
    1. Lobster annual report (1997 summary);
    2. Status of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) lobster 
stocks and research;
    3. 1998 NWHI lobster harvest guideline determination, consideration 
of establishment of separate area or bank quotas under the framework 
procedure, Plan for data collection program;
    4. Framework amendment for regulatory changes to the Fishery 
Management Plan (FMP);
    5. Addition of new areas (Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 
Islands (CNMI) and U.S. Possessions) to Permit Area 3; Marine 
Conservation Plans (by island area);
    6. Consideration of regulatory measures for the lobster fishing 
around American Samoa under the FMPs framework procedure;
    7. Plan Team/Advisory Panel, SSC, and Standing Committee 
recommendations; and
    8. Public comment/hearing
    G. Fishermen's Forum
    Thursday, April 16, 1998
    A. Guest Speaker: Paul Dalzell, Western Pacific Fishery Council: 
Unconventional data sources for fisheries management in the Pacific 
Islands; and
    B. Reports from Fishery Agencies and Organizations, including: 
Department of Commerce NMFS Southwest Region, Southwest Fisheries 
Science Center, and NOAA Southwest Regional Counsel; Department of the 
Interior Fish and Wildlife Service;
    C. Precious Corals
    1. Status of the fishery;
    2. Status of amendment to add a framework process to the FMP;
    3. Consistency between state and federal regulations;
    4. SSC and Standing Committee recommendations; and
    5. Public hearing
    D. Bottomfish
    1. 1997 draft annual report modules from American Samoa, Guam, 
Hawaii and NMI, including improvement to the modules and region-wide 
recommendations;
    2. ``Overfished'' Main Hawaiian Islands onaga and ehu (& 
``stressed'' hauupuu), including, research activities, status of 
Department of Land and Natural Resources' draft management plan and 
Federal management plan including alternatives (draft amendment);
    3. Draft amendment for Mau Zone limited access program and report 
from the Bottomfish Task Force;
    4. Plan Team, SSC and Standing Committee recommendations; and
    5. Public comment
    E. Native Rights and Indigenous Fishing Issues
    1. Review of Marine Conservation Plans from American Samoa, Guam, 
and NMI;
    2. Western Pacific Sustainable Fisheries Fund;
    3. Community Development Program Eligibility Criteria;
    4. Report on NMFS Vessel Buy-Back Program;
    5. Advisory Panel Appointments;
    6. Standing Committee recommendations and;
    7. Public hearing
    F. Ecosystems and Habitat
    1. Draft outline and concept for Coral Reef Ecosystem FMP;
    2. EIS on Farallon de Mendinilla bombing issue (if available);
    3. Advisory Panel, SSC and Standing Committee recommendations; and
    4. Public comment
    G. Program Planning
    1. Review of draft comprehensive Sustainable Fisheries Act 
Amendment (SFA) (Magnuson-Stevens Act requirement);
    2. SFA definitions, provisions, and possible management actions, 
including, bycatch, fishing sectors, fishing communities, overfishing;
    3. Draft Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) amendment, including, 
description of habitat by Management Unit Species life stage (by FMP), 
identification and distribution of EFH/Geographic Information System 
maps (by FMP), review of existing management measures, environmental 
impacts of fishing and non-fishing activities/National Environmental 
Policy Act, identification of possible future habitat conservation and 
enhancement measures, social/economic impacts of management actions, 
data and research needs for habitat information;
    4. National Vessel Registration and Fisheries Information System;
    5. Report on Western Pacific Fisheries Information Network;
    6. Revision of Council milestones;
    7. Advisory Panel, Plan Teams, SSC and Standing Committee 
recommendations; and
    8. Public comment/hearing
    H. Administrative Matters
    1. Statement of Organization, Practices, and Procedures revision;
    2. Administrative reports;
    3. Appointments to the Coral Reef Ecosystem Plan Team and Precious 
Corals Plan Team;
    4. Reports on meetings, workshops, and proposed 96th Council 
meeting on July 27-29, 1998, in Kailua-Kona;
    5. Standing Committees recommendations; and
    6. Public comment; and
    I. Other Business
    Although other issues not contained in this agenda may come before 
this Council for discussion, in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens 
Fishery Conservation and Management Act, those issues may not be the 
subject of formal Council action during this meeting. 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

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should be directed to Kitty M. Simonds, 808-522-8220 (voice) or 808-
522-8226 (fax), at least 5 days prior to meeting date.

    Dated: March 17, 1998.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 98-7461 Filed 3-20-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F