[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 143 (Monday, July 27, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 40092]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-19989]



[[Page 40092]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[I.D. 072098C]


New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

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

ACTION: Public meeting.

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SUMMARY:  The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) will 
hold a 2-day public meeting on August 10 and August 11, 1998, to 
consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive 
economic zone.

DATES: The meeting will be held on Monday, August 10, 1998, at 9 a.m. 
and on Tuesday, August 11, at 8:30 a.m.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Peabody Marriott Hotel, 8A 
Centennial Drive, Peabody, MA 01960; telephone (978) 977-9700. Requests 
for special accommodations should be addressed to the New England 
Fishery Management Council, 5 Broadway, Saugus, MA 01906-1097; 
telephone: (781) 231-0422.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul J. Howard, Executive Director, 
New England Fishery Management Council (781) 231-0422.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Monday, August 10, 1998

    There will be a Stock Assessment Public Review Workshop on the 
status of haddock, Gulf of Maine cod, Georges Bank cod and Georges Bank 
yellowtail flounder, Southern New England yellowtail flounder, Atlantic 
herring, scup, black sea bass, and ocean quahogs. A special agenda item 
will be the initiation of consideration of emergency action for Gulf of 
Maine cod. The Groundfish Committee will then review public comments 
and committee and advisory panel recommendations on Amendment 9 to the 
Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Northeast Multispecies Fishery. 
The measures being considered for final approval at this meeting are 
associated with new overfishing definitions and the specification of 
optimum yield (OY) as required by the Sustainable Fisheries Act, 
rebuilding winter flounder stocks, conserving Atlantic halibut, mesh 
size changes to reduce the bycatch of flounders, and a prohibition of 
streetsweeper trawl gear. The committee will also review other issues 
under its consideration: The inclusion of cusk and wolffish in the FMP 
management unit, the transfer of days-at-sea (DAS), and the upcoming 
annual FMP adjustment (including measures to protect Gulf of Maine 
cod).
    During the afternoon session, the Council will approve a public 
hearing document for the whiting amendment to the Northeast 
Multispecies FMP, including any new options brought before the Council, 
and the associated Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement. 
Measures in the public hearing document will include revised 
overfishing definitions and the specification of OY, a moratorium on 
commercial whiting permits, restrictions on the transfer of whiting and 
red hake at sea, options for management through whiting DAS, and 
management alternatives for northern and southern management areas and 
the Cultivator Shoal fishery. The Habitat Committee will review public 
comments received on the Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) Amendment 
followed by consideration and approval of final designations for EFH 
and Habitat Areas of Particular Concern (HAPC), including management 
measures associated with the juvenile cod HAPCs. The day will conclude 
with the Herring Committee report, during which the Council will review 
public comments, committee and advisory panel recommendations, and vote 
on final management measures for inclusion in the Atlantic Herring FMP.

August 11, 1998

    During the Sea Scallop Committee Report, there will be a briefing 
on the Council's Scientific and Statistical Committee review of the sea 
scallop overfishing definition, scientific information on which 
management measures are based, and the stock rebuilding proposals under 
consideration for inclusion in Amendment 7 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop 
FMP. There will also be consideration of committee and advisory panel 
recommendations and public comments on the Amendment 7 proposals to 
rebuild stocks, followed by approval of measures by the Council. The 
report will include an update on the status of the experimental fishery 
for scallops in the Georges Bank closed areas. During the Monkfish 
Committee Report, the Council will review and approve the final 
Monkfish FMP documents for submission to the Secretary of Commerce. 
Following the election of 1998-99 Council officers, the Interspecies 
Committee will ask for approval of an amendment that would improve 
consistency among New England and Mid-Atlantic Council fishery 
management plans concerning vessel permitting and upgrading. This 
action would amend the New England Council's Atlantic Sea Scallop, 
Northeast Multispecies and American Lobster Plans and the Mid-Atlantic 
Council's Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Plan, the Atlantic 
Mackerel, Squid and Butterfish Plan, and the Atlantic Surf Clam and 
Ocean Quahog Plan. Comments on the NMFS draft report to Congress titled 
``Proposed Implementation of a Fishing Vessel Registration and 
Fisheries Management Information System'' will also be approved.  The 
Mid-Atlantic Plans Committee will ask for approval of a Council 
position on mackerel joint venture allocations, summer flounder 
discards, and other issues, as well as seek approval of a public 
hearing document for dogfish management measures. Following any other 
outstanding business, the day will conclude with reports from the 
Council Chairman, Executive Director, NMFS Northeast Region 
Administrator, Northeast Fisheries Science Center and Mid-Atlantic 
Fishery Management Council liaisons, and representatives of the Coast 
Guard and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.
    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 listed in this notice.

Special Accommodations

    This meeting is physically accessible to people with disabilities. 
Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids 
should be directed to Paul J. Howard (see ADDRESSES) at least 5 days 
prior to the meeting date.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    Dated: July 21, 1998.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 98-19989 Filed 7-24-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F