[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 199 (Thursday, October 15, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 55357]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-27581]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[I.D. 100698B]


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 to consider actions affecting New England 
fisheries in the exclusive economic zone. The full Council meeting will 
begin at 1:30 p.m., following a meeting of the Council's Herring 
Committee on October 28.

DATES: The meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 28, 1998, at 9:30 
a.m. and on Thursday, October 29, 1998, at 8:30 a.m.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn Hotel and 
Convention Center, 88 Spring Street, Portland, ME 04101; telephone 
(207) 775-2311. Requests for special accommodations should be addressed 
to the New England Fishery Management Council, 5 Broadway, Saugus, MA 
01906-1036; telephone: (781) 231-0422.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Wednesday, October 28, 1998

    At 9:30 a.m., the Council will convene a meeting of its Herring 
Committee to continue discussions and select final management measures 
for the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Atlantic Herring Fishery. 
Management measures under discussion will include, but not be limited 
to, restrictions for large domestic processing vessels (such as size 
limits or sector allocations) and vessel tracking system (VTS) 
requirements. The full Council meeting will begin in the afternoon at 
1:30 p.m. when Council Executive Director Paul Howard presents the 
details of an annual FMP review and adjustment process for each Council 
plan and public participation procedures. The Herring Committee Report 
will follow, during which the committee chairman will ask the Council 
for approval of the outstanding Herring FMP management measures 
(including recommended measures for large domestic processing vessels 
and VTS requirements) after a review of public comments and committee 
and advisory panel recommendations. The Council is also expected to 
review and approve FMP documents (description of measures, draft 
regulatory text and summary of impacts).

Thursday, October 29, 1998

    The meeting will begin with reports on recent activities from the 
Council Chairman, Executive Director, the NMFS Acting Regional 
Administrator, Northeast Fisheries Science Center and Mid-Atlantic 
Fishery Management Council liaisons, and representatives of the Coast 
Guard, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, and the U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service. The Whiting Committee will ask for approval 
of measures for Amendment 12 (whiting) to the Northeast Multispecies 
FMP after a review of the public and advisory panel comments and 
committee recommendations. Major elements of the management program 
include new overfishing definitions and the specification of optimum 
yield as required by the Sustainable Fisheries Act, a moratorium on 
commercial whiting permits, a Cultivator Shoal season change, 
management alternatives for the northern, southern, and Cultivator 
Shoal management areas including minimum mesh sizes and possession 
limits, restrictions on the transfer of whiting and red hake at sea, 
and a final essential fish habitat designation for offshore hake. The 
Groundfish Committee will seek approval of initial action on a 
framework adjustment to the Northeast Multispecies FMP (Framework 26) 
that calls for measures to protect cod prior to May 1, the start of the 
1999 fishing year. Measures under consideration include expanding the 
existing Gulf of Maine groundfish closures in time and area and, 
possibly, expanding them to waters east of Cape Cod; prohibiting the 
use of ``crucifiers,'' a device used in the hook fishery to sort fish 
by size; and prohibiting the landing of overages of the Gulf of Maine 
cod trip limit (eliminating the ``running clock''). The meeting will 
conclude with a presentation of the Draft Highly Migratory Species FMP. 
NMFS staff from the Highly Migratory Species Division will summarize 
the proposed FMP and take questions and comments. Any other outstanding 
Council business also will be discussed at this time.
    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 
document.

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: October 8, 1998.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 98-27581 Filed 10-14-98; 8:45 am]
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