[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 157 (Monday, August 14, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49542-49543]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-20467]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 080400E]


Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

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

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will convene a

[[Page 49543]]

public meeting of the Reef Fish Stock Assessment Panel (RFSAP).

DATES: This meeting will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, August 28, and 
conclude by 3:00 p.m. on Friday, September 1, 2000.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at NMFS Southeast Fisheries Science 
Center, 75 Virginia Beach Drive, Miami, FL.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steven Atran, Population Dynamics 
Statistician, Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, 3018 U.S. 
Highway 301 North, Suite 1000, Tampa, FL 33619; telephone: 813-228-
2815.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The RFSAP will convene to review the 
following information provided by NMFS:
    1. 2000 Greater amberjack stock assessment
    2. 2000 Update to the 1998 vermilion snapper stock assessment
    3. 1999 Red grouper stock assessment with corrected tables
    4. Draft red snapper restoration scenario
    5. Microsoft Excel spreadsheet for calculating biological targets 
and thresholds for groupers and tilefish
    Based on its review of the greater amberjack and red grouper stock 
assessments, and the vermilion snapper assessment update, the RFSAP may 
recommend a range of allowable biological catch (ABC) for 2001 for each 
stock, and may recommend management measures to achieve the ABC. In the 
NMFS October 1999 Report to Congress on the Status of Fisheries of the 
United States, the greater amberjack stock was classified as not 
overfished, based on the previous stock assessment in 1996. However, 
there were concerns that the sampling program had excluded older and 
larger fish, making the results of that assessment questionable. The 
red grouper stock was classified as status unknown due to problems 
discovered with the age and growth data used in the 1993 assessment. A 
new assessment in 1999, initially reviewed by the RFSAP in the Fall of 
1999, indicated that the red grouper stock was overfished. However, the 
Council's Standing and Special Reef Fish Scientific and Statistical 
Committee (SSC) had a number of concerns about the data and methods 
used by NMFS. The NMFS response to the SSC concerns will be part of the 
RFSAP's reevaluation of the 1999 red grouper assessment. The vermilion 
snapper stock was classified as not overfished based on a 1998 
assessment, but some model scenarios from the assessment suggested that 
the stock was being fished at a rate that could result in it becoming 
overfished. It was therefore classified by NMFS as approaching an 
overfished condition.
    The RFSAP will also review a draft red snapper restoration scenario 
proposed by NMFS, which would allow for a transition from a constant 
annual catch strategy to a constant fishing mortality rate strategy, 
and would provide for reevaluation of the stock at five-year intervals. 
The RFSAP will also review a method developed by NMFS, using a 
Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, for determining management targets and 
thresholds for groupers and tilefish based on the technical guidance 
recommended by NMFS for compliance with the Sustainable Fisheries Act 
of 1996. The resulting RFSAP recommendations will be presented to the 
Council's Socioeconomic Panel, Reef Fish Advisory Panel, and SSC, and 
to the Council at its November 13-16, 2000 meeting in Biloxi, MS.
    The RFSAP is composed of biologists who are trained in the 
specialized field of population dynamics. They advise the Council on 
the status of stocks and, when necessary, recommend a level of ABC 
needed to prevent overfishing or to effect a recovery of an overfished 
stock. They may also recommend catch restrictions needed to attain 
management goals.
    Although other non-emergency issues not on the agendas may come 
before the RFSAP for discussion, in accordance with the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, those issues may not 
be the subject of formal action during these meetings. Actions of the 
RFSAP will be restricted to those issues specifically identified in the 
agendas and any issues arising after publication of this notice that 
require emergency action under Section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens 
Act, provided the public has been notified of the Council's intent to 
take action to address the emergency.

Special Accommodations

    This meeting is 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 
August 21, 2000.

    Dated: August 7, 2000.
Richard W. Surdi,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 00-20467 Filed 8-11-00; 8:45 am]
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