[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 166 (Friday, August 25, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51809-51810]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-21805]


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 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 081800H]


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 meeting.

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SUMMARY: The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will convene 
public meetings.

DATES: The meetings will be held on September 11-14, 2000.

ADDRESSES: These meetings will be held at the Adam's Mark Hotel, 64 
South Water Street, Mobile, AL; telephone: 334-438-4000.
    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

September 13

    8:30 a.m--Convene.
    8:45 a.m.- 12:00 noon--Receive public testimony on a proposed 
Dolphin/Wahoo Fishery Management Plan (FMP). Persons who will testify 
must turn in a registration card before the start of the testimony 
period on Wednesday.
    1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m.--Receive the report of the Mackerel Management 
Committee.
    3:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.--Receive a report of the Reef Fish Management 
Committee.
    4:00 p.m.- 4:30 p.m. --Receive a report of the Shrimp Management 
Committee.
     4:30 p.m.- 4:45 p.m. --Receive a report of the Stone Crab 
Management Committee.
    4:45 p.m.- 5:00 p.m. --Receive a report of the Red Drum Management 
Committee.
    5:00 p.m..- 5:15 p.m. --Receive a report of the Joint Reef Fish and 
Mackerel Management Committees.
    5:15 p.m.- 5:30 p.m. --Receive a report of the Budget Committee.

September 14

     8:30 a.m.- 10:30 a.m. --Receive a report of the Administrative 
Policy Committee.
    10:30 a.m.- 10:45 a.m.--Receive a report of the Migratory Species 
Management Committee.
    10:45 a.m.- 11:00 a.m. --Receive a report of the International 
Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas Advisory Committee 
Meeting.
    11:00 a.m.- 11:15 a.m. --Receive enforcement reports.
    11:15 a.m.- 11:30 a.m. --Receive the NMFS Regional Administrator's 
Report.
    11:30 a.m.- 11:45 a.m. --Receive Director's Reports.
    11:45 a.m- 4:30 p.m. -- Other Business.
    12:00 noon --Election of Chairman and Vice Chairman.

September 11

    9:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon-- Convene the Administrative Policy 
Committee to discuss amendments to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act (MSFCMA) and will develop 
recommendations for comments to be heard by full Council on Thursday 
morning.
    1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. -- Convene the Budget Committee to review the 
CY 2001 budget.
     2:00 p.m.- 5:00 p.m. -- Convene the Mackerel Management Committee 
to discuss the proposed Dolphin/Wahoo FMP and develop recommendations 
for final action by the full Council on Wednesday afternoon. The 
Dolphin/Wahoo FMP has been prepared by the South Atlantic, Gulf, and 
Caribbean Fishery Management Councils. The first 10 actions, with 
options, of the Dolphin/Wahoo FMP contain measures that are applicable 
to the dolphin and wahoo stocks in the jurisdictions of all 3 councils. 
These include measures to: define the management units; address dealer, 
vessel, and operator permits; consider data reporting requirements; 
identify estimates of maximum sustainable yield, optimum yield, and 
overfishing/overfished criteria; and, framework options to enable 
seasonal adjustments to the management structure. Other actions, with 
options, are separately applicable to each council's area of 
jurisdiction, and include actions that may be implemented through the 
framework procedures, e.g. minimum size limits, bag limits, trip 
limits, and allocations, among others.
    5:00 p.m.- 5:30 p.m. --Convene the Migratory Species Management 
Committee to discuss proposed management actions for billfish.

September 12

     8:30 a.m- 11:30 a.m. -- Convene the Reef Fish Management Committee 
to receive a report on a juvenile red snapper study, the Reef Fish 
Stock Assessment Panel's recommendations on grouper complex rebuilding 
scenarios, and to discuss requiring vessel monitoring systems (VMS) in 
Reef Fish Amendment 18.
    12:30 p.m- 2:00 p.m. -- Convene the Shrimp Management Committee to 
discuss Draft Shrimp Amendment 11 and approve it for public hearings. 
The draft amendment has alternatives, that if adopted, would require 
shrimp vessels to have permits or be registered, and operators to have 
permits.
    2:00 p.m- 3:30 p.m. -- Convene the Joint Reef Fish and Mackerel 
Management Committees to approve a Draft Amendment for Charter Vessel 
Permit Moratorium for public hearings. The draft amendment proposes to 
put a moratorium on the issuance of additional permits for charter 
vessels to fish for reef fish or coastal migratory pelagics in Federal 
waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The amendment will make the charter 
vessel permits transferable.

[[Page 51810]]

    3:30 p.m- 5:00 p.m. -- Convene the Stone Crab Management Committee 
to approve Draft Stone Crab Amendment 7 for public hearings. The draft 
amendment proposes to create a federal trap certificate program to 
complement the trap certificate program adopted by the state of 
Florida.
    5:00 p.m- 5:30 p.m. -- Convene the Red Drum Management Committee to 
hear recommendations of the Red Drum Stock Assessment Panel for 
carrying out research to determine the status of the stock.Although 
non-emergency issues not contained in the agenda may come before the 
Council for discussion, in accordance with the MSFCMA, 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 this notice and any issues arising after publication of 
this notice that require emergency action under section 305 (c) of the 
MSFCMA, provided the public has been notified of the Council's intent 
to take final action to address the emergency.
    A copy of the Committee schedule and agenda can be obtained by 
calling (813) 228-2815.

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 September 5, 2000.

    Dated: August 18, 2000.
Richard W. Surdi,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 00-21805 Filed 8-24-00; 8:45 am]
Billing Code: 3510-22-S