[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 155 (Monday, August 12, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Page 52455]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-20382]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 080502J]


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 (Council) will 
convene a public meeting via conference call of the Reef Fish Advisory 
Panel (AP) and Reef Fish Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC).

DATES: The AP meeting will be via conference call on August 26, 2002 
beginning at 10 a.m. EST. The SSC meeting will be via conference call 
on August 28, 2002 beginning at 10 a.m. EST.

ADDRESSES: A listening station will be available at the following 
locations: NMFS Southeast Regional Office, 9721 Executive Center Drive, 
North, St. Petersburg, FL 33702, Contact: Joyce Mochrie at 727-570-
5305; NMFS Pascagoula Laboratory, 3909 Frederic Street, Pascagoula, MS 
39567, Contact: Cheryl Hinkel at 228-762-4591, ext. 267.
    Council address: Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, 3018 
U.S. Highway 301 North, Suite 1000, Tampa, FL 33619.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peter Hood, Fishery Biologist, Gulf of 
Mexico Fishery Management Council; telephone: 813-228-2815.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The AP and SSC will be convened to review 
the Council's proposed Secretarial Amendment 2 to the Reef Fish Fishery 
Management Plan (FMP) to set greater amberjack Sustainable Fisheries 
Act (SFA) targets and thresholds and to set a rebuilding plan. The AP 
and SSC will be convened via conference call beginning at 10 a.m. EST 
on August 26, 2002 and August 28, 2002, respectively. The greater 
amberjack resource in the Gulf of Mexico was declared overfished by 
NMFS on February 9, 2001 based on the 2000 greater amberjack stock 
assessment. The results of several analyses indicated that the stock 
biomass was below the level needed to sustain harvest at maximum 
sustainable yield (MSY), with the best estimate indicating that the 
stock biomass was at less than half the biomass needed to sustain MSY, 
below the minimum level allowed under the 1998 NMFS National Standard 
Guidelines. However, NMFS concluded that overfishing is not currently 
occurring due to the recent implementation of management measures that 
were not reflected in the stock assessment. These measures included: 
(1) a reduction in the greater amberjack recreational bag limit from 3 
to 1 fish (implemented 1997); (2) a commercial closed season during 
March, April and May (implemented 1998); and (3) partial protection of 
misidentified juvenile greater amberjack by establishment of a slot 
limit on lesser amberjack/banded rudderfish of 14 and 22 inches fork 
length plus an aggregate 5-fish recreational bag limit. As a result of 
this finding, additional measures to end overfishing are not needed, 
but a plan to rebuild the stock is needed.
    Because NMFS has declared the stock overfished, the Council is 
required to rebuild the stock to a level where it is no longer 
considered overfished. Before a plan can be put into effect, management 
targets and thresholds that the stock needs to achieve must be defined. 
These are: definitions for maximum sustainable yield (MSY), optimum 
yield (OY), the minimum stock size threshold (MSST) below which a stock 
is considered to be overfished, the maximum fishing mortality threshold 
(MFMT) above which a stock is considered to be undergoing overfishing. 
The proposed amendment also provides alternative rebuilding plans that 
will rebuild the stock within 10 years or less and are based on various 
rebuilding strategies.
    A copy of the agenda can be obtained by contacting the Council (see 
ADDRESSES).
    Although non-emergency issues not contained in the agenda may come 
before the AP/SSC for discussion, in accordance with the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSFCMA), those issues 
may not be the subject of formal action during this meeting. 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.

Special Accommodations

    The listening station 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 19, 2002.

    Dated: August 7, 2002.
Richard W. Surdi,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 02-20382 Filed 8-9-02; 8:45am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S