[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 167 (Wednesday, August 28, 2002)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 55192-55193]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-21809]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[I.D. 082002B]


New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

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

ACTION: Public meeting notification.

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SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold 
a 3-day Council meeting from September 10 through September 12, 2002, 
to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the U.S. 
exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

DATES: The meeting will be held on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 
September 10, 11, and 12, 2002. The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. on 
Tuesday and at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday and Thursday.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Providence Biltmore Hotel, 
11 Dorrance Street, Kennedy Plaza, Providence, RI 02903; telephone 
(401) 421-0700. Requests for special accommodations should be addressed 
to the New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water Street, Mill 2, 
Newburyport, MA 01950; telephone (978) 465-0492.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul J. Howard, Executive Director, 
New England Fishery Management Council, (978) 465-0492.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Tuesday, September 10, 2002

    Following introductions, newly appointed and re-appointed Council 
members will take the Oath of Office and the Council will elect its 
2002-2003 slate of officers. Late in the morning session there will be 
a presentation by the State Department liaison on the European Union's 
request to negotiate a governing international fisheries agreement 
(GIFA), with particular implications for the Atlantic herring fishery. 
There also will be a briefing on the status of the U.S. National Plan 
of Action under the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's 
International Plan of Action to address Illegal, Unregulated, and 
Unreported Fishing. During the afternoon session there will be a 
presentation by NMFS Office of Law Enforcement about its Vessel 
Monitoring System (VMS)

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program. There also will be a discussion, led by the Council's VMS 
Committee, on recommendations concerning consistency of VMS 
requirements across fishery management plans (FMPs). This will be 
discussed in the context of a change to the Atlantic Herring FMP that 
would require evidence of a VMS onboard the vessel prior to issuance of 
a herring fishing permit, thereby creating consistency with other 
Council management plans that require a VMS. The Enforcement Committee 
will then report on a proposal to prohibit fishermen who hold Federal 
fisheries permits from selling fish to an unlicenced dealer. This 
committee also will brief the Council on its review of management 
measures proposed for inclusion in the Northeast Multispecies and 
Atlantic Sea Scallop FMPs, and the proposed Northeast Skate FMP from an 
enforcement perspective, the enforceability of general category 
landings restrictions, particularly the state waters only exemption for 
Atlantic sea scallops. The final agenda item for the day will consist 
of a presentation by NMFS staff on streamlining the FMP adjustment and 
monitoring process and a discussion of potential alternatives that 
would promote regulatory efficiency.

Wednesday, September 11, 2002

    The Council meeting will reconvene on Wednesday with possible 
action on groundfish concerning the review and approval of draft text 
for the status determination criteria section to be included in the 
Northeast Multispecies FMP Amendment 13 Draft Supplemental 
Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS). Council staff also will brief 
the Council on progress to date on preparation of the Amendment 13 
DSEIS to clarify any associated issues related to that work. The 
Council's Research Steering Committee will then review recent committee 
activities, including the status and content of recent and future NMFS' 
Requests for Proposals to solicit collaborative research projects. The 
Council's Whiting Committee will present a report, including a 
presentation of 2002 Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation Report for 
small mesh multispecies, and a discussion of recommendations from the 
Whiting Monitoring Committee. The committee intends to approve initial 
action on Framework 37 to the Northeast Multispecies FMP. The Council 
will select management options for analysis that may modify or 
eliminate the Year 4 default measure for small mesh multispecies and 
may establish new exempted fishery areas for whiting within the Gulf of 
Maine/Georges Bank Regulated Mesh Area. The Mid-Atlantic and New 
England Councils will hold a scoping hearing on issues related to 
Amendment 2 to the Monkfish FMP. The Councils are considering revising 
the monkfish limited access permit system in Amendment 2 to allow 
vessels that landed monkfish after the original control date in the 
southern end of the range of the fishery to qualify for permits. The 
public will have an opportunity to provide oral comments at this time.

Thursday, September 12, 2002

    The meeting will reconvene on Thursday with reports on recent 
activities from the Council Chairman and Executive Director, the NMFS 
Regional Administrator, Northeast Fisheries Science Center and Mid-
Atlantic Fishery Management Council liaisons, NOAA General Counsel and 
representatives of the U.S. Coast Guard, NMFS Enforcement and the 
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. This will be followed by a 
brief period for public comments on any item relevant to Council 
business, but not otherwise listed on the agenda. The Habitat Committee 
will request that the Council consider its recommendations on 
alternatives to minimize the effects of scallop fishing on Essential 
Fish Habitat for inclusion in Amendment 10 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop 
FMP and for analysis in the associated DSEIS. During the final 
afternoon of the meeting, the Scallop Committee will ask the Council to 
consider approval of final action on Framework Adjustment 15, the 
annual adjustment to the Atlantic Sea Scallop FMP. Options under 
consideration for the 2003 fishing year include, but are not limited 
to, an adjustment to the annual day-at-sea allocations for vessels with 
full-time, part-time, and occasional limited access permits, ranging 
from 45 full-time days (no action) to 120 full-time days (status quo) 
and other amounts that meet the FMP's mortality objective; continuing 
the controlled access program for one or both of the Hudson Canyon and 
Virginia Beach/North Carolina Areas (VA/NC) or no action (re-opening 
the areas to general scallop management). The controlled access program 
changes include raising the scallop possession limit to 21,000 pounds 
meat weight and allocating trips to limited access vessels based on a 
high or low mortality target for these rebuilt areas. Other provisions 
of the controlled access program would continue unchanged. A day-at-sea 
tradeoff exemption procedure for vessels that fish in the Hudson Canyon 
and VA/NC Areas controlled access program, but whose trips are 
terminated early due to weather, illness, equipment failure or other 
reasons also will be considered. The Council meeting will adjourn once 
any other outstanding business is addressed.
    Although other non-emergency issues not contained in this agenda 
may come before this Council for discussion, those issues may not be 
the subjects of formal action during this meeting. Council action will 
be restricted to those issues specifically listed in this notice. Any 
issues arising after publication of this notice that require emergency 
action under section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act will be addressed, provided that the 
public has been notified of the Council's intent to take final action 
to address the emergency.
    The New England Council will consider public comments at a minimum 
of one Council meeting before making recommendations to the NMFS 
Regional Administrator on any framework adjustment to a fishery 
management plan. Documents pertaining to framework adjustments are 
available for public review 7 days prior to a final vote by the 
Council.

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.

    Dated: August 21, 2002.
Virginia M. Fay,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 02-21809 Filed 8-27-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S