[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 87 (Tuesday, May 6, 2003)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 23948-23949]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-11086]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[I.D. 042803F]


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 3-day Council meeting on May 20 through 22, 2003, to consider actions 
affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

DATES: The meeting will be held on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 
May 20, 21, and 22, 2003. The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. on Tuesday 
and 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday and Thursday.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at Tavern on the Harbor, 30 Western 
Avenue, Gloucester, MA 01930; telephone (978) 283-4200. 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, May 20, 2003

    Following introductions, the Council will receive 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 
briefing on coordination of groundfish and scallop management actions. 
Specifically, the Council will discuss the development of Framework 
Adjustment 39 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan 
(FMP), which involves measures that would allow scallop vessels to fish 
in the Georges Bank groundfish closed areas on a controlled basis 
during 2004-2007. Following this agenda item and a noon time break, the 
Council will provide a brief opportunity for comments from the public 
on issues that are not otherwise listed on the agenda, but are relevant 
to Council business. The Enforcement Committee will then review the 
enforcement analyses developed for Amendment 2 to the Monkfish FMP and 
the groundfish habitat alternatives in Amendment 13 to the Northeast 
Multispecies FMP. They will also forward recommendations concerning the 
use of Vessel Monitoring Systems as it relates to the U.S./Canada 
Resource Sharing Agreement now included in draft Amendment 13. Also 
during the afternoon session of the meeting the Council will be 
provided with a progress report on the development of the Draft 
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement being prepared in 
conjunction with Northeast Multispecies FMP Amendment 13. Before 
adjournment for the day, there will be an opportunity for comment on 
the NMFS proposed rule to extend the multispecies settlement agreement 
measures until Amendment 13 implementation. Items in this discussion 
may include but are not limited to issues that affect the recreational 
sector and the gillnet fishery.

Wednesday, May 21, 2003

    The Monkfish Committee is scheduled to ask for approval of measures 
to be analyzed in the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement 
being prepared for Amendment 2 to the Monkfish FMP. This action is 
being proposed to address various problems in the monkfish management 
program, including the following: possible adjustments to the days-at-
sea system (de-linking the use of monkfish days-at-sea from 
multispecies and scallop days-at-sea); incidental catch limits, 
measures to minimize impacts on essential fish habitat, and other 
components of the plan; a separate offshore fishery program in the 
Southern Management Area and adjustments to the limited access permit 
qualification criteria for vessels fishing south of 38 degrees. The 
Council will also consider a recommendation concerning the vessel 
upgrade baseline on permits that have been transferred to smaller 
vessels. The Superintendent of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine 
Sanctuary (SBNMS) will speak to the Council about revisions to the 
SBNMS Management Plan. The remainder of the afternoon will be spent 
addressing habitat issues. The Habitat Committee will review and ask 
for approval of habitat alternatives for inclusion in the Herring and 
Salmon FMPs to comply with the American Oceans Campaign versus Daley 
lawsuit and Magnuson-Stevens Act requirements. They will also discuss 
and may ask for approval of a final recommendation from the joint 
advisory panel on a habitat closed area alternative to be included in 
Amendment 13 to the Multispecies Plan. Finally, there will be 
discussion of the second amendment to the Omnibus Habitat Amendment 
including a review of the purpose and timeline.

Thursday, May 22, 2003

    The final day of the meeting will begin with a presentation on the 
NMFS Observer Program. In addition to providing an overview, NMFS staff 
will address mandatory coverage, program requirements and data 
confidentiality. The Herring Committee will review herring assessment 
results forwarded by the U.S./Canada Transboundary Assessment Committee 
as well as the Herring Plan Development Team's recommendations 
concerning annual specifications for the 2004 fishing year (January 1 
through December 31, 2004). The Council will also consider a 
recommendation to ``rollover'' current (2003) specifications until 
Amendment 2 is completed (for the 2005 fishing year) and final approval 
of the specifications for the 2004 fishing year. Following a noon time 
break there will be a report from the Rhode Island Sea Grant staff 
about a series of bycatch workshops hosted by the Sea Grant College 
Programs and held throughout New England in 2002. Prior to addressing 
any other outstanding business, the Council will receive an update from 
its Research Steering Committee on recent activities.
    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

[[Page 23949]]

action during this meeting. Council action will be restricted to those 
issues specifically listed in this notice and any issues arising after 
publication of this notice that require emergency action under section 
305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, provided that the public has been 
notified of the Council's intent to take final 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 Paul J. Howard (see ADDRESSES) at least 5 days 
prior to the meeting date.

    Dated: April 30, 2003.
Richard W. Surdi,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 03-11086 Filed 5-5-03; 8:45 am]
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