[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 197 (Friday, October 10, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58662-58663]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-25819]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 100603B]


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 
public meetings of the Reef Fish Advisory Panel (AP)and the Standing 
and Special Reef Fish Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) from 
October 28 through October 29, 2003.

DATES: The Council's Reef Fish AP and SSC will convene jointly at 1 
p.m. on Tuesday, October 28, 2003, to receive presentations. The AP and 
SSC will hold separate meetings to discuss the issues and make 
recommendations beginning at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, October 29, 2003, 
and will conclude by 5 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The meetings will be held at the Hilton Tampa Airport 
Westshore Hotel, 2225 Lois Avenue, Tampa, FL; telephone: 813-877-6688.
    Council address: Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, 3018 
U.S. Highway 301 North, Suite 1000, Tampa, FL 33619.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The AP and the SSC will convene to review a 
yellowtail snapper stock assessment and a revised Reef Fish Secretarial 
Amendment 1 (red grouper rebuilding plan).
    A yellowtail snapper stock assessment was prepared by the Florida 
Marine Research Institute (FMRI) on behalf of the Florida Fish and 
Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management 
Council, and the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council. The 
assessment was conducted using a process known as Southeast Data 
Assessment and Review (SEDAR). Under this process, a SEDAR Data 
Workshop was held on March 3-7, 2003, to bring researchers, managers, 
fishermen and environmental organization representatives together to 
review the available scientific information on yellowtail snapper, 
goliath grouper and vermilion snapper. A SEDAR Assessment Workshop was 
then held on June 9-13, 2003, to again bring researchers, managers, 
fishermen and environmental representatives together to conduct the 
actual assessment. A draft stock assessment from that workshop was 
presented to a SEDAR Assessment Review Workshop held in Tampa July 28-
31, 2003. The review workshop, in addition to convening researchers, 
managers, fishermen and environmental organization representatives, 
also included several assessment experts

[[Page 58663]]

from outside of the Gulf region, including two provided by the 
University of Miami's Center for Independent Experts. Based on the 
results of the Assessment Review Workshop, a final version of the 
yellowtail snapper stock assessment was prepared, along with 
recommendations of the Assessment Review Workshop on the status of the 
stock and selection of status determination criteria (maximum fishing 
mortality rate, minimum stock size threshold, and optimum yield). These 
recommendations were presented to the Gulf Council's Socioeconomic 
Panel on September 10-12, 2003. The yellowtail snapper stock 
assessment, recommendations of the SEDAR Assessment Review Panel, and 
Socioeconomic Panel will be presented during the joint AP/SSC session 
on October 28, 2003. Afterwards, the AP and SSC will meet separately on 
October 29, 2003, to discuss the issues and make recommendations to the 
Gulf Council.
    Red grouper were declared overfished by NMFS in October 2000, based 
on a 1999 assessment plus additional analyses conducted in 2000. A 2002 
stock assessment by NMFS found that the red grouper stock was back 
above its minimum stock size threshold, but it had been below the 
threshold in 1999, confirming the need for a rebuilding plan to restore 
the stock to a level capable of producing maximum sustainable yield on 
a continuing basis. In May 2003, the Council submitted Reef Fish 
Secretarial Amendment 1 to NMFS that called for approximately a 10 
percent reduction in harvest, to be achieved through a reduction in the 
commercial shallow-water grouper quota, replacing the February 15 to 
March 15 commercial closed season on gag, red and black grouper with a 
shallow-water grouper trip limit, and a recreational bag limit of no 
more than two red grouper (out of the 5 aggregate grouper bag limit). 
The rebuilding plan also proposed a reduction in the deep-water grouper 
quota and setting of a tilefish quota in order to discourage effort 
shifting to those stocks. NMFS has reviewed the plan as submitted by 
the Gulf Council and has made revisions to it. These revisions will be 
presented during the joint AP/SSC session on October 28, 2003. The AP 
and SSC will then meet separately on October 29, 2003, to discuss the 
issues and make recommendations to the Gulf Council.
    Although other non-emergency issues not on the agenda may come 
before the AP/SSC 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 
AP/SSC 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

    Copies of the agendas of these meetings and the stock assessments 
can be obtained by calling the Council office at 813-228-2815 (toll-
free 888-833-1844). Additional materials, including the Reef Fish Stock 
Assessment Panel report and the Socioeconomic Panel (SEP) report, can 
also be obtained from the Council office or downloaded from the Council 
website (http://www.gulfcouncil.org) but the SEP report may not be 
available until just prior to the meetings. 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 October 17, 2003.

    Dated: October 06, 2003.
Richard W. Surdi,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 03-25819 Filed 10-9-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S