[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 245 (Monday, December 22, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71095-71096]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E3-00602]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 121503A]


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 public meetings of the Red Snapper Advisory Panel (AP) and the 
Standing and Special Reef Fish Scientific and Statistical Committee 
(SSC) from January 6 through January 7, 2004.

DATES:  The Council's Red Snapper AP and SSC will convene jointly at 2 
p.m. on Tuesday, January 6, 2004, to receive a presentation on the 
vermilion snapper and make recommendations. The AP and SSC will hold 
separate meetings to discuss Draft Reef Fish Amendment 22 (a red 
snapper rebuilding plan) beginning at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, January 
7, 200, and will conclude by 3 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, Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council; telephone: 
813-228-2815.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The AP and SSC will meet jointly on Tuesday, 
January 6 2004 to receive a presentation on the vermilion snapper 
catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) indices from the NOAA Fisheries Southeast 
Fisheries Science Center. Vermilion snapper were recently declared to 
be overfished by the NOAA Fisheries Regional Office, which triggers a 
requirement that the Council develop a rebuilding plan. However, the 
most recent vermilion snapper stock assessment was conducted in 2001 
using data through 1999, and some fishermen feel that it may not be 
representative of the current status of the stock. The updated CPUE 
analyses, which uses data through 2002, will show if there has been any 
change in catch rates since 1999, but it is not a full stock 
assessment. Based on the results of the new CPUE analyses, the AP and 
SSC will each be asked to recommend whether the Council should request 
a new vermilion snapper stock assessment from NOAA Fisheries. The SSC 
will also be asked to evaluate the scientific validity of the new CPUE 
analyses. If a new stock assessment is requested, the earliest it could 
be done is 2005, and it would replace a scamp assessment that is 
currently scheduled for that year. Scamp, one of the most commonly 
caught grouper species after red grouper and gag, has never had a stock 
assessment done, and its status is unknown.
    On Wednesday, January 7, 2004, the AP and SSC will convene 
separately to discuss Draft Reef Fish Amendment 22, a red snapper 
rebuilding plan. Although there is a red snapper rebuilding plan 
currently in place, that plan was developed prior to implementation of 
the Sustainable Fisheries Act of 1996 (SFA), and it is not in full 
compliance with provisions of the SFA. Draft Amendment 22 will create a 
new rebuilding plan that is in compliance by establishing status 
determination criteria (minimum stock size threshold, maximum fishing 
mortality rate, maximum sustainable yield, and optimum yield). Draft 
Amendment 22 will also contain alternatives to select a rebuilding 
strategy that will restore the red snapper stock within the time frame 
allowed under SFA (the recovery time in the absence of fishing 
mortality plus one generation time, equal to 32 years for red snapper). 
The amendment will also contain alternatives to implement or revise 
bycatch reporting methodologies in the commercial and recreational red 
snapper fisheries.
    The recommendations of the AP and SSC will be presented to the Gulf 
Council at its January 12-15, 2004 meeting in Austin, TX. At that 
meeting, the Council will decide whether to request a vermilion snapper 
stock assessment in place of a scamp assessment in 2005, and will take 
final action on selection of proposed alternatives for Amendment 22.
    Copies of the updated vermilion snapper CPUE analyses and Draft 
Reef Fish Amendment 22 can be obtained by calling the Council office at 
813-228-2815 (toll-free 888-833-1844), or can be downloaded from the 
Council website (http://www.gulfcouncil.org).
    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

    This meeting is physically accessible to people with disabilities. 
Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids 
should be directed to

[[Page 71096]]

Trish Kennedy at the Council (see ADDRESSES) by December 29, 2003.

    Dated: December 16, 2003.
Richard W. Surdi,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E3-00602 Filed 12-19-03; 8:45 am]
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