[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 94 (Wednesday, May 16, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27542-27543]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-9373]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[XRIN: 0648-XA29]


New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

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

ACTION: Notice of a public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council's (Council) Vessel 
Monitoring Systems (VMS)/Enforcement Committee will meet to consider 
actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone 
(EEZ).

[[Page 27543]]


DATES: The meeting will be held on Monday, June 18, 2007, at 1 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Eastland Park Hotel, 157 
High Street, Portland, ME 04101; telephone: (207) 775-5411.
    Council address: New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water 
Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The items of discussion in the committee's 
agenda are as follows:
    1. Introduction: safety, regulation compliance, and familiarizing 
industry with the proper use of VMS.
    2. Presentation by NOAA's Office for Law Enforcement: the 
capabilities and limitations of VMS as an enforcement tool.
    3. Comments and recommendations from the public, VMS users, state 
agencies and the Coast Guard. The committee has received the following 
requests:
    a. Safe harbor protocol, to suspend a fishing trip due to storms or 
other emergencies;
    b. Produce a laminated sheet of emergency contacts;
    c. Declaration in/out of a fishery while at sea, rather than in 
port;
    d. Change polling frequency, to be based on fishery declaration;
    e. Closed area transit declaration, to minimize gear stowage 
requirements;
    f. Completion of the days-at-sea (DAS) web page by NMFS;
    g. Inform fishermen of existing safety features on their VMS units 
by vendors.
    h. Examine polling outages, frequency and duration, by vendor.
    i. Improve safety by consistently applying the minimum landing 
limit to once per 24 hours across all fisheries.
    j. Develop an updated VMS program to eliminate inconsistent or 
duplicative regulations, and increase flexibility and improve 
administration of industry reporting requirements.
    4. Industry and law enforcement dialog on VMS usage and how it can 
be improved.
    5. Other business.
    Although non-emergency issues not contained in this agenda may come 
before this group for discussion, 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 Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act, provided 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.

    Authority:  16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    Dated: May 11, 2007.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E7-9373 Filed 5-15-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S