[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 107 (Friday, June 5, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27021-27022]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-13109]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XP66


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 (Council) will hold 
a four-day Council meeting, on June 22-25, 2009, to consider actions 
affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

DATES: The meeting will begin on Monday, June 22, beginning at 1 p.m., 
and on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, June 23-25, beginning at 8 a.m. 
each day.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn by the Bay, 88 
Spring Street, Portland, ME 04101; telephone: (207) 775-2311; fax: 
(207) 761-8244.
    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:

Monday, June 22, 2009

    Following introductions and any announcements, the Council will 
receive a series of brief reports from the Council Chairman and 
Executive Director, the NOAA Fisheries Northeast Regional 
Administrator, Northeast Fisheries Science Center and Mid-Atlantic 
Fishery Management Council liaisons, NOAA General Counsel, 
representatives of the U.S. Coast Guard and the Atlantic States Marine 
Fisheries Commission, as well as NOAA Enforcement and the Council's 
Enforcement Committee Chairman. These reports will be followed by a 
review of any experimental fishery permit applications that have been 
received since the last Council meeting. The Council will also receive 
a report from its Habitat Committee, with a focus on reviewing a model 
used to assess the adverse impacts of fishing on essential fish habitat 
and for the development of alternatives to minimize those effects. The 
committee also will present a letter for Council approval to be 
forwarded offshore energy proponents in MA about the potential adverse 
impacts of an offshore wind farm project on essential fish habitat. The 
day will conclude with a report from the Interspecies Committee about 
future work products and the presentation of a white paper on the use 
of Annual Catch Limits (ACLs) and Accountability Measures (AMs) in New 
England Council Fishery Management Plans (FMPs).

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

    As the first agenda item of the day, the Chairman of the Council's 
Scientific and Statistical Committee will review the committee's 
recommendations to the Council on Acceptable Biological Catch (ABC) and 
ACLs to be used in the Monkfish FMP, and for proposed methods to be 
used for the calculations of ABC in the Herring and Groundfish FMPs. 
The remainder of the day will be spent on approving alternatives for 
inclusion in a Draft Environmental Impact Statement that will accompany 
Amendment 4 to the Council's Herring FMP. Measures under consideration 
include, in addition to ACLs and AMs, a comprehensive catch monitoring 
program, measures to address river herring bycatch, possible criteria 
for midwater trawl vessel access to areas closed for the conservation 
of species in the groundfish stock complex and measures that would 
address interactions with the mackerel fishery. The Council also will 
discuss the timeline for completion of the amendment as well as a 
fishery specifications package. The day will conclude with a briefing 
by NMFS staff concerning an agency proposal to require the use of 
Turtle Excluder Devices in trawl gear, including several that are used 
in New England fisheries.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

    The entire third day of the Council meeting will be set aside for 
Council approval of Amendment 16 to the Northeast Multispecies 
(Groundfish) FMP. Prior to discussion and decision-making, there will 
be a review of the public comments received regarding the proposed 
action and reports from the Council's Groundfish and Recreational 
Advisory Panels. Amendment 16 addresses several new requirements 
included in the reauthorized Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act (MSRA), continues the stock rebuilding programs adopted 
in previous Council actions and may institute significant changes to 
the existing groundfish management program, including the 
implementation of ``sectors'', a catch share-based system.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

    The morning will begin with the completion of any issues related to 
Council approval of Amendment 16 to the Groundfish FMP. A report by the 
Research Steering Committee Chairman will follow and will include 
recommendations developed concerning the allocation of cooperative 
research funds recently announced by NOAA's leadership. The Council 
will then hold an open comment period during which any interested party 
may address the Council about fishery management-related issues that 
are otherwise not listed on the agenda. By late morning or early 
afternoon, the Monkfish Committee will review and ask for approval of 
alternatives to be included in a Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
that will accompany Amendment 5 to the Monkfish FMP. Amendment 5 will 
implement management reference points to bring the FMP into compliance 
with the MSRA. Amendment 5 will also implement management measures 
(days-at-sea and trip limits) for 2011-13 to update current measures, 
and also modify other elements of the management system, such as, but 
not limited to gear restrictions, minimum fish size, vessel monitoring 
systems, measures to reduce discards, or any other component of the 
current plan.
    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 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.


[[Page 27022]]


    Dated: June 1, 2009.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E9-13109 Filed 6-4-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S