[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 236 (Thursday, December 10, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65523-65524]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-29386]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XT24


Fisheries of the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico; Southeastern 
Data, Assessment, and Review (SEDAR)

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

ACTION: Notice of SEDAR Methods and Procedures Workshop 4: Evaluating 
Assessment Uncertainty.

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SUMMARY: SEDAR procedural workshops provide an opportunity for focused 
discussion and deliberation on topics that arise in multiple 
assessments and are structured to develop best practices for addressing 
common issues across assessments. The SEDAR Steering Committee agreed 
that the three completed procedural workshops were effective and that 
similar workshops should be held to address other issues that affect 
multiple assessments. Continuing to address such global issues is 
recognized as an important to continuing improvements in efficiency and 
quality.
    The 4th procedural workshop will consider methods of addressing 
uncertainty in SEDAR assessments, including topics such as developing 
appropriate confidence intervals in both parameter estimates and 
projection outputs, methods of characterizing and expressing assessment 
uncertainty beyond that reflected in confidence intervals, use of 
sensitivity analyses and recommendations on standard sensitivities, and 
relating uncertainty to overall risk evaluation and especially the risk 
of overfishing occurring. Participants will prepare a SEDAR procedures 
document addressing their recommendations that will be used to guide 
future SEDAR assessments. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

DATES: The SEDAR Uncertainty Procedural Workshop will take place 
February 22-26, 2010; SEDAR Uncertainty Procedural Workshop

[[Page 65524]]

Schedule: February 22, 2008: 1 p.m. - 8 p.m.; February 23-25, 2010: 8 
a.m.-8 p.m.; February 26, 2010: 8 a.m. - 1 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The SEDAR Uncertainty Procedural Workshop will be held at 
the Charlotte Marriott SouthPark, 2200 Rexford Road, Charlotte, NC 
28211; telephone: (800) 228-9290 or (704) 364-8220.
    Council address: South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, 4055 
Faber Place Drive, Suite 201, North Charleston, SC 29405.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julie A. Neer, SEDAR Coordinator, 4055 
Faber Place Drive, Suite 201, North Charleston, SC 29405; telephone: 
(843) 571-4366.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Gulf of Mexico, South Atlantic, and 
Caribbean Fishery Management Councils, in conjunction with NOAA 
Fisheries and the Atlantic and Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commissions 
have implemented the Southeast Data, Assessment and Review (SEDAR) 
process, a multi-step method for determining the status of fish stocks 
in the Southeast Region. SEDAR includes three workshops: (1) Data 
Workshop, (2) Assessment Process and (3) Review Workshop. The product 
of the Data Workshop is a data report which compiles and evaluates 
potential datasets and recommends which datasets are appropriate for 
assessment analyses. The product of the Stock Assessment Process is a 
stock assessment report which describes the fisheries, evaluates the 
status of the stock, estimates biological benchmarks, projects future 
population conditions, and recommends research and monitoring needs. 
The assessment is independently peer reviewed at the Review Workshop. 
The product of the Review Workshop is a Summary Report documenting 
Panel opinions regarding the strengths and weaknesses of the stock 
assessment and input data. Participants for SEDAR Workshops are 
appointed by the Gulf of Mexico, South Atlantic, and Caribbean Fishery 
Management Councils and NOAA Fisheries Southeast Regional Office and 
Southeast Fisheries Science Center. Participants include data 
collectors and database managers; stock assessment scientists, 
biologists, and researchers; constituency representatives including 
fishermen, environmentalists, and NGO's; International experts; and 
staff of Councils, Commissions, and state and federal agencies.
    Each SEDAR workshop panel is asked to provide research and 
monitoring recommendations to improve future assessments and feedback 
on the process to help improve SEDAR itself. Over time, certain key 
topics emerge that reveal a research need or procedural suggestion that 
is common to multiple assessments. The SEDAR Steering Committee 
endorses procedural workshops such as that noticed here to address 
those issues that affect multiple assessments and require more time and 
resources to resolve than are typically available during the normal 
assessment development process. The goal of these workshops is to 
develop guidelines and practices that will increase the efficiency of 
subsequent SEDAR assessments.
    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 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 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

    These meetings are physically accessible to people with 
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other 
auxiliary aids should be directed to the Council office (see ADDRESSES) 
at least 10 business days prior to each workshop.

    Dated: December 4, 2009.
William D. Chappell,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E9-29386 Filed 12-9-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S