[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 8 (Wednesday, January 13, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1752-1753]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-623]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XT67


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 3-day Council meeting to consider actions affecting New England 
fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

DATES: The meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 26 through 
Thursday, January 28, 2010. The meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m. on each 
of the 3 meeting days.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Sheraton Harborside Hotel, 
250 Market Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801; telephone: (603) 431-2300 and 
fax: (603) 433-5649.
    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:

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

    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. These reports will 
be followed by a review of any experimental fishery permit applications 
that have been received since the last Council meeting. During the 
morning session the Council also will review sector implementation as 
developed in the Northeast Multispecies (Groundfish) Fishery Management 
Plan (FMP) as part of a report to be provided by the National Marine 
Fisheries Service Regional Office staff from Gloucester, MA. After a 
lunch break, the Council will review and provide feedback to the 
Northeast Fisheries

[[Page 1753]]

Science Center on their performance monitoring and evaluation plan 
concerning existing and future catch share programs. The Council's 
Herring Committee will present an overview of the management measures 
proposed in Amendment 4 to the Atlantic Herring FMP, including the 
establishment of annual catch limits and accountability measures, and 
select final measures before submitting the action to NMFS. NOAA 
leadership will present a briefing on its Catch Shares Policy and 
conduct a question and answer session following the presentation.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

    The second day of the Council meeting will begin with a discussion 
about and possible reconsideration of Framework 21 to the Atlantic Sea 
Scallop FMP. Pending the outcome of this agenda item, the Council also 
may revisit Framework 44 to the Northeast Multispecies FMP to change 
the yellowtail flounder allocation to the scallop fleet in that action. 
Later, the Groundfish Committee will ask for approval of alternative 
rebuilding strategy options for the Georges Bank yellowtail flounder 
stock. The Chairman of the Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) 
will report on the committee's comments concerning a model developed by 
the Habitat Plan Development Team (PDT) to analyze alternatives to 
minimize adverse impacts of fishing activities. The SSC also will 
report on the process-related issues addressed at the last SSC meeting 
as well as the comments of SSC members on the published proposed rule 
concerning practices and procedures related to National Standard 2. The 
Habitat Committee will comment, where appropriate, about the model 
developed by its PDT, as well as on President Obama's Interagency Ocean 
Policy Task Force Report: Interim Framework for Effective Coastal and 
Marine Spatial Planning.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

    The Council will begin the last day of the meeting with a 
discussion of several outstanding issues related to work priorities for 
2010. The Northeast Fisheries Science Center staff will follow with two 
reports, one on the status of projected observer days-at-sea for the 
upcoming year in accordance with the Council's Standard Bycatch 
Reporting Methodology rules and another on the Vessel Calibration 
Workshop held late last year. The Council also intends to approve a 
range of alternatives to be analyzed in Amendment 3 to the Red Crab 
FMP. The action will include annual catch limits and accountability 
measures, and possibly a total allowable catch for the fleet. The day 
will conclude with an open period for public comments about items not 
listed on the agenda but related to Council business and any other 
outstanding issues that were postponed until the end of the meeting.
    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.

    Dated: January 11, 2010.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-623 Filed 1-12-10; 8:45 am]
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