[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 109 (Tuesday, June 8, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Page 32375]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-13567]





[[Page 32375]]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE



National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration



RIN 0648-XW84




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 three-day Council meeting on Tuesday through Thursday, June 22-24, 

2010, to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the 

exclusive economic zone (EEZ).



DATES: The meeting will begin on Tuesday, June 22 at 9 a.m. and 

Wednesday and Thursday, June 23-24, beginning at 8:30 a.m.



ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Eastland Park Hotel,157 High 

Street, Portland, ME 04101; telephone: (207) 775-5411; fax: (207) 775-

2872.

    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, June 22, 2010



    Following introductions and any announcements, the Council meeting 

will begin with a series of brief reports from the Council Chairman and 

Executive Director, the NOAA Fisheries Regional Administrator, 

Northeast Region, 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. The Enforcement 

Committee will then report about simplifying and enforcing fishing 

regulations, including those associated with sector management, and 

provide an update about improving relations with stakeholders. This 

will be followed by a separate U.S. Coast Guard presentation that 

addresses safety at sea relative to the problem of ageing fishing 

vessels. During the Tuesday afternoon session, the Northeast Regional 

Ocean Council will provide a briefing on its mission and objectives and 

discuss its potential relationship with the NEFMC; and the Habitat 

Committee will bring forward for Council consideration alternative 

management measures to reduce or spatially optimize the adverse effects 

of fishing on essential fish habitat. The measures are under 

consideration for inclusion in Habitat Omnibus Amendment 2, an action 

which would amend all NEFMC Fishery Management Plans (FMPs).



Wednesday, June 23, 2010



    During the morning session, the Council will address only 

multispecies groundfish management-related issues. These will include: 

initial action on Framework Adjustment 45 to the Northeast Multispecies 

FMP. Measures under consideration include possible modification of the 

Georges Bank yellowtail flounder stock rebuilding strategy, new sector 

requests and a general category scallop dredge exemption for yellowtail 

flounder in the Great South Channel. Other Framework 45 measures 

include a party/charter boat limited entry control date, a Gulf of 

Maine winter flounder zero possession limit, accountability measures 

and permit banks in the groundfish fishery. Additional discussion is 

scheduled to consider the possibility of an amendment to address fleet 

diversity and accumulation limits for this fishery and an update on 

activities associated with the Joint Groundfish/Sea Scallop Committee. 

The afternoon session will begin with an overview of the status of 

spiny dogfish by the staff of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center, 

followed by the Scientific and Statistical Committee's (SSC) report on 

its most recent meeting. The SSC's topics include a recommendation for 

a revised red crab Acceptable Biological Catch (ABC) to now include 

discards, an ABC for Atlantic salmon and reports on progress to date 

concerning its ABC control rules, five-year research priorities and an 

ecosystem-based fisheries management white paper. This report will be 

followed by Council actions to revise the red crab ABC and set the 

Atlantic salmon ABC. The day will end with a review of analyses and 

public comments concerning a monkfish management alternative proposed 

at the last Council meeting. If approved, the addition of this 

management measure will constitute the final action on Amendment 5 to 

the Monkfish FMP.



Thursday, June 24, 2010



    The last day of the June Council meeting will include a review of 

any experimental fishery permit applications that have been received 

since the last Council meeting, revisiting Council work priorities 

based on comments from the April Council meeting and an open period for 

public comments. The open public period is an opportunity for 

interested parties to provide brief comments on issues relevant to 

Council business but not listed on the meeting agenda. There also will 

be a report by NOAA Fisheries on recreational fishing issues. The Sea 

Scallop Committee also will begin their report during the morning 

session on Thursday and may take initial action on Framework Adjustment 

22 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop FMP. The primary purpose of the action 

is to set fishery specifications for the 2011-12 fishing years. The 

action also will include measures to minimize the risk sea scallop 

gear/incidental encounters with sea turtles. The Council also will 

review and finalize scallop research recommendations that will apply to 

the fishery management plan's research set-aside program. Before 

adjournment, the Council may address any other outstanding business 

related to this 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: June 2, 2010.

William D. Chappell,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 

Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 2010-13567 Filed 6-7-10; 8:45 am]

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