[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 9 (Friday, January 13, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2038-2039]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-553]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XA931


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 meeting from January 31, 2012, through February 2, 2012 to 
consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive 
economic zone (EEZ).

DATES: The meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 31 through 
Thursday, February 2, 2012, starting at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, 8 a.m. on 
Wednesday, and 8:30 a.m. on Thursday.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Sheraton Portsmouth 
Harborside Hotel, 250 Market Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801-3478; 
telephone: (603) 431-2300; fax: (603) 431-7805.
    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 31, 2012

    Following introductions and any announcements, brief reports will 
be presented by the Council Chairman and Executive Director, NOAA 
Fisheries Regional Administrator (Northeast Region), Northeast 
Fisheries Science Center and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council 
liaisons, as well as NOAA General Counsel, representatives of the U.S. 
Coast Guard and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, and 
staff from the Vessel Monitoring Systems Operations and Law Enforcement 
offices. During this period, the Council also will receive an update on 
the activities of the Northeast Regional Ocean Council. That discussion 
will be followed by a review of any experimental fishery permit 
applications that have been made available since the November 2011 
Council meeting.
    The Council will then receive an update on progress to date on 
Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) Omnibus 2, which is focusing on the 
development of management alternatives to minimize the adverse effects 
of fishing activities on essential fish habitat and the protection of 
deep sea corals. Next, the Council's Research Steering Committee will 
review its findings on a number final cooperative research projects and 
its ongoing discussions with NOAA Fisheries about accounting for 
scientific research catch and the sale of that catch. An open period 
for public comments will follow during which any interested party may 
provide brief comments on issues relevant to Council business but not 
listed on the meeting agenda.
    Following a lunch break, Council staff will present a white paper 
outlining the details of a draft Fishery Management Plan Performance 
Evaluation process. This will include a question and answer session for 
both the Council and public. This is part of the Council's actions to 
respond to the Touchstone Report on the fisheries management process in 
New England. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will present 
an update and discuss several New England offshore wind energy projects 
and proposals. The day will conclude with a report from the Council's 
Sea Scallop Committee. The committee's intent is to request initiation 
of Framework 24 to the Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan (FMP). That 
action will include fishery specifications for fishing years 2013 and 
2014, as well as several additional measures identified by the Council 
in priority order: (1) Possible modification of Georges Bank access 
area opening dates; (2) measures to address sub-annual catch limits for 
yellowtail flounder for the limited access general category (LAGC) 
trawl fishery; and (3) leasing LAGC Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) fish 
mid-year.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

    The day will begin with a summary of Stock Assessment Workshop 
(SAW) 53 results and possibly the subsequent peer review of the Gulf of 
Maine cod and black sea bass assessments addressed during the SAW. The 
Scientific and Statistical Committee's (SSC) report will follow, during 
which the committee chairman will provide an overview of SSC's December 
2012 planning meeting, including the use of social science information 
in the development of a risk policy for ABC recommendations, a process 
for addressing cod discard mortality in the groundfish hook fishery and 
SSC outreach. There also will be a detailed report of the committee's 
January 25, 2012 discussion and any decisions about the status of Gulf 
of Maine (GOM) cod.
    Following the SSC's report, the Council will receive a briefing on 
new Marine Recreational Information Program estimates of recreational 
catch for 2004 to 2011. The Council's interest here is Gulf of Maine 
cod and haddock. The Groundfish Committee will then report on a range 
of issues. These include a report on the Northeast Multispecies FMP 
Amendment 18 scoping hearings concerning accumulation limits, the 
development of a course of action to address the recent Gulf of Maine 
cod stock assessment and a possible request to NOAA Fisheries for 
emergency action to address overfishing of that stock. There will be an 
update concerning progress on a new sector framework adjustment and 
potential modifications to the groundfish closed areas in effect in the 
FMP. Finally, there will be a presentation on the Rednet Project, a 
cooperative fishermen/scientific effort to redevelop a sustainable 
redfish trawl fishery. This may be followed by a review of recent 
sector exemption requests and any related Council recommendations.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

    The last day of the Council meeting will begin with development of

[[Page 2039]]

comments on the Small Mesh Multispecies Secretarial Amendment, an 
action that which will address the small mesh hake fishery and is 
scheduled to become effective on May 1, 2012. The Council also will be 
asked to approve final Draft Amendment 19 to Northeast Multispecies FMP 
for purposes of holding public hearings on the proposed alternatives. 
This will be followed by a discussion of progress to develop a range of 
alternatives for consideration in Amendment 6 to the Monkfish FMP. The 
Council also will consider adopting a committee recommendation to 
establish a control date for use in the development of future 
management measures including, but not limited to, catch shares and 
accumulation limits. There will be a briefing by NOAA Fisheries 
concerning its intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and 
FMP amendment that would consider catch shares for the Atlantic shark 
fisheries. Council meeting adjournment will take place once the 
Enforcement Committee asks for Council input on recommendations 
concerning gear stowage and NOAA Enforcement's draft priorities 
document.
    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 10, 2012.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-553 Filed 1-12-12; 8:45 am]
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