[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 221 (Thursday, November 15, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Page 68105]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-27682]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Fisheries of the Caribbean; Southeast Data, Assessment, and 
Review (SEDAR); Public Meetings

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

ACTION: Notice of cancellation for SEDAR Review Workshop for Caribbean 
blue tang and queen triggerfish.

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SUMMARY: The SEDAR assessments of the Caribbean stocks of blue tang and 
queen triggerfish will no longer have an in-person Review Workshop. See 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

DATES: The Review Workshop originally scheduled for February 4-7, 2013 
has been cancelled. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The original notice published in the Federal 
Register on May 7, 2012 (77 FR 26746).
    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) Stock 
Assessment Workshop; 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 Workshop 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 Consensus Summary 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 the 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 non-governmental organizations 
(NGOs); international experts; and staff of Councils, Commissions, and 
state and federal agencies.

February 4-7, 2013; SEDAR 30 Review Workshop--CANCELLED

    The in-person Review Workshop, scheduled for 4-7 February 2013 to 
review the 2012 assessments of blue tang and queen triggerfish, has 
been cancelled. At the Assessment workshop, held October 16-17, 2012 in 
Miami, FL, the Assessment Panel decided not to move forward with the 
blue tang assessment due to data issues and determined that little 
could be accomplished for queen triggerfish beyond what had been 
completed to date.
    Given the reduced scope of assessment products in need of review, 
the in-person workshop is being cancelled in favor of a Desk Review. 
The Desk Review would still utilize Center for Independent Experts 
(CIE) Reviewers. The Reviewers would be provided the assessment reports 
of each species, review them according to the Terms of Reference (TOR), 
and provide an individual independent review report. Those reports 
would be made available to the analysts, as well as to the Scientific 
and Statistical Committee (SSC), for their review and discussion before 
the SSC makes any management recommendations. The timing of the Desk 
Review would be similar to the timing already in place for the project, 
with the plan to have the material imparted to the SSC by early March 
2013.
    All other previously-published information remains unchanged.

    Dated: November 8, 2012.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-27682 Filed 11-14-12; 8:45 am]
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