[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 185 (Tuesday, September 24, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58523-58524]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-23203]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XC776


Advisory Committee to the U.S. Section of the International 
Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas; Fall Meeting

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

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

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SUMMARY: In preparation for the 2013 International Commission for the 
Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) meeting, the Advisory Committee 
to the U.S. Section to ICCAT is announcing the convening of its fall 
meeting.

DATES: The meeting will be held October 10-11, 2013. There will be an 
open session on Thursday, October 10, 2013, from 9 a.m. through 
approximately 2:15 p.m. The remainder of the meeting will be closed to 
the public and is expected to end by 5 p.m. on October 11. Interested 
members of the public may present their views during the public comment 
session on October 10, 2013.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Sheraton Hotel, 8777 Georgia 
Ave., Silver Spring, MD 20910. Written comments should be sent via 
email (Rachel.O'[email protected]). Comments may also be sent via mail to 
Rachel O'Malley at NMFS, Office of International Affairs, Room 10653, 
1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rachel O'Malley, Office of 
International Affairs, 301-427-8373.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Advisory Committee to the U.S. Section 
to ICCAT will meet October 10-11, 2013, first in an open session to 
consider management- and research-related information on stock status 
of Atlantic highly migratory species and then in a closed session to 
discuss sensitive matters. There will be an opportunity for oral public 
comment during the October 10, 2013, open session. The open session 
will be from 9 a.m. through 2:15 p.m. The public comment portion of the 
meeting is scheduled to begin at approximately 12:00 p.m. but could 
begin earlier depending on the progress of discussions. Comments may 
also be submitted in writing for the Advisory Committee's 
consideration. Interested members of the public can submit comments by 
mail or email; use of email is encouraged. All written comments must be 
received by October 8, 2013 (see ADDRESSES).
    ICCAT has recently initiated a 3-year process to develop amendments 
to its Convention in several areas. Key issues under discussion 
include: (1) Clarification of the scope of the Convention, in 
particular with respect to shark conservation and management; (2) 
ecosystem considerations and the precautionary approach; (3) 
improvements to the decision-making processes of the Commission (e.g., 
voting rules, objection procedures, the timing of entry into force of 
measures, and dispute settlement); and (4) provisions to allow the 
participation of fishing entities such as Taiwan (known as Chinese 
Taipei) in ICCAT.
    Clarifying the scope of the Convention is one of the more 
significant issues being considered in this process. ICCAT has adopted 
conservation and management measures for sharks and other bycatch 
species caught in association with ICCAT fisheries over the years. It 
is generally agreed, however, that there would be a benefit to 
clarifying the authority of the organization in this regard. In 
addition, some Contracting Parties to the organization consider that 
ICCAT should have unambiguous authority to manage certain shark 
species, whether taken in directed fisheries or as bycatch.
    ICCAT has not yet determined how it will proceed with regard to the 
question of Convention scope as it relates to sharks. Some approaches 
to this issue that have been discussed include those reflected in 
existing Pacific tuna treaties, namely, the Convention on the 
Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the 
Western and Central Pacific Ocean and the Antigua Convention. These 
models, if applied in the ICCAT context, would bring a wide array of 
shark species and fisheries under the competence of the ICCAT 
Convention. Another option suggested during the Convention Amendment 
Working Group Meeting was to amend the Convention to cover those shark 
species that are ``oceanic, pelagic, and highly migratory.'' The 
intention of the proposal was to narrow the shark species that would 
come under ICCAT management by excluding purely coastal sharks--whether 
they occur only within one country's exclusive economic zone or are 
shared among two or more countries.
    Any expansion of ICCAT's management authority for sharks has 
potential implications for ICCAT, for the covered shark species and 
fisheries, and for U.S. domestic shark management. ICCAT's Convention 
Working Group is also considering a number of other important issues, 
including ecosystem approaches to management, the precautionary 
approach, and the decision making processes of the Commission. The 
United States is in the process of considering its position with 
respect to these matters and welcomes any views that members of the 
public may wish to share.
    NMFS expects members of the public to conduct themselves 
appropriately at the open session of the Advisory Committee meeting. At 
the beginning of the public comment session, an explanation of the 
ground rules will be provided (e.g., alcohol in the meeting room is 
prohibited, speakers will be called to give their comments in the order 
in which they registered to speak, each speaker will have an equal 
amount of time to speak and speakers should not interrupt one another). 
The session will be structured so that all attending members of the 
public are able to comment, if they so choose, regardless of the degree 
of controversy of the subject(s). Those not respecting the ground rules 
will be asked to leave the meeting.
    After the open session, the Advisory Committee will meet in closed 
session to discuss sensitive information relating to upcoming 
international negotiations regarding the conservation and management of 
Atlantic highly migratory species.

Special Accommodations

    The meeting location is physically accessible to people with 
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other 
auxiliary aids should be directed to Rachel O'Malley at (301) 427-8373 
or Rachel.O'[email protected] at least 5 days prior to the meeting date.


[[Page 58524]]


    Dated: September 19, 2013.
Dean Swanson,
Acting Director, Office of International Affairs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-23203 Filed 9-23-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P