[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 102 (Wednesday, May 28, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30554-30555]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-12199]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XD310


New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

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

ACTION: Notice; public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is 
scheduling a peer review by the Center for Independent Experts (CIE) on 
June 12-13, 2014. The review panel is being convened for the purpose of 
providing expert technical comments and advice on the use of a final 
report prepared by Compass Lexecon for the Council in Amendment 18 to 
the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan. The report is 
titled, ``Recommendations for Excessive-Share Limits in the Northeast 
Multispecies Fishery'' and was submitted to the Council in December 
2013. The peer review is being coordinated by NMFS and hosted by the 
Council.

DATES: This meeting will be held on Thursday June 12, 2014 and Friday 
June 13, 2014. The meeting will be open to the public on the first day, 
June 12 and begin at 9 a.m. The review panel will meet in a closed 
session on June 13, 2014.

ADDRESSES: 
    Meeting address: The meeting will be held at the Hawthorne Hotel, 
18 Washington Square West, Salem MA 01970; telephone: (978) 744-4080; 
fax: (978) 745-2626.
    Council address: New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water 
Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas A. Nies, Executive Director, 
New England Fishery Management Council; telephone: (978) 465-0492.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The New England Fishery Management Council 
has been developing Amendment 18 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery 
Management Plan. One goal of Amendment 18 is to consider establishing 
accumulation limits in the fishery. Through this Amendment, the Council 
has been working to identify an ``excessive share'' threshold for the 
fishery. All federal fishery management plans must comply with National 
Standard 4 of the Magnuson-Stevens Act (16 U.S.C. 1851(a)(4)), 
requiring that fishing privilege allocations be carried out so that 
``no particular individual, corporation, or other entity acquires an 
excessive share of such privileges.'' During the course of the 
Council's deliberations, it was decided that additional expertise from 
an external contractor was needed to help determine if excessive shares 
exist in the fishery today and describe potential constraints that 
could prevent excessive shares from existing in the future. To provide 
this expertise, the economic consulting firm Compass Lexecon was 
contracted to give advice on an appropriate excessive share threshold 
for the Northeast Multispecies Fishery.
    Compass Lexecon performed their analysis in the latter half of 
2013. Their research involved receiving input from fishery stakeholders 
via surveys and interviews and analyzing NMFS fishery data. Compass 
Lexecon assessed available models for evaluating the presence of market 
power, and made recommendations with regard to setting accumulation 
limits. Their final report will be evaluated by the Center for 
Independent Experts (CIE) on June 12-13, 2014.
    The National Marine Fisheries Service's Office of Science and 
Technology coordinates and manages a contract providing external 
expertise through the CIE to conduct independent peer reviews of NMFS 
scientific projects. CIE reviewers are selected by the CIE Steering 
Committee and CIE Coordination Team to conduct the independent peer 
review in compliance with predetermined Terms of Reference of the peer 
review. Each CIE reviewer is contracted to deliver an independent peer 
review report to be approved by the CIE Steering Committee, and the 
Chairman will provide a summary report. Further information on the CIE 
process can be obtained from www.ciereviews.org.

Special Accommodations

    This meeting is physically accessible to people with disabilities. 
Requests for

[[Page 30555]]

sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids should be directed 
to Thomas A. Nies, Executive Director, at (978) 465-0492, at least 5 
days prior to the meeting date.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    Dated: May 21, 2014.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2014-12199 Filed 5-27-14; 8:45 am]
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