[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 104 (Monday, June 1, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31019-31021]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-13108]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC); Public Meeting

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

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Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold 
a three-day meeting to consider actions affecting New England fisheries 
in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

DATES: The meeting will be held on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 
starting at 8:30 a.m. on each of the meeting days.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Hotel Viking, 1 Bellevue 
Ave., Newport, RI 02840. The telephone number is (401) 847-3300. Check 
www.hotelviking.com/ for online information.
    Council address: New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water 
Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950; telephone: (978) 465-0492.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

    The Council meeting will begin with introductions followed by brief 
reports from the NEFMC Chairman and Executive Director, the NOAA 
Fisheries Regional Administrator (Greater Atlantic Region), the 
Northeast Fisheries Science Center and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management 
Council liaisons, NOAA General Counsel and Office of Law Enforcement, 
and representatives of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission 
and U.S Coast Guard. The public will then have an opportunity to bring 
forward brief comments on items that are relevant to Council business 
but otherwise not listed on the published agenda. The NEFMC also will 
finalize its comments on a proposed rule to revise the guidelines for 
National Standards 1, 3, and 7 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act. Prior to a lunch break, Council 
members will receive a report from its Habitat Committee. The intent is 
to finalize the management measures that remain outstanding from the 
April 2015 Council meeting by approving them for inclusion in Omnibus 
Essential Fish Habitat Amendment 2. Specifically, the Council will 
select Georges Bank habitat management areas and mortality 
alternatives, as well as spawning alternatives for Georges Bank/
Southern New England and the Gulf of Maine, and then approve the entire 
amendment for submission to NMFS. Discussion about this agenda item 
will continue after the lunch break and until the meeting adjourns at 
the end of this meeting day.

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

    The Wednesday session will begin with a report on the April 2015 
Atlantic herring operational stock assessment. This will be followed by 
a review of topics and issues related to the development of Amendment 8 
to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan (FMP). They include 
consideration of the following: (1) A report from the Ecosystem-based 
Fisheries Management (EBFM) Plan Development Team about the development 
of alternatives for a herring acceptable biological catch (ABC) control 
rule that includes consideration of the role of herring as a forage 
species in the ecosystem; (2) a report from the Council's Scientific 
and Statistical Committee (SSC) on the development of an ecosystem-
based ABC control rule for Atlantic herring; (3) recommendations from 
the Joint Herring/EBFM Committee; and (4) the Amendment 8 scoping 
comments. The Council will then provide guidance to the Herring 
Committee on the development of goals and objectives for Amendment 8 
and ABC control rule alternatives. The SSC will report on any comments 
it may have on the herring stock assessment and present its 
recommendation for an Atlantic herring ABC to the Council.
    After a noon lunch break, the Council will begin work on the 
Atlantic herring fishery specifications for 2016-18. They will: (1) 
Possibly select a preferred alternative for the 2016-18 herring ABC and 
take action on other elements of the herring specifications; and (2) 
provide guidance to the Herring Committee on developing options for 
Atlantic herring sub-annual catch limits; and (3) address provisions 
for research set-asides and river herring/shad catch caps to be 
included in the specifications package. The day will conclude after the 
Council reviews and discusses a number of reports that are scheduled to 
be finalized at the June meeting of the FMCs Coordination Committee. 
These are Integrating NEPA Compliance into a Reauthorized Magnuson-
Stevens Act, Criteria for Initiating Fisheries Allocation Reviews, and 
a NOAA white paper on Cooperative Research and Cooperative Management.

Thursday, June 18, 2015

    The Thursday session will begin with a briefing on the summary 
report of the March 2015 peer review of the sea scallop survey 
methodologies used in the Northeast. Next, the Sea Scallop Committee 
will discuss development of two actions associated with the Council's 
Sea Scallop FMP. They are Amendment 19, to address issues associated 
with the late implementation of fishery specifications; and Amendment 
27 to the FMP, in which 2016-17 fishery specifications will be set. The 
Council also will approve research priorities for the 2016-17 scallop 
research set-aside program and discuss a draft white paper and possibly 
a workshop that would focus on concerns raised about scallop fishing 
patterns in nearshore areas. The Monkfish Committee will recommend 
final Council approval of Framework Adjustment 9 to the Monkfish FMP, 
an action that primarily involves adjustments to fishing days-at-sea in 
order to promote greater operational flexibility in the fishery. 
Following a lunch break, there will be reports from the Northeast 
Fisheries Science Center. The first will outline the process used to 
form stock assessment working groups and the second will concern the 
establishment of a Northeast Trawl Survey Advisory Panel. The Council's 
Electronic Working Group will then provide a brief update on its recent 
activities, followed by a Groundfish Committee report. During this last 
report the Council will initiate action on specifications for all 
groundfish stocks for fishing years 2016-18, including the three U.S./
Canada stocks, for fishing year2016. It also will receive an analysis 
of industry costs for at-sea monitoring (ASM) and potentially discuss 
changes to the Northeast Multispecies FMP to address industry concerns 
around the feasibility of the existing requirement that sectors assume 
some of the costs of the ASM program.
    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 Thomas A. Nies (see ADDRESSES) at least 5 days 
prior to the meeting date.


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    Dated: May 27, 2015.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-13108 Filed 5-29-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P