[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 243 (Friday, December 18, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79030-79031]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-31859]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XE364


Gulf of Mexico 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 Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will hold a two-
day meeting of its Standing and Special Reef Fish Scientific and 
Statistical Committee (SSC).

DATES: The meeting will convene on Tuesday, January 5, and Wednesday, 
January 6, 2016; starting 9 a.m. on Tuesday and 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, 
and will adjourn approximately 2 p.m. on Wednesday.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Hilton Westshore Tampa 
Airport Hotel, 2225 N. Lois Avenue, Tampa, FL 33607; telephone: (813) 
877-6688.
    Council address: Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, 2203 N. 
Lois Avenue, Suite 1100, Tampa, FL 33607; telephone: (813) 348-1630.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steven Atran, Senior Fishery 
Biologist, Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council; email: 
[email protected]; telephone: (813) 348-1630.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Agenda

    The Chairman will start the meeting with introductions and adoption 
of agenda, and approval of minutes from the September 1-2, 2015 
Standing and Special Reef Fish Scientific and Statistical (SSC) 
meeting; and selection of an SSC representative to attend the January 
2016 Council meeting. The Committee will review the National Marine 
Fisheries Service's (NMFS) assessment prioritization process and will 
discuss the concept of best scientific information available. The 
Committee will receive an update on SEDAR 43 Gray Triggerfish 
Projections from the Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) and 
will make recommendations for a new rebuilding plan including the 
selection of a projected recruitment scenario, time to rebuild in the 
absence of fishing, determination of a maximum probability of 
overfishing (P*) when setting the allowable biological catch (ABC) and 
recommendations for the overfishing limit (OFL) and ABC. The Committee 
will discuss a constant catch vs. a constant fishing mortality rate (F) 
approach to setting catch limits with respect to stability of 
management; and will receive a projection from the Florida Fish and 
Wildlife Research Institute on constant catch overfishing limits (OFL) 
and acceptable biological catch (ABC) for west Florida shelf stock of 
hogfish. Next, the Committee will review the SEDAR 42 Red Grouper 
Benchmark Assessment. If the Committee accepts the assessment and 
sufficient information is available, the Committee will recommend 
overfishing limits (OFL) and acceptable biological catch (ABC) levels 
for constant F and constant catch for red grouper. The Committee will 
review an options paper for a possible framework action to adjust the 
recreational red snapper annual catch target (ACT) buffer; receive a 
presentation from the NMFS Southeast Regional Office on their methods 
for setting season length, and review methods for assigning probability 
of exceeding the annual catch limit (ACL) at a given ACT buffer. The 
Committee will receive a presentation from the SEFSC on Integrated 
Ecosystem Assessment and Management Strategy Evaluation as it pertains 
to multi-species; and will review Draft Amendment 44 regarding the 
setting of minimum stock size thresholds (MSST) and maximum sustainable 
yield (MSY) proxies. The Committee will review proposed revisions to 
the SEDAR process. The Committee will also review the terms of 
reference and project schedule for SEDAR 49--Gulf of Mexico Data-
limited Species, and select appointees for the data, assessment and 
review groups. Lastly, the Committee will review the SSC meeting 
schedule for 2016; and will discuss other business, if any.
-- Meeting Adjourns --
    The Agenda is subject to change, and the latest version along with 
other meeting materials will be posted on the Council's file server. To 
access the file server, the URL is https://public.gulfcouncil.org:5001/webman/index.cgi, or go to the Council's Web site and click on the FTP 
link in the lower left of the Council Web site (http://www.gulfcouncil.org). The username and password are both ``gulfguest''. 
Click on the ``Library Folder'', then scroll down to ``SSC meeting-
2016-01''.
    The meeting will be webcast over the internet. A link to the 
webcast will be available on the Council's Web site, http://www.gulfcouncil.org.
    Although other non-emergency issues not on the agenda may come 
before the Scientific and Statistical Committee for discussion, in 
accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act, those issues may not be the subject of formal action 
during this meeting. Actions of the Scientific and Statistical 
Committee will be restricted to those issues specifically identified in 
the agenda and any issues arising after publication of this notice that 
require emergency action under Section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens 
Fishery Conservation and Management Act, provided the public has been 
notified of the Council's intent to take action to address the 
emergency.

[[Page 79031]]

Special Accommodations

    This meeting is physically accessible to people with disabilities. 
Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids 
should be directed to Kathy Pereira at the Gulf Council Office (see 
ADDRESSES), at least 5 working days prior to the meeting.

    Dated: December 15, 2015.
Jeffrey N. Lonergan,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-31859 Filed 12-17-15; 8:45 am]
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