[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 59 (Monday, March 28, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17139-17141]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-06897]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XE537


Western Pacific Fishery Management Council; Public Meetings

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

ACTION: Notice of public meetings and hearings.

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SUMMARY: The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) will 
convene a meeting of its Fishery Ecosystem Plan Team (Insular fisheries 
and Pelagic fisheries teams) and the Fishery Data Collection and 
Research Committee--Technical Committee (FDCRC-TC). The FEP Team will 
review the revised annual report to serve as the Stock Assessment and 
Fishery Evaluation (SAFE) Report for the Western Pacific region, 
conduct the evaluation of the 2015 catches to the 2015 Annual Catch 
Limits (ACL) for the coral reef, crustacean, and Territory bottomfish 
fisheries, and look at options for changing the current risk 
determination process and specification of optimum yield (OY). The 
FDCRC-TC will review the status of the data collection improvement 
efforts in the Western Pacific region and address the data collection 
gaps identified by the FEP Teams to support the monitoring of the 
fisheries in the SAFE report.

DATES: The FEP Team meeting will be held between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. 
on April 11-13, 2016. The Insular and Pelagic Teams will have 
concurrent sessions from 8:30 a.m. on April 11, 2016 to 12 noon on 
April 12, 2016. A joint FEP Team session will be held from 1 p.m. on 
April 12, 2016 to 5 p.m. on April 13, 2016. The FDCRC-TC will be held 
on April 14-15, 2016. For specific times and agendas, see SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION.

ADDRESSES: The FEP Team and FDCRC-TC meetings will be held at the Ala 
Moana Hotel, 410 Atkinson Dr., Honolulu, HI 96814; phone (808) 956-
4262. The Insular Fisheries Team concurrent session will be at the 
Carnation Room while the Pelagic Fisheries Team concurrent session will 
be at the Plumeria Room. The Joint FEP Team meeting will be at the 
Garden Lanai Room. The FDCRC-TC meeting will be at the Ilima Room.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kitty M. Simonds, Executive Director, 
phone: (808) 522-8220.

[[Page 17140]]


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Public comment periods will be provided 
throughout the agendas. The order in which agenda items are addressed 
may change. The meetings will run as late as necessary to complete 
scheduled business.

Agenda for FEP Team Meeting--Insular Fishery Concurrent Session

8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday, April 11, 2016

1. Welcome and introductions
2. Approval of draft agenda, 2015 report & assignment of rapporteurs
3. Report on previous Plan Team recommendations and Council actions
4. 2015 Annual/SAFE Report
    A. Fishery Performance
    i. Insular fisheries modules
    a. American Samoa
    i. Coral reef fisheries
    ii. Bottomfish fishery
    iii. Crustacean fishery
    iv. Precious coral fishery
    b. Guam
    i. Coral reef fisheries
    ii. Bottomfish fishery
    iii. Crustacean fishery
    iv. Precious coral fishery
    c. Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)
    i. Coral reef fisheries
    ii. Bottomfish fishery
    iii. Crustacean fishery
    iv. Precious coral fishery
    d. Hawaii
    i. Coral reef fisheries
    ii. Bottomfish fishery
    iii. Crustacean fishery
    iv. Precious coral fishery
    e. Pacific Island Remote Island Areas (PRIA)
    i. Coral reef fisheries
    ii. Bottomfish fishery
    iii. Crustacean fishery
    iv. Precious coral fishery
    ii. Discussions
    iii. Public Comment
    B. Ecosystem Considerations
    i. Protected species section
    ii. Climate, ecosystems and biological section
    a. Environmental & climate variables
    b. Coral reef ecosystem variables
    c. Life history and length-derived variables
    iii. Habitat section
    iv. Human dimension section
    v. Marine Planning section
    vi. Discussions
    vii. Public Comment
    C. Administrative Reports
    i. Number of federal permits
    ii. Regulatory actions in 2015
    iii. Discussions
    iv. Public Comment

Agenda for FEP Team Meeting--Pelagic/International Fishery Concurrent 
Session

8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday, April 11, 2016

1. Welcome and introductions
2. Approval of draft agenda, 2015 report & assignment of rapporteurs
3. Report on previous Plan Team recommendations and Council actions
4. 2015 Annual/SAFE Report
    A. Ecosystem Considerations
    i. Climate change variables
    ii. Habitat conditions
    iii. Human dimensions
    iv. Protected species
    B. Fishery Performance
    i. CNMI
    ii. American Samoa
    iii. Guam
    iv. Hawaii
    v. International
    vi. Recreational
    C. Discussion
    D. 2015 annual report region-wide recommendations
    E. Public Comment

Agenda for FEP Team Meeting--Insular Fishery Concurrent Session 
(continued)

8:30 a.m.-12 p.m., Tuesday, April 12, 2016

    D. Facilitated discussion on dealing with data gaps and variable 
definitions
    i. Fishery modules
    ii. Ecosystem modules
    E. Workshop discussion on data integration (Chapter 3)
    F. Summary of annual report module action items
    G. Discussions
    H. Public Comment

Agenda for FEP Team Meeting--Pelagic/International Fishery Concurrent 
Session

8:30 a.m.-12 p.m., Tuesday, April 12, 2016

5. Continued discussion on Monday agenda items (if needed)
6. Other Pelagic FEP issues
    A. Amendments
    B. Other regulatory issues
7. Western Central Pacific Fishery Commission 12 Outcomes
8. Protected Species
    A. Seabirds
    B. Turtles
9. Discussion on CPUE variability with regards to the implementation of 
turtle mitigation measures in the AS longline fishery
10. Discussion
10. Public Comment

Agenda for the Joint Fishery Ecosystem Plan Team Meeting

1 p.m.-5 p.m., Tuesday, April 12, 2016

1. Welcome and introductions
2. Approval of the draft Joint meeting agenda, 2015 report, and 
assignment of rapporteurs
3. Plan Team 101 and Regional Operating Agreement (ROA)
4. Status of Fishery Ecosystem Plan revision
5. Monitoring and updating priorities
    A. Council's 5-year research priorities--work item (process of 
monitoring the status of the research priorities)
    B. Cooperative Research priorities
    i. Regional Implementation Framework
    ii. Revision of priorities to streamline with Magnuson-Stevens Act 
requirement
    C. Pacific Island Fisheries Research Program
    D. Discussions
    E. Public Comment

8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Wednesday, April 13, 2016

6. Action agenda items
    A. Evaluating 2015 catches to its respective 2015 ACLs
    i. Coral reef fisheries
    ii. Crustacean fisheries
    iii. Territory bottomfish fisheries
    B. ACL specification process amendment
    i. Method of risk determination
    ii. ACL as OY
    C. Ecosystem component designation criteria: changing Management 
Unit Species designation
    D. Discussions
    E. Public Comment
7. Workshop discussion on ecosystem and fishery data integration
    A. Data availability
    B. Initial data integration discussion
    C. Developing integration workplan
    D. Discussions
    E. Public Comment
8. General Discussions
9. Fishery Ecosystem Plan Team Recommendations
10. Other Business

Agenda for FDCRC-TC Meeting

8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Thursday, April 14, 2016

1. Welcome and introductions
2. Approval of draft agenda, 2015 report & assignment of rapporteurs
3. Report on previous FDCRC-TC recommendations and Council actions
4. Status of the data collection improvement efforts

[[Page 17141]]

    A. American Samoa
    B. Guam
    C. CNMI
    D. Hawaii
    E. Marine Recreational Information Program and Territory Science 
Initiative Projects
    F. Western Pacific Fishery Information Network Database Transition 
and Online Interface
    G. Discussions
    H. Public Comment
5. 2015 Annual/SAFE Report Recommendations
    A. Overall Annual/SAFE Report Framework
    i. Linkages with the on-the-ground data collection
    ii. Timelines for data submission for Annual/SAFE Report
    B. Discussion on Addressing Recommendations from the Fishery 
section
    i. Insular fisheries modules
    a. American Samoa
    b. Guam
    c. CNMI
    d. Hawaii
    ii. Ecosystem Considerations
    a. Climate, ecosystems and biological section
    b. Human dimension section
    C. Discussions
    D. Public Comment
6. Strategic Plan Monitoring
    A. 2009 Data Workshop Recommendations and Status
    B. Status of tasks for the FDCRC Strategic Plan
    C. Grants and Funding Opportunity Matrix
    D. Group discussion on status monitoring procedure
    E. Discussions
    F. Public Comment

8:30 a.m.-12 p.m., Friday, April 15, 2016

7. Improving the on-the-ground data collection
    A. How much more do we need to collect: SHINY Database Analytics
    B. BioSampling Program Review
    C. Establishing Import-Export Database System
    D. Discussions
    E. Public Comment
8. General Discussions
9. FDCRC-TC Recommendations
10. Other Business

    Non-emergency issues not contained in this agenda may come before 
the Council for discussion and formal Council action during its 163rd 
meeting. However, Council action on regulatory issues will be 
restricted to those issues specifically listed in this document and any 
regulatory issue arising after publication of this document that 
requires emergency action under section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens 
Act, provided the public has been notified of the Council's intent to 
take action to address the emergency.

Special Accommodations

    These meetings are physically accessible to people with 
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other 
auxiliary aids should be directed to Kitty M. Simonds, (808) 522-8220 
(voice) or (808) 522-8226 (fax), at least 5 days prior to the meeting 
date.

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

    Dated: March 23, 2016.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-06897 Filed 3-25-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P