[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 118 (Wednesday, June 21, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28303-28304]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-12962]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XF490


Surveys of Marine Recreational Fishing Effort on the U.S. 
Atlantic Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico; Marine Recreational 
Information Program (MRIP); Center for Independent Experts; Public 
Meeting

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

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

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SUMMARY: NMFS is convening a peer review of a Calibration Model 
proposed by the Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) to 
support its planned transition from a legacy telephone survey to a new 
mail survey for collecting data needed to estimate marine recreational 
fishing effort by shore and private/rental boat anglers on the Atlantic 
coast and in the Gulf of Mexico. The peer review includes reviewers 
appointed by the Center for Independent Experts (CIE), as well as 
reviewers selected by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission 
and the New England, Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic, and Gulf of Mexico 
Fishery Management Councils. This notice lists the time and place of 
the Peer Review Workshop.

DATES: The Workshop will be held from 9 a.m. on June 27, 2017 until 12 
p.m. on June 29, 2017.

ADDRESSES: The Workshop will be held at the Sheraton Hotel, 8777 
Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, MD, 20910; Phone: 301/589-0800.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. David Van Voorhees, Chief of 
Fisheries Statistics Division of NMFS Office of Science and Technology; 
phone 301/427-8189; FAX 301/427-4520; email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Marine Recreational Information Program 
formed a Transition Team in 2015 to plan transitions from legacy survey 
designs to new, or improved, survey designs for monitoring marine 
recreational fishing effort and catch. The Transition Team consists of 
representatives from NOAA Fisheries, the regional fishery management 
councils, the interstate fisheries commissions, and several state 
marine fisheries agencies. The team prepared a transition plan for 
implementing a new mail survey called the ``Fishing Effort Survey'' to 
replace the legacy telephone survey called the ``Coastal Household 
Telephone Survey''. The plan requires development of a calibration 
model to account for consistent differences between the surveys in 
their statistical estimates of fishing effort.
    The Peer Review Workshop will provide an assessment of the model 
developed by MRIP for this purpose. The product of the Workshop will be 
a Summary documenting panel opinions regarding the strengths and 
weaknesses of the proposed calibration model. The panel of reviewers 
will consist of three persons selected by the Center of Independent 
Experts, and four persons selected by the regional fishery management 
councils and ASMFC. The Panel will be chaired by an individual also 
selected by the councils and ASMFC. The Agenda is subject to change, 
and the latest version will be posted at http://www.countmyfish.noaa.gov. The workshop will also be accessible by 
webinar in listen-only mode. Requests for webinar access should be 
directed to NMFS (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT) three days prior 
to the workshop.

Special Accommodations

    This workshop will be physically accessible to people with 
disabilities. Requests for auxiliary aids should be

[[Page 28304]]

directed to NMFS (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT) three days prior 
to the meeting.
    Note: The times and sequence specified in the agenda are subject to 
change.

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

    Dated: June 16, 2017.
Ned Cyr,
Director, Office of Science and Technology, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-12962 Filed 6-20-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P