[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 62 (Friday, March 30, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13733-13735]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-06482]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XG122


New England Fishery Management Council; 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: The New England Fishery Management Council (Council, NEFMC) 
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, April 17, 2018 through 
Thursday, April 19, 2018, beginning at 9 a.m. on April 17, 8:30 a.m. on 
April 18, and 8:30 a.m. on April 19.

ADDRESSES: 
    Meeting address: The meeting will be held at the Hilton Hotel, 20 
Coogan Boulevard, Mystic, CT 06355; telephone: (860) 572-0731; online 
at www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/connecticut/hilton-mystic-MYSMHHF/index.html.
    Council address: New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water 
Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950; telephone: (978) 465-0492; 
www.nefmc.org.

[[Page 13734]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas A. Nies, Executive Director, 
New England Fishery Management Council; telephone: (978) 465-0492, ext. 
113.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Agenda

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

    After introductions and brief announcements, the meeting will begin 
with reports from the Council Chairman and Executive Director, NMFS's 
Regional Administrator for the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries 
Office (GARFO), liaisons from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center 
(NEFSC) and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, representatives 
from NOAA General Counsel and the Office of Law Enforcement, staff from 
the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and U.S. Coast Guard, 
and the Northeast Trawl Advisory Panel. Next, the Council will receive 
some introductory remarks from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 
(BOEM), which will be holding an open house in a neighboring meeting 
room to collect comments and answer questions on offshore wind leasing 
activities. The Habitat Report will be next, beginning with an update 
on proposed and ongoing offshore energy projects in the Northeast. The 
Council then will receive a progress report on the Clam Dredge 
Framework, which is being developed to consider surfclam dredge fishery 
access to the new Great South Channel Habitat Management Area. The 
Council will discuss whether to consider a mussel dredge exemption in 
the framework within the habitat management area. The Skate Committee 
will report next. The Council may take final action on Framework 
Adjustment 6 to the Northeast Skate Complex Fishery Management Plan 
(FMP), which contains alternatives for prolonging the length of the 
skate wing fishery.
    After the lunch break, members of the public will have the 
opportunity to speak during an open comment period on issues that 
relate to Council business but are not included on the published agenda 
for this meeting. The Council asks the public to limit remarks to 3-5 
minutes. Following public comment, the Scallop Committee will provide a 
progress report on 2018 priorities, including adjustments to General 
Category Individual Fishing Quota trip limits and monitoring/catch 
accounting provisions. The Council may discuss possible adjustments to 
its scallop priorities to allow consideration of standard default 
measures in Framework Adjustment 30. This framework will include 
specifications for the 2019 scallop fishing year and default 
specifications for fishing year 2020, along with other measures. The 
Council Program Review will be next. A panel of external reviewers with 
scientific and management expertise met March 13-16, 2018 to 
independently assess the New England Council's operations and 
performance. The Council will review and discuss the panel's findings 
and recommendations for improvement. The Council then will adjourn for 
the day.

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

    The second day of the meeting will begin with a report from NMFS 
staff on the agency's draft policy directive for allocating costs in 
electronic monitoring (EM) programs in federal fisheries. The 
Groundfish Committee report will follow. The Council will receive an 
update on the potential range of alternatives in Groundfish Monitoring 
Amendment 23, which is under development to improve the overall catch 
and discard monitoring program in the Northeast multispecies fishery. 
The Council then will discuss Northeast Fishery Sector IX. First, the 
Council will receive a GARFO overview on: (a) Sector IX steps to 
address shortcomings in meeting the requirements of its previous sector 
operations plan; and (b) Sector IX's proposed lease-only operations 
plan as submitted to GARFO. The Council will consider making 
recommendations to NMFS on the proposed operations plan.
    Following a lunch break, the Council will be briefed on highlights 
from the March 28-29, 2018 Saltwater Recreational Fisheries Summit. 
Next, the Council will take up the issue of ``best scientific 
information available'' (BSIA). The Council will review NMFS's draft 
document on BSIA and then receive feedback and recommendations on the 
draft from its Scientific and Statistical Committee. The Council will 
consider making recommendations to NMFS on the BSIA draft document. The 
Council next will receive a presentation on the Atlantic Large Whale 
Take Reduction Team's recent meetings and related activities. Following 
any pertinent discussion, the Council will receive a presentation by 
NMFS staff on agency proposals to address overfishing and rebuild North 
Atlantic shortfin mako sharks. The Council will conclude the day with a 
short report on: (a) NMFS's Highly Migratory Species Advisory Panel's 
(AP) recent meeting, which will include the AP's comments on shortfin 
mako sharks; and (b) the International Commission for the Conservation 
of Atlantic Tunas Advisory Committee's recent meeting.

Thursday, April 19, 2018

    The third day of the meeting will begin with an Atlantic herring 
report. The Council will review and discuss an updated white paper that 
addresses issues related to potentially adding river herring and shad 
as stocks in the Atlantic herring fishery. The Council may take action 
related to this item. The Council also will discuss the implications of 
the river herring/shad bycatch accountability measures that recently 
were triggered in both the Atlantic herring and Atlantic mackerel 
fisheries. The Council then will move into its Industry-Funded 
Monitoring (IFM) discussion. GARFO staff will present NMFS's final 
report on a recent EM project conducted aboard midwater trawl vessels 
in the Atlantic herring and Atlantic mackerel fisheries. The Council 
then will debate whether EM, coupled with portside sampling, provide a 
sufficient alternative to at-sea monitoring in the Atlantic herring 
midwater trawl fishery. This discussion may lead to Council action 
within the Omnibus IFM Amendment.
    Following a lunch break, the Council will receive the annual 
Ecosystem Status Report from NEFSC staff. The report summarizes the 
status of the Northeast Continental Shelf ecosystem. The Council then 
will review and discuss proposals being prepared for NMFS to address 
regulatory reform as mandated by Executive Orders 13777, 13771, and 
13565. The Council will close out the meeting with ``other business.''
    Although non-emergency issues not contained on this agenda may come 
before the Council for discussion, those issues may not be the subject 
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 Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act, provided the public has been notified of the Council's 
intent to take final action to address the emergency. The public also 
should be aware that the meeting will be recorded. Consistent with 16 
U.S.C. 1852, a copy of the recording is available upon request.

Special Accommodations

    This meeting is physically accessible to people with disabilities. 
Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids 
should be directed to

[[Page 13735]]

Thomas A. Nies (see ADDRESSES) at least 5 days prior to the meeting 
date.

    Dated: March 27, 2018.
Jeffrey N. Lonergan,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2018-06482 Filed 3-29-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P