[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 62 (Monday, April 1, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12230-12231]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-06228]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XG921


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 16 through Thursday, 
April 18, 2019, beginning at 9 a.m. on April 16 and 8:30 a.m. on April 
17 and 18.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Hilton Hotel, 20 Coogan 
Boulevard, Mystic, CT 06355; telephone: (860) 572-0328; online at 
https://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.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

[[Page 12231]]

Agenda

Tuesday, April 16, 2019

    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 (MAFMC), 
representatives from NOAA General Counsel and NOAA's Office of Law 
Enforcement, and staff from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries 
Commission (ASMFC) and the U.S. Coast Guard. The Council also will 
receive a short report on the South Atlantic Council's Dolphin Wahoo 
Amendment 10. The Council next will receive a presentation from NOAA 
Fisheries on the joint NOAA Fisheries/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
recovery plan for the Gulf of Maine District Population Segment of 
Atlantic Salmon. This will be followed by a GARFO presentation on 
options that will be considered by the Atlantic Large Whale Take 
Reduction Team (ALWTRT) during its April 23-26, 2019 meeting. The 
Council's discussion will focus on potential ALWTRT impacts on New 
England-managed fisheries. GARFO also will provide information about 
the Biological Opinion for all species listed under the Endangered 
Species Act that may be affected by the 10 fishery management plans 
that NOAA Fisheries is consulting on. The Council then will receive a 
progress report on the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's 
Commercial eVTR Omnibus Framework Action, which the MAFMC is developing 
to consider implementing electronic Vessel Trip Reports for all vessels 
with commercial permits for species managed by the Mid-Atlantic 
Council.
    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. The Groundfish Committee will report next. The Council is 
scheduled to approve the range of alternatives for Groundfish 
Monitoring Amendment 23. It also will receive an update on the status 
of ongoing listening sessions, which are being held to gauge public 
interest in whether or not the Council should develop an amendment to 
the groundfish plan to limit access to the party/charter fishery. In 
addition, the Council will receive an update on its Five-Year Catch 
Share Review, which is underway, and then approve a modified Gear 
Standards Policy to facilitate use of gear in accountability measures. 
At the conclusion of the discussion, the Council will adjourn for the 
day.

Wednesday, April 17, 2019

    The Council will begin the day with a progress report from its 
Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management (EBFM) Committee on setting catch 
limits for stock complexes, managing overfished stocks, and other 
issues related to the development of an example Fishery Ecosystem Plan 
(eFEP) for Georges Bank. The Council then will receive the Northeast 
Fisheries Science Center's annual Ecosystem Status Report, which 
provides an update on the condition of the Northeast Continental Shelf 
ecosystem. The Atlantic Herring Committee will report next. First, the 
Council will receive a progress report on the development of 2019-21 
specifications for Atlantic herring and approve the Scientific and 
Statistical Committee's (SSC) acceptable biological catch and 
overfishing limit recommendations. The Council then will identify the 
range of additional management measures for the 2019-21 Atlantic 
herring fishing years if any measures are needed.
    Following the lunch break, the Council will receive and discuss the 
final report from the Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program Review Panel. 
The Council may make recommendations based on the panel's findings. 
Next, the SSC will provide comments and recommendations on the 
Council's revised research priorities, which were developed in 2018 and 
updated based on suggestions from the Council's committees and Plan 
Development Teams. The full Council then will review, discuss, and 
approve the updated list. Before adjourning for the day, the Council 
will review, discuss, and approve updates to the Council Operations 
Handbook regarding the Research Steering Committee, research priority 
setting, and research review policy.

Thursday, April 18, 2019

    The third day of the meeting will begin with a report from the 
Council's executive director on the staff's participation in a 
facilitated offsite workshop, which was held March 13-14, 2019 and was 
prompted by a recommendation from the Council Program Review Panel. The 
remainder of the meeting largely will be devoted to a special session 
titled ``Offshore Wind in the Northeast Region.'' This session will 
cover four wide-ranging subject areas: (1) A broad overview of the 
scope and time horizon of likely offshore wind energy development in 
the region; (2) a summary of the wind energy development process and 
major players; (3) an update on research planning and coordination, 
including wind energy impacts on fishery surveys; and (4) an update on 
regional projects under development. Finally, 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 Thomas A. Nies (see ADDRESSES) at least 5 days 
prior to the meeting date.

    Dated: March 27, 2019.
Rey Israel Marquez,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-06228 Filed 3-29-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P