[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 174 (Monday, September 9, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47258-47260]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-19381]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XV054


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 four-day meeting to consider actions affecting New England 
fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

DATES: The meeting will be held on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and 
Thursday, September 23, 24, 25, and 26, 2019, beginning at 1:30 p.m. on 
September 23 and 8:30 a.m. on September 24, 25, and 26.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Beauport Hotel, 55 
Commercial Street, Gloucester, MA 01930; telephone (978) 282-0008; 
online at www.beauporthotel.com.
    Council address: New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water 
Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950; telephone (978) 465-0492; 
www.nefmc.org.

[[Page 47259]]


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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Agenda

Monday, September 23, 2019

    After introductions and brief announcements, the meeting will begin 
with the swearing-in of reappointed Council members, followed by the 
annual election of officers. Next, the Council will hear 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 NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement, and staff from 
the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), U.S. Coast 
Guard, and Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. The Council then 
will take up the Atlantic Herring Committee report and discuss two 
issues. For the first one, the Council will: (a) Receive a presentation 
on a draft discussion document about Atlantic herring spawning on 
Georges Bank; and (b) discuss possible Council action on next steps. 
Regarding the second issue, the Council used a Management Strategy 
Evaluation (MSE) process to develop acceptable biological catch (ABC) 
control rule alternatives for Amendment 8 to the Atlantic Herring 
Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The Council recently took a step back to 
solicit stakeholder feedback and conduct a ``debrief'' on how that 
process went. At this meeting, the Council will receive an overview of 
the results of the debriefing. Next, the Council will receive a 
presentation from GARFO on NMFS's determination that an Endangered 
Species Act listing for alewife and blueback herring, also known as 
river herring, was ``not warranted.'' Following these actions, the 
Council will adjourn for the day.

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

    The Council will begin the day by discussing a Commercial eVTR 
Omnibus Framework that is under development jointly with the Mid-
Atlantic Fishery Management Council. The framework proposes to require 
that vessel trip reports (VTRs) be submitted electronically instead of 
on paper for all commercial species managed by both Councils. The Mid-
Atlantic Council initiated the action, and in June, the New England 
Council joined in. This marks the first framework meeting for the 
omnibus action by the New England Council. Next, the Scientific and 
Statistical Committee (SSC) will provide the Council with overfishing 
limit (OFL) and ABC recommendations for: Georges Bank yellowtail and 
the Northeast skate complex for fishing years 2020-2021; monkfish for 
2020-2022; and deep-sea red crab for 2020-2023. The Monkfish Committee 
will report next. The Council will take final action on Framework 
Adjustment 12, which contains 2020-2022 fishing year specifications and 
other measures for the Monkfish FMP. This will be followed by the 
Atlantic Deep-Sea Red Crab report, where the Council will take final 
action on 2020-2023 specifications for the red crab fishery. Skates 
will be up next. The Council will discuss and take final action on 
Framework Adjustment 8, which contains 2020-2021 fishing year 
specifications and other measures for the Northeast skate complex. It 
also will receive the fishing year 2018 Annual Monitoring Report for 
the skate complex.
    Following the lunch break, the Council will hear from its 
Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management (EBFM) Committee. First, the Council 
will receive a presentation on the Georges Bank example Fishery 
Ecosystem Plan (eFEP) Draft Report and provide comments. Once this 
discussion is completed, the Council will shift to Management Strategy 
Evaluation. The Council will be using MSE as it continues to work on 
the Georges Bank eFEP, and the Council will receive a progress report 
from its new EBFM MSE Steering Committee about how this effort is 
evolving. The Council then will adjourn for the day.

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

    The third day of the meeting will begin with a report on the 
Northeast Trawl Advisory Panel's June 21 and July 29, 2019 meetings. 
The Council then will receive an update on the Groundfish Catch Share 
Program Review from two contractors that have been helping collect 
information and public input on this six-year review of the groundfish 
sector system. The Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) will provide 
an overview of the nine port meetings that were conducted in July and 
August to collect public comment on the review, and MRAG Americas Inc. 
will provide a briefing on the technical working group's progress on 
the review itself. The Enforcement Committee will report next and 
provide enforcement recommendations for: the Groundfish Codend 
Compliance Assistance Program (CAP); the Groundfish Catch Share Program 
Review; groundfish sector management compliance improvement; and 
Groundfish Monitoring Amendment 23. Then, the Council will: (1) Receive 
a presentation on NMFS's Draft Policy Directive on Electronic 
Monitoring (EM) Video Retention Periods; and (2) review and approve 
draft Council comments on the NMFS guidance. Next, the Council will 
address U.S./Canada issues based on information from the Transboundary 
Resources Assessment Committee (TRAC) and the Transboundary Management 
Guidance Committee (TMGC). The TRAC report will be first with a summary 
of 2018 assessment results for three U.S./Canada shared stocks--Eastern 
Georges Bank cod, Eastern Georges Bank haddock, and Georges Bank 
yellowtail flounder. The Council then will review and approve the 
TMGC's recommendations for 2020 total allowable catches (TACs) for 
those shared U.S./Canada stocks. Next, the Groundfish Committee will 
present the first part of its report, which will focus on Framework 
Adjustment 59 to the Northeast Multispecies FMP. This framework 
includes: (1) 2020 TACs for U.S./Canada stocks; (2) 2020-22 
specifications for 15 Northeast multispecies stocks while addressing 
commercial/recreational allocation if raised by Marine Recreational 
Information Program (MRIP) data; and (3) removing allocations to the 
Closed Area I Haddock Special Access Program.
    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. Then, the Groundfish Committee will resume with the second 
part of its report, which will focus on Monitoring Amendment 23 to 
Northeast Multispecies FMP. The Council will approve the Amendment 23 
Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for public hearing and 
select preliminary preferred alternatives. At the conclusion of this 
discussion, the Council will adjourn for the day.

Thursday, September 26, 2019

    The fourth day of the meeting will begin with an initial discussion 
of 2020 Council priorities covering tasks and actions for all 
committees and Council responsibilities. The Council will not take 
final action on priorities until its December meeting. The Council then 
will take up several issues under its Scallop Committee Report, 
beginning with an update on Framework

[[Page 47260]]

Adjustment 32 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop FMP. This framework includes 
2020 fishery specifications, 2021 default specifications, and measures 
to mitigate impacts on Georges Bank yellowtail flounder. As part of 
this discussion, the Council will receive an overview of the 2019 
scallop resource surveys. The Council also will receive an update on 
Amendment 21 to the FMP, which is being developed to address: (1) 
Northern Gulf of Maine (NGOM) Management Area issues, (2) the Limited 
Access General Category (LAGC) possession limit, and (3) the one-way 
transfer of individual fishing quota (IFQ) from Limited Access vessels 
with LAGC IFQ to vessels that only hold LAGC IFQ permits. Next, the 
Council will receive an overview of the Fishing Year 2018 Small-Mesh 
Multispecies (Whiting) Annual Monitoring Report and receive a brief 
update on southern red hake rebuilding measures.
    Following a lunch break, the Council will receive a report from its 
Habitat Committee. This will include: (1) An update on development of 
additional policies related to non-fishing activities; (2) an update on 
ongoing offshore energy activities in the Northeast Region; and (3) an 
overview of the revised joint New England/Mid-Atlantic Council offshore 
wind webpage. Then, the Council will receive two short reports on 
Highly Migratory Species (HMS) issues. The first will cover the HMS 
Advisory Panel's September 4-5, 2019 meeting, and the second will cover 
the September 5-6, 2019 meeting of the Advisory Committee to the U.S. 
Section to the International Commission for the Conservation of 
Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). 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.

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

    Dated: September 4, 2019.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-19381 Filed 9-6-19; 8:45 am]
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