[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 172 (Wednesday, September 7, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54675-54677]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-19235]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XC333]


New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

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

ACTION: Notice of a public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council (Council, NEFMC) 
will hold a four-day hybrid meeting with both in-person and remote 
participation to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in 
the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The Council continues to follow all 
public safety measures related to COVID-19 and intends to do so for 
this meeting.

[[Page 54676]]


DATES: The meeting will be held on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and 
Thursday, September 26, 27, 28, and 29, 2022, beginning at 1 p.m. on 
Monday, 9 a.m. on Tuesday, 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, and 9 a.m. on 
Thursday.

ADDRESSES: 
    Meeting address: The meeting will be held at the Beauport Hotel, 55 
Commercial Street, Gloucester, MA 01930; telephone (978) 282-0008; 
online at https://www.beauporthotel.com. Join the webinar at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7374448002191175695.
    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:

Agenda

Monday, September 26, 2022

    After brief announcements, the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries 
Office (GARFO) Regional Administrator will swear in new and reappointed 
Council members. Then, the Council will hold its annual election of 
officers before receiving reports on recent activities from its Chair 
and Executive Director, the GARFO Regional Administrator, the Northeast 
Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) Director, the NOAA Office of General 
Counsel, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council liaison, staff 
from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), and 
representatives from the U.S. Coast Guard, NOAA's Office of Law 
Enforcement, the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO), the 
NMFS Highly Migratory Species Advisory Panel, and the South Atlantic 
Council's Dolphin/Wahoo Committee. Next, the Council will receive a 
report on the Northeast Trawl Advisory Panel's (NTAP) recent meetings. 
As the last item of business for the day, the Council will engage in a 
discussion on East Coast Climate Change Scenario Planning. The Council 
will examine the four scenarios developed during a June workshop and 
two August deepening webinars before discussing next steps for 
developing Council recommendations to inform the 2023 summit for this 
initiative.

Tuesday, September 27, 2022

    The Council will begin the second day of its meeting with a NOAA 
presentation on the revised management plan for the Stellwagen Bank 
National Marine Sanctuary. Next, the Council will receive information 
on the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument 
entailing a GARFO update and consult with the Council on: (1) the NOAA 
Fisheries process for drafting regulatory actions to formally close 
fishing within the boundaries of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts 
Marine National Monument; and (2) the updated timeline for U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service/NMFS public scoping sessions for the draft 
Monument Management Plan. The Council then will address the proposed 
Hudson Canyon National Marine Sanctuary and discuss: (1) the NOAA 
scoping process to consider designating a national marine sanctuary in 
the Hudson Canyon area; (2) a NOAA letter seeking input on Council 
involvement in preparing draft regulations for the proposed sanctuary; 
and (3) next steps for developing a response. Following the conclusion 
of these items, the Council will receive a presentation on the Scallop 
Survey Working Group's final report.
    After the lunch break, the Council will continue with the Scallop 
Committee report and cover two items. First, the Council will receive 
an update on Framework Adjustment 36 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop 
Fishery Management Plan (FMP) entailing: (1) a preliminary overview of 
2022 surveys; and (2) a progress report on work being done to develop 
specifications for the 2023 fishing year, default specifications for 
the 2024 fishing year, and other measures. The Council then will devote 
the remainder of the day to discussing issues related to scallop 
leasing. The Council first will receive a summary of all oral and 
written comments collected during the scoping process for this issue 
and then decide whether to take the next step and initiate an amendment 
to the Scallop FMP to further consider leasing alternatives for the 
limited access component of the fishery. At the conclusion of this 
discussion, the Council will adjourn for the day.

Wednesday, September 28, 2022

    The Council will lead off the third day of its meeting in closed 
session to discuss internal administrative matters regarding policies 
for preventing harassment of Council staff and all other Council 
process participants. Once the Council enters into the open session of 
the meeting, it first will receive a presentation from the Northeast 
Fisheries Science Center on the peer reviewed results from the Atlantic 
Herring and Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic Winter Flounder 
Management Track Stock Assessments. This will be followed by another 
NEFSC presentation on the peer reviewed results for the American Plaice 
Research Track Assessment. Next, the Council will receive a 
backgrounder by staff on the Transboundary Management Guidance 
Committee (TMGC) and the process used for managing shared U.S./Canada 
resources on Georges Bank. The U.S. Co-Chair of the Transboundary 
Resources Assessment Committee (TRAC) will provide a presentation on 
2022 assessments results and related updates for Eastern Georges Bank 
cod, Eastern Georges Bank haddock, and Georges Bank yellowtail 
flounder. The Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) Chair will 
provide: (1) the SSC's recommendations on the overfishing limits (OFLs) 
and acceptable biological catches (ABCs) for Georges Bank yellowtail 
flounder for fishing years 2023 and 2024; (2) input on Gulf of Maine 
cod rebuilding approaches; (3) recommendations on Georges Bank cod ABCs 
for 2023 and 2024; and (4) OFLs and ABCs for Southern New England/Mid-
Atlantic winter flounder for 2023, 2024, and 2025. The Council then 
will review and approve the TMGC's recommendations for 2023-24 total 
allowable catches (TACs) for shared U.S./Canada resources on Georges 
Bank.
    Following the lunch break, the Council will take up the Groundfish 
Committee report, which will cover progress on Framework Adjustment 65 
to the Groundfish FMP. The framework includes: (1) 2023-24 TACs for 
U.S./Canada shared resources on Georges Bank; (2) 2023-24 
specifications for Georges Bank cod and Georges Bank yellowtail 
flounder; (3) 2023-25 specifications for 14 additional groundfish 
stocks; (4) revised rebuilding plans for Gulf of Maine cod and Southern 
New England/Mid-Atlantic winter flounder; (5) additional measures to 
promote stock rebuilding; and (6) groundfish ABC control rule 
revisions. The Council then will hear the Atlantic Herring Committee 
report. First, the Council will receive the SSC's recommendations for 
OFLs and ABCs for Atlantic herring for fishing years 2023, 2024, and 
2025 before taking final action on 2023-25 specifications for the 
fishery. Second, the Council will discuss Framework Adjustment 7 to the 
Atlantic Herring FMP, which was initiated to develop measures to 
protect adult spawning herring on Georges

[[Page 54677]]

Bank. The Council may consider a change in its herring priorities to 
discontinue work on this action. Following herring, the Council will 
take up the Habitat Committee report, which will cover four items: (1) 
a discussion and possible initiation of a framework adjustment to 
facilitate offshore Atlantic salmon aquaculture; (2) a GAFRO update on 
the three-year review of the Dedicated Habitat Research Areas (DHRAs) 
contained in the Council's Omnibus Essential Fish Habitat Amendment 2; 
(3) a discussion of the utility of an exempted fishing permit study for 
management of fishing gear impacts in the Great South Channel Habitat 
Management Area; and (4) offshore energy and habitat-related work 
updates, including a Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Gulf of Maine 
wind update, as well as progress reports on other work. The Council 
then will adjourn for the day.

Thursday, September 29, 2022

    The Council will lead off the fourth day of its meeting with a 
presentation from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center's Fishery 
Monitoring and Research Division. The report will cover: (1) the status 
of ongoing responsibilities within the division; (2) updates on at-sea 
monitoring and observer program activities, funding status, and 
coverage rates; and (3) a cooperative research update. The Council then 
will cover two monkfish items. First, it will receive a presentation on 
the final Monkfish Fishery Performance Report. This will be followed by 
a progress report on Framework Adjustment 13 to the Monkfish FMP, which 
contains 2023-25 fishery specifications and other measures. The Council 
then will take up the Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management (EBFM) 
Committee report, which will include updates on: (1) planning for EBFM 
informational outreach workshops; (2) contractor work to develop and 
conduct a prototype management strategy evaluation (MSE) for EBFM and 
the Georges Bank example Fishery Ecosystem Plan (eFEP); and (3) 
discussions with NOAA Fisheries on National Standard 1's application to 
the Council's eFEP catch management framework. The Council then will 
receive the 2022 Northeast Skate Complex Annual Monitoring Report 
covering the 2021 skate fishing year, as well as an overview of the 
Skate Plan Development Team's work to improve methods for catch 
accounting, specification setting, and in-season quota monitoring.
    Following 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. These comments will be received both in person and through the 
webinar. A guide for how to publicly comment through the webinar is 
available on the Council website at https://s3.amazonaws.com/nefmc.org/NEFMC-meeting-remote-participation_generic.pdf. Next, NMFS will provide 
a presentation on proposed regulatory changes to reduce vessel strikes 
to North Atlantic right whales, and the Council will have an 
opportunity to provide comments. The Northeast Fisheries Science Center 
will provide a presentation on the ``Draft Ropeless Fishing Roadmap: A 
Strategy to Develop On-Demand Fishing,'' which is intended to help 
reduce the risk of right whale entanglements with fishing gear. The 
Council will have an opportunity to provide feedback. The next 
presentation will be on NOAA's National Saltwater Recreational 
Fisheries Policy. The Council will consider whether to submit comments 
on this updated policy. The Council then will hold its initial 
discussion on 2023 Council Priorities before closing 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: August 31, 2022.
Rey Israel Marquez,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-19235 Filed 9-6-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P