[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 6 (Tuesday, January 10, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1362-1363]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-00199]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XC656]


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 in-person meeting with an option for 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.

DATES: The meeting will be held on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 
January 24, 25, and 26, 2023, beginning at 9 a.m. each day.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at The Venue at Portwalk Place, 22 
Portwalk Place, Portsmouth, NH 03801; telephone (603) 422-6114; online 
at https://www.thevenueatportwalkplace.com/meetings. Join the webinar 
at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/9197960552051905627.
    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

Tuesday, January 24, 2023

    The Council will begin this meeting in Closed Session to discuss 
appointments to its Scientific and Statistical Committee. At 9:30 a.m., 
the open session will begin with brief announcements, followed by 
reports on recent activities from the Council's Chair and Executive 
Director, the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (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, and the Northeast Trawl 
Advisory Panel. Next, the Council will receive an update from GARFO on: 
(1) the development of measures under Phase 2 of the Atlantic Large 
Whale Take Reduction Plan, which are intended to reduce entanglements 
of large whales in gillnet fisheries; and (2) an overview of the 
Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team's recommendations on potential 
measures. The Council will have an opportunity to provide input on the 
recommendations. Members of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center's 
Gear Research Team will then give a presentation on engaging the mobile 
gear fleet to visualize ropeless gear and prevent gear conflicts. This 
will be followed by a short update on the Council's discussions with 
the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council to develop sink gillnet 
measures to protect large whales and Atlantic sturgeon.
    After the lunch break, the Council will receive a presentation from 
the Northeast Fisheries Science Center's Social Sciences Branch on its 
Greater Atlantic Region Commercial Fishing Business Cost Survey for 
2022. The presentation will include information on: (1) survey 
background and the importance of collecting cost data; (2) improvements 
and changes from previous surveys; and (3) the upcoming survey 
implementation schedule and related details. Then, the Habitat 
Committee will provide its report, which will cover: (1) an update on 
draft management alternatives for a framework adjustment to the 
Atlantic Salmon Fishery Management Plan (FMP) to facilitate offshore 
Atlantic salmon aquaculture; and (2) an update on offshore energy 
issues and other habitat-related work, including a progress report on 
the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's (BOEM) Gulf of Maine offshore 
wind development activities. As the last item of business for the day, 
the Council will have a discussion on and decide whether to recommend a 
control date to potentially limit the movement of limited access 
general category (LAGC) permits in the Northern Gulf of Maine (NGOM) 
Atlantic sea scallop fishery.

Wednesday, January 25, 2023

    The Council will begin the second day of its meeting with a 
presentation on and discussion about quantifying, interpreting, and 
communicating sources of uncertainty in the Council decision-making 
process. The Monkfish Committee report will follow. The Council will 
take final action on Framework Adjustment 13 to the Monkfish FMP, which 
includes specifications for the 2023-2025 fishing years and other 
measures. The Council will consider additional Scientific and 
Statistical Committee (SSC) input on acceptable biological catches 
(ABCs) for all three monkfish fishing years before taking final action. 
The Council also will revisit its 2023-24 priorities for the Monkfish 
Research Set-Aside Program. Next, 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.
    After the lunch break, the Council will take up the Groundfish 
Committee

[[Page 1363]]

report. The Council took final action on Framework Adjustment 65 to the 
Northeast Multispecies FMP during its December 2022 meeting. During 
this January 2023 meeting, the Council will possibly revise the 
framework's ABCs for Atlantic halibut for fishing years 2023-25 after 
considering the SSC's recommendations. This is the only issue to be 
discussed under Framework Adjustment 65. In other groundfish actions, 
the Council will provide recommendations to GARFO on fishing year 2023 
recreational measures for Georges Bank cod, Gulf of Maine cod, and Gulf 
of Maine haddock. The Council also will receive a progress report on 
the development of metrics for the review process to evaluate the 
groundfish monitoring system under Amendment 23. Lastly, the Council 
will receive an update on the 2023 Atlantic Cod Research Track 
Assessment and ongoing discussions about cod stock structure. The 
Council will close out the day with a NOAA Fisheries report on results 
from the November 14-21, 2022 Annual Meeting of the International 
Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). The Council 
also will hear recommendations from the Advisory Committee to the U.S. 
Section of ICCAT.

Thursday, January 26, 2023

    The Council will lead off the third day of its meeting with a brief 
overview of its Risk Policy and provide guidance for its Risk Policy 
Committee. Then, the Council will discuss and approve its response to 
the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries' request for information and 
input on draft regulations for fishing within the proposed Hudson 
Canyon National Marine Sanctuary. The Ecosystem-Based Fishery 
Management (EBFM) Committee report will follow. The report will 
include: (1) a progress report on the prototype Management Strategy 
Evaluation (pMSE) planning meetings for EBFM and the Georges Bank 
example Fishery Ecosystem Plan (eFEP); and (2) the EBFM Committee's 
advice on conducting deep-dive public information workshops for EBFM. 
The Council next will receive a presentation on the peer-reviewed 
results of the Research Track Stock Assessments for spiny dogfish and 
bluefish and then review and approve the Council's harassment 
prevention policies. 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: January 4, 2023.
Rey Israel Marquez,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-00199 Filed 1-9-23; 8:45 am]
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