[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 60 (Wednesday, March 29, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18529-18530]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-06514]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XC881]


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, April 18, Wednesday, April 
19, and Thursday, April 20, 2023, beginning at 9 a.m., each day.

ADDRESSES: 
    Meeting address: The meeting will be held at the Hilton Mystic, 20 
Coogan Boulevard, Mystic, CT 06355; telephone: (860) 572-0731; online 
at https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/mysmhhf-hilton-mystic/. Join the 
webinar at https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/1463144741317930842.
    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, April 18, 2023

    The Council will begin this meeting in Closed Session to discuss 
the search for a new executive director. 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 and NOAA's Office of Law 
Enforcement. Next, the Council will receive an update on work to review 
and improve the Monkfish Research Set-Aside Program. This report will 
be followed by an update on a joint New England and Mid-Atlantic 
Fishery Management Council action to reduce Atlantic sturgeon bycatch 
in monkfish and dogfish gillnet fisheries. The Council will initiate 
Monkfish Framework Adjustment 15 to incorporate proposed management 
measures. The Council then will receive an update on the formation of a 
new working group charged with addressing issues related to preventing 
gear conflicts between vessels using on-demand/ropeless fishing gear 
and vessels using mobile gear. To end the morning, the Council will 
receive a presentation and provide comments on the Draft NOAA Fisheries 
National Seafood Strategy.
    After the lunch break, the Council will receive a presentation on a 
Northeast Fisheries Science Center survey to assess current social/
economic conditions of commercial fishing crews, including hired 
captains. The survey is a follow-up to NEFSC's 2018-19 study to 
determine demographic, well-being, and work condition changes over 
time. The Enforcement Committee report will be up next. The Council 
will hear enforcement feedback on a number of issues, including: (1) 
on-demand/ropeless fishing gear and the Gear Conflict Working Group; 
(2) the Council's Atlantic Salmon Aquaculture Framework; (3) ongoing 
work to reduce gillnet/protected resources interactions; (4) NOAA 
Office of Law Enforcement priorities; and (5) Council enforcement-
related work priorities for 2023. After that, the Scallop Committee 
will provide an update on scallop work priorities for 2023, which 
include changes to the Scallop Research Set-Aside Program. Another 
important scallop-related item will be covered under the next agenda 
item, the Habitat Committee report. The first item of the habitat 
report will focus on the Northern Edge of Georges Bank and: (1) 
consider both Habitat Committee and Scallop Committee input, (2) 
discuss and potentially approve preliminary goals and objectives for 
possible management action, and (3) consider initiating action to 
revise the habitat management area (HMA) on the Northern Edge of 
Georges Bank to authorize scallop fishery access to the area. The 
habitat report also will include Council final action on a framework 
adjustment to the Atlantic Salmon Fishery Management Plan (FMP) to 
facilitate offshore Atlantic salmon aquaculture, followed by an update 
on offshore energy issues and other habitat-related work. The Council 
then will adjourn for the day.

Wednesday, April 19, 2023

    The Council will begin the second day of its meeting with the 
Groundfish Committee report, which will cover multiple items. First, 
the Council will receive a progress report on the Groundfish Plan 
Development Team's work to develop performance metrics and indicators 
for the review process to evaluate the new groundfish monitoring system 
under Amendment 23 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management 
Plan. The Council also will hear the Scientific and Statistical 
Committee's feedback on the metrics and indicators. The groundfish 
report will cover four other items: (1) an update on the facilitated 
process to develop new acceptable biological catch (ABC) control rules 
for groundfish; (2) an update on the Atlantic cod management transition 
plan should the Council go from managing two Atlantic cod stocks to 
four or five; (3) an update on addressing Canadian Atlantic halibut 
catch swings in the U.S. management process; and (4) a Council 
discussion on Gulf of Maine haddock. The Skate Committee report will 
follow, covering an update on work under 2023 skate priorities.
    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. 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/

[[Page 18530]]

NEFMC-meeting-remote-participation_generic.pdf. The Ecosystem-Based 
Fishery Management (EBFM) Committee report will be up next to cover two 
items: (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) committee advice on 
conducting deep-dive public information workshops on EBFM. The Council 
then will receive a presentation from the Northeast Fisheries Science 
Center on its State of the Ecosystem 2023 report for New England. The 
SSC will provide feedback on the EBFM pMSE strategy and the State of 
the Ecosystem 2023 report. The Council will close out the day with a 
congressional update on legislative activities.

Thursday, April 20, 2023

    The Council will lead off the third day of its meeting with the 
Atlantic Herring Committee report, which will cover: (1) an update on 
coordinated work with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission 
and Mid-Atlantic Council on river herring and shad, followed by a 
Herring Plan Development Team analysis of recent low river herring/shad 
estimates in the Atlantic herring fishery; and (2) an update on action 
to revisit the inshore midwater trawl closure that was part of 
Amendment 8 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan but was 
vacated by court order. The Council then will receive a presentation on 
the Marine Resource Education Program, including an overview of the 
science and management components of this program.
    After the lunch break, the Council will receive an informational 
overview on uncertainty in stock projections with two examples from 
recent framework actions. This item will be followed by a discussion of 
and decision on terms of reference for revising the Council's Risk 
Policy. The Council will provide guidance to its Risk Policy Working 
Group. 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: March 24, 2023.
Rey Israel Marquez,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-06514 Filed 3-28-23; 8:45 am]
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