[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 181 (Wednesday, September 20, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Page 64888]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-20292]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XD378]


Advisory Committee Open Session on Management Strategy Evaluation 
for North Atlantic Swordfish

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

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

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SUMMARY: The Advisory Committee to the U.S. Section to the 
International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas 
(ICCAT), supported by NMFS, is holding a public meeting via webinar 
session to receive an update and provide input on the development of a 
management strategy evaluation (MSE) for North Atlantic swordfish. The 
meeting is open to all interested stakeholders.

DATES: A virtual meeting that is open to the public will be held by 
webinar session on October 5, 2023, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. EDT.

ADDRESSES: Please register to attend the meeting at: https://forms.gle/2wkHbTstzFDkHpYu9. Registration will close on October 3, 2023, at 5 
p.m. EDT. Instructions for accessing the webinar session will be 
emailed to registered participants.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bryan Keller, Office of International 
Affairs, Trade, and Commerce, (301) 427-7725, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: MSE is a process that allows fishery 
managers and stakeholders (e.g., industry, scientists, and non-
governmental organizations) to assess how well different strategies 
achieve specified management objectives for a fishery. ICCAT expects to 
finalize its North Atlantic swordfish MSE in 2023 and anticipates 
adopting a management procedure in November 2023 to set the total 
allowable catch (TAC) for 2024 and future years for the stock. NMFS, 
and the U.S. Government more broadly, has been fully engaged in the MSE 
development process, an important part of which involves considering 
stakeholder input, including through periodic consultations with the 
Advisory Committee to the U.S. Section to ICCAT. The United States is 
also participating in the development of the North Atlantic swordfish 
MSE through the active involvement of U.S. scientists in the work 
carried out by ICCAT's Standing Committee on Research and Statistics 
(SCRS).
    The October 5 meeting is primarily informational in nature. It is 
intended to update U.S. stakeholders on the progress of the North 
Atlantic swordfish MSE process and increase awareness and understanding 
of that process. NMFS will provide information on the progress of the 
SCRS in developing initial candidate management procedures (CMPs) and 
testing them based on the input provided to-date by ICCAT's Panel 4 on 
management objectives and other relevant matters. CMPs illustrate 
tradeoffs associated with achieving identified management objectives 
related to stock status, stock safety, yield, and TAC stability over 
time. CMP testing assists ICCAT in refining management objectives and 
narrowing the number of viable CMPs for possible adoption by the 
Commission.
    There will also be an opportunity for the Advisory Committee and 
other stakeholders to provide input on the North Atlantic swordfish 
MSE. Such input helps inform U.S. scientists who are participating in 
the MSE work of the SCRS as well as U.S. managers participating in 
North Atlantic swordfish MSE meetings at the Commission level later in 
2023.

(Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq.; 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.)

    Dated: September 14, 2023.
Alexa Cole,
Director, Office of International Affairs, Trade, and Commerce, 
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-20292 Filed 9-19-23; 8:45 am]
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