[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 222 (Monday, November 20, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Page 80694]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-25535]



[[Page 80694]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XD541]


Pacific Island Fisheries; Western Pacific Stock Assessment 
Review; Public Meeting

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

ACTION: Notice; public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) and 
NMFS will convene a Western Pacific Stock Assessment Review (WPSAR) of 
a benchmark stock assessment for the main Hawaiian Islands (MHI) Deep 7 
Bottomfish Complex.

DATES: The WPSAR meeting will be held between December 11 and December 
15, 2023. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for meeting dates and times and 
the daily agenda.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be open to the public and held in-person 
the NMFS Honolulu Service Center at Pier 38, 1129 N. Nimitz Hwy., Suite 
220, Honolulu, HI 96817.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: T. Todd Jones, Director, Pacific 
Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) Fisheries Research and 
Monitoring Division (FRMD), telephone: (808) 725-5713, or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Scientists from the NMFS PIFSC conducted a 
benchmark stock assessment of the MHI Deep 7 bottomfish complex. This 
benchmark assessment built on previous assessments that incorporated 
knowledge from the fishing community for filtering commercial catch and 
effort data and incorporated a fishery-independent index of relative 
abundance. A surplus production model that explicitly accounted for 
both process and observation errors, and directly estimated maximum 
sustainable yield (MSY)-based reference points as well as trajectories 
and projections of biomass and harvest rate was used to determine stock 
status of Deep7 complex. New modeling software was used to run the 
production model and estimate the trajectory and status of the Deep 7 
complex. In addition to updated modeling software, a number of 
improvements relative to the 2018 benchmark stock assessment and 2021 
update assessment were made for the current benchmark stock assessment. 
These changes include re-evaluating the contribution of non-commercial 
catch to the total catch, refining the data filtering and index 
development procedures, and more fully incorporating information on 
Deep 7 bottomfish species life-history characteristics into the 
assessment model.

Meeting Agenda for WPSAR Review

    The meeting schedule and agenda are as follows:

Monday, December 11, 2023, 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m.

1. Welcome and Introductions
2. Background information
    a. Objectives and Terms of Reference
    b. Fishery Management
3. History of stock assessments and reviews
4. Stock assessment input data
    a. State of Hawaii Fisher and Dealer Reporting Systems
    b. Non-commercial catch
    c. Life history information
    d. Fishery-independent survey
    5. Public Comment (3:30 p.m.)

Tuesday, December 12, 2023, 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m.

1. Presentation and review of stock assessment
2. Public comment (3:30 p.m.)

Wednesday, December 13, 2023, 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m.

1. Continue review of stock assessment

Thursday, December 14, 2023, 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m.

1. Continue review of stock assessment (morning)
2. Public comment (11 a.m.)
3. WPSAR Review Panel discussions (afternoon, closed to the public)

Friday, December 15, 2023

1. Continue WPSAR panel discussions (morning, closed to the public)
2. WPSAR Panel Report on Review Outcomes and Recommendations (1 p.m.-4 
p.m.)
3. Adjourn
    The agenda order may change. The meeting will run as late as 
necessary to complete scheduled business.

Special Accommodations

    This meeting is physically accessible to people with disabilities. 
Please direct requests for sign language interpretation or other 
auxiliary aids to T. Todd Jones, Director, PIFSC FRMD, telephone: (808) 
725-5713, or [email protected] at least 5 days prior to the meeting 
date.
    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    Dated: November 14, 2023.
Rey Israel Marquez,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-25535 Filed 11-17-23; 8:45 am]
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