[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 62 (Friday, March 29, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22126-22127]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-06746]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XD839]


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 hybrid meeting with both in-person and remote 
participation to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in 
the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

DATES: The meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 16, 2024 through 
Thursday, April 18, 2024, beginning at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, April 16th 
and 9 a.m. on Wednesday, April 17 and Thursday, April 18, 2024.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will take place 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/4261104974602457941.
    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: Cate O'Keefe, Executive Director, New 
England Fishery Management Council; telephone: (978) 465-0492, ext. 
113.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Agenda

Tuesday, April 16, 2024

    The Council will begin this meeting with brief announcements, 
followed by reports on recent activities from the Council's Chair and 
Executive Director, the GARFO Regional Administrator, the NOAA Office 
of General Counsel, the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) 
Director, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council liaison, and 
representatives from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission 
(ASMFC), the U.S. Coast Guard, NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement, and 
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Council then will receive a 
presentation from the Council chair on preventing harassment in the 
fishery management council process. The Enforcement Committee report 
will be next. The committee will provide guidance on: (1) use of vessel 
monitoring systems (VMS) in enforcement and scallop VMS reporting 
rates; (2) evolving on-demand fishing gear programs; and (3) 
enforceability of closed area polygon boundaries.
    After the lunch break, the Council will receive a brief Scallop 
Committee report with an overview of the 2024 scallop workplan. Then, 
the Council will devote the rest of the afternoon to a discussion about 
the Northern Edge of Georges Bank, beginning with an analysis of the 
concept areas for potential scallop fishery access to the habitat 
closure area and then a full Council discussion about action or 
direction on the preparation of management alternatives. Following the 
adjournment of official business, the Council will host a public 
outreach session to foster open lines of communication among Council 
members, staff, industry, and all meeting attendees. This event will be 
held at the Hilton Mystic in the restaurant/lobby area.

Wednesday, April 17, 2024

    The Council will begin the second day of its meeting with the 
Northeast Fisheries Science Center's presentation on the peer reviewed 
results of the Applying State Space Models Research Track. Next, the 
Risk Policy Working Group will present proposed revisions to the 
Council's Risk Policy. The Council will engage in a discussion about 
the revisions and path forward. The first part of the Habitat Committee 
report will follow. The Council will receive: (1) input from a 
Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) subpanel on the Essential 
Fish Habitat (EFH) Review; and (2) Habitat Plan Development Team 
updates on EFH review components.
    Following the lunch break, the Council will receive the second part 
of the Habitat Committee report. Offshore wind developers will provide 
updates about their respective projects regarding project status, 
surveys, fisheries mitigation, and other topics. The Council then will 
receive a report on outcomes from a recent EFH Climate

[[Page 22127]]

Resilience Workshop and other habitat-related updates. The Monkfish 
Committee report will be next. The Council will take final action on 
Framework Adjustment 15 to the Monkfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP). 
This framework is a joint action with the Mid-Atlantic Fishery 
Management Council to reduce monkfish and spiny dogfish large-mesh 
gillnet fishery interactions with Atlantic sturgeon. Next, the Council 
will receive a progress report on Amendment 10 to the Atlantic Herring 
FMP, which is an action to: (1) minimize user conflicts; (2) contribute 
to optimum yield; (3) support rebuilding of Atlantic herring; and (4) 
enhance river herring and shad avoidance and catch reduction. The full 
Council then will adjourn for the day. Shortly afterward, at 6 p.m., in 
the same meeting room, the Council will hold a public scoping meeting 
on Atlantic Herring Amendment 10.

Thursday, April 18, 2024

    The Council will lead off the third day of its meeting with the 
Northeast Trawl Advisory Panel (NTAP) report, which will include 
overviews of: (1) NTAP's recent Bigelow Continency Plan Working Group 
meeting; (2) continued discussions on the Industry-Based Survey Pilot 
Project; and (3) other NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow continency options. 
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. The comment period will be followed by the 
Groundfish Committee report. The Council will receive an SSC subpanel 
report on an Atlantic cod stock structure management strategy 
evaluation (MSE) review. The Council then will receive an update on 
upcoming public workshops and the proposed phases of work related to 
its Atlantic Cod Management Transition Plan. The Council also will 
discuss options for incorporating the four biological stock units of 
Atlantic cod into the Northeast Multispecies (Groundfish) Fishery 
Management Plan. Finally, the Council will receive an update on work to 
review flatfish sub-annual catch limits and accountability measures. 
The Council then 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 Executive Director Cate O'Keefe (see ADDRESSES) 
at least 5 days prior to the meeting date.
    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    Dated: March 26, 2024.
Rey Israel Marquez,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-06746 Filed 3-28-24; 8:45 am]
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