[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 102 (Friday, May 24, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Page 45854]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-11417]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XD976]


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.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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 June 13, 2024, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. EDT.

ADDRESSES: Please register to attend the meeting at: https://forms.gle/jHqbXe8223HvXtxD6. Registration will close on June 11, 2024, 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, at (301) 427-7725 or 
[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. In 2023, ICCAT 
extended the North Atlantic swordfish management measure through 2024. 
ICCAT expects to finalize its North Atlantic swordfish MSE and adopt a 
management procedure in November 2024 to set the total allowable catch 
(TAC) for 2025 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 June 13 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 to NMFS 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 2024.
    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq.; 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    Dated: May 20, 2024.
Alexa Cole,
Director, Office of International Affairs, Trade, and Commerce, 
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-11417 Filed 5-23-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P