[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 162 (Wednesday, August 21, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67596-67597]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-18611]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XE197]


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 
the main Hawaiian Islands Aprion virescens (locally known as uku or 
gray/green jobfish) stock assessment update.

DATES: The WPSAR meeting will be held September 9-10, 2024 from 9 a.m. 
to 4 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time (HST). See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for 
meeting dates and times and the daily agenda.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be open to the public and held at the NOAA 
Honolulu Service Center at Pier 38, 1139 N. Nimitz Hwy, Suite 220, 
Honolulu, HI 96817. Audio and visual portions for all of the web 
conferences can be accessed at: https://wprfmc.webex.com/wprfmc/j.php?MTID=m984f90622bc0a35cd0ffb038eb5103a5. Webinar number: 2633 952 
7361. Webinar password: ukuWPSAR0909mtg.

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: The NMFS PIFSC developed a single-species 
stock assessment update of the gray jobfish (uku, Aprion virescens) in 
the main Hawaiian Islands. PIFSC previously conducted a stock 
assessment for uku in 2020 using the Stock Synthesis (v. 3.30) 
framework to integrate catch per unit effort indices, size frequency, 
diver survey, and catch data into a single age-structured model. PIFSC 
used this integrated model to estimate biomass and stock status

[[Page 67597]]

through time, and evaluated stock status against the maximum 
sustainable yield based reference points described in the Council's 
Fishery Ecosystem Plan for the Hawaii Archipelago. The 2024 assessment 
update will provide new information to inform management, including 
updates on biomass and fishing mortality relative to status 
determination thresholds to inform recommendations of allowable 
biological catch and annual catch limits. Consistent with National 
Standard 2 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management 
Act, the WPSAR Policy requires a review of the application of recent 
data, on an as-needed basis, that will be used in the benchmark stock 
assessment update.

Meeting Agenda for WPSAR Review

    The agenda order may change, and the meeting will run as late as 
necessary to complete scheduled business.

Day 1, Monday, September 9 (9 a.m.-4 p.m., HST)

1. Introductions
2. Review objectives and terms of reference
3. Presentation of stock assessment updates
4. Summary of comments and analysis during desktop phase
5. Questions to presenters
6. Public Comment

Tuesday, September 10, 2024 (9 a.m.-4 p.m., HST)

7. Panel presentation on the review results and recommendations
8. Questions to reviewers
9. Public comment
10. Closing comments and adjourn

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: August 15, 2024.
Lindsay Fullenkamp,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-18611 Filed 8-20-24; 8:45 am]
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