[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 67 (Thursday, April 7, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19329-19330]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-8343]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XA358


New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC); Public Meeting

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

ACTION: Notice of a public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold 
a 3-day meeting on Tuesday through Thursday, April 26-28, 2011, to 
consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive 
economic zone (EEZ).

DATES: The meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 26, 2011 through 
Thursday, April 28, 2011. The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, 
April 26th and at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, April 27th and Thursday, 
April 28th.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Mystic Hilton Hotel, 20 
Coogan Boulevard, Mystic, CT 06355; telephone: (860) 572-0731; fax: 
(860) 572-0238.
    Council address: New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water 
Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950; telephone: (978) 465-0492.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul J. Howard, Executive Director, 
New England Fishery Management Council; telephone: (978) 465-0492.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

    Following introductions and any announcements, the Council will 
receive brief reports from its Chairman and Executive Director, the 
NOAA Fisheries Regional Administrator (Northeast Region), Northeast 
Fisheries Science Center and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council 
liaisons, NOAA General Counsel, representatives of the U.S. Coast Guard 
and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, as well as staff 
from the Vessel Monitoring Systems Operations and Law Enforcement 
offices. There also will be a review of any experimental fishery permit 
applications that have been made available for review since the January 
Council meeting. The Council will then receive a presentation and 
discuss one of its 2011 priorities, a proposed NEFMC-sponsored catch 
shares workshop. The discussion will include consideration and possible 
approval of a workshop goal and objectives. Prior to a break, Mr. Eric 
Schwaab, Assistant Administrator for NOAA Fisheries, will address the 
Council about the agency's management review of fisheries in the 
Northeast. The focus will be on the relationships among the NEFMC, the 
Northeast Regional Office, and the Northeast Fisheries Science Center 
and factors that affect the effectiveness of the three entities to 
carry out their responsibilities under fisheries law. Following a 
break, an open public period is scheduled for any interested party who 
wishes to provide brief comments on issues relevant to Council business 
but not otherwise listed on the meeting agenda. A representative of the 
Department of the Interior will summarize that agency's offshore wind 
initiative, including the Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island Task 
Force efforts to date. The day will conclude on Tuesday with a report 
from the Council's Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC). Items 
for review and discussion, along with SSC recommendations, include the 
following: (1) A review of the Massachusetts Fisheries Institute report 
Economic and Scientific Conditions in the Mass. Multispecies 
Groundfishery; (2) recommendations for a FSV Bigelow survey calibration 
method that would be used to determine skate Allowable Biological Catch 
(ABC) and the status of the skate complex resource; (3) guidance to the 
Whiting Plan Development Team on options and methods for determining 
ABCs for silver, red and offshore hake; and (4) a report on conclusions 
from a peer review panel that evaluated the NEFMC Habitat Plan 
Development Team's swept area seabed impact (SASI) model.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

    The second session will begin with a report from the Council's 
Research Steering Committee about several final cooperative research 
project reports, including the University of Rhode

[[Page 19330]]

Island's ``mini-eliminator trawl'' project. During the Monkfish 
Committee report to follow, the Council will receive a briefing on the 
recent scoping hearings and recommendations from its Monkfish Advisory 
Panel, each concerning the possible development of a monkfish catch 
shares program. The committee also will review its discussion about the 
use of trip limit exemptions in the monkfish cooperative research 
program. The Northeast Fisheries Science Center staff will summarize 
its recommendations for 2011-12 observer sea-day allocations. During 
the afternoon, the Council will discuss and possibly modify an option 
in the Environmental Impact Statement for Herring Amendment 5 that 
would require federally-permitted fish dealers to accurately weigh all 
landings of herring. They also will receive the last of three briefings 
about ecosystem-based fisheries management by staff of the Northeast 
Fisheries Science Center. The Habitat Committee will summarize any 
recommendations from its most recent meeting, and at the end of the 
day, the Habitat Plan Development Team will provide an overview of the 
impact of the SASI model peer review on the development of the 
Council's Habitat Omnibus Amendment.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

    The last day of the Council meeting will begin with a presentation 
about ``management area coordination.'' This will consist of an 
overview of the relationships between the current groundfish mortality 
closures and the current and proposed essential fish habitat closures, 
and their impact on access to fishery resources. The Council will 
address groundfish management for the remainder of this day. It intends 
to take final action on Framework Adjustment 46 to the Northeast 
Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP), which would cap the amount 
of haddock the herring fleet would be allowed to take as bycatch in 
that fishery. The Council also may take final action on Amendment 17 to 
the Multispecies FMP. Amendment 17 would create a mechanism for the 
operation of NOAA-funded, state-operated permit banks. Other 
groundfish-related business items include a report on workshop planning 
for the purpose of examining the last year of sector operations, and a 
Groundfish Committee recommendation to delay further work on an 
amendment to consider accumulation limits in the fishery. Any other 
outstanding business will be discussed after the groundfish agenda 
items have been completed.
    Although other non-emergency issues not contained in this agenda 
may come before this Council for discussion, those issues may not be 
the subjects 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 Act, 
provided that the public has been notified of the Council's intent to 
take final action to address the emergency.

Special Accommodations

    This meeting is physically accessible to people with disabilities. 
Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids 
should be directed to Paul J. Howard (see ADDRESSES) at least 5 days 
prior to the meeting date.

    Dated: April 4, 2011.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-8343 Filed 4-6-11; 8:45 am]
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