[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 72 (Thursday, April 14, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20957-20959]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-9055]


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

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XA365


Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

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

ACTION: Notice of a public meeting.

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

SUMMARY: The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will convene 
Public Hearings on: Amendment 18 to the Fishery Management Plan for 
Coastal Migratory Pelagic Resources in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico; 
Joint

[[Page 20958]]

Amendment 10 to the Spiny Lobster Fishery Management Plan for the Gulf 
of Mexico and South Atlantic; Generic Annual Catch Limits/
Accountability Measures Amendment for the Gulf of Mexico Fishery 
Management Council's Red Drum, Reef Fish, Shrimp, Coral and Coral 
Reefs, and Stony Crab Fishery Management Plans.

DATES: The public meetings will be held on May 2, 2011 through May 18, 
2011 at fourteen locations throughout the Gulf of Mexico. The public 
hearings will begin at 6 p.m. and will conclude no later than 9 p.m. 
For specific dates, see SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

ADDRESSES: The public meetings will be held at locations listed in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
    Council address: Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, 2203 N. 
Lois Avenue, Suite 1100, Tampa, FL 33607.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Richard Leard, Deputy Executive 
Director/Senior Fishery Biologist, Dr. Steven Atran, Population 
Dynamics Statistician and Dr. Carrie Simmons, Fishery Biologist; Gulf 
of Mexico Fishery Management Council; telephone: (813) 348-1630.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Coastal Migratory Pelagic Resources

    The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will hold public 
hearings on Amendment 18 to the Fishery Management Plan for Coastal 
Migratory Pelagic Resources in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico 
Including Environmental Assessment, Regulatory Impact Review, and 
Regulatory Flexibility Act Analysis. Amendment 18 contains alternatives 
for actions to set Annual Catch Limits and Accountability Measures if 
such limits are exceeded for Gulf group king mackerel, Gulf group 
Spanish mackerel, and Gulf group cobia. It also contains measures to 
remove cero, little tunny, dolphin, and bluefish from the fishery 
management plan, revise the framework procedure, and separate cobia 
into Atlantic and Gulf migratory groups. Similar measures are being 
proposed for the Atlantic migratory stocks.

Spiny Lobster

    Public hearings will be held on Joint Amendment 10 to the Spiny 
Lobster Fishery Management Plan for the Gulf of Mexico and South 
Atlantic. Joint Amendment 10 establishes Annual Catch Limits and 
Accountability Measures for Caribbean spiny lobster as required by the 
Magnuson-Stevens Act. This amendment includes additional actions 
addressing modifications to the Fishery Management Unit, updates to 
protocol for Enhanced Cooperative Management, regulations regarding the 
possession of undersized lobsters or ``shorts'' as attractants for the 
commercial trap fishery, permit requirements for tailing spiny lobster, 
sector allocations, limiting spiny lobster fishing areas to protect 
threatened staghorn and elkhorn corals, and requirements for gear 
marking of all spiny lobster trap lines.

Reef Fish

    Amendment 32--This amendment will establish annual catch limits and 
annual catch targets for 2012 to 2015 for gag and for 2012 for red 
grouper, and contains actions to establish a rebuilding plan for gag, 
set recreational bag limits, size limits and closed seasons for gag/red 
grouper in 2012, consider a commercial gag and shallow-water grouper 
quota adjustment to account for dead discards, make adjustment to 
multi-use IFQ shares in the grouper individual fishing quota program, 
reduce the commercial gag size limit, modify the offshore time and 
areas closures, and establish gag, red grouper, and shallow-water 
grouper accountability measures.

Generic Amendment

    Public hearings will also be held to receive comments on the 
Generic Annual Catch Limits/Accountability measures Amendment for the 
Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council's Red Drum, Reef Fish, 
Shrimp, Coral and Coral Reefs, and Stone Crab Fishery Management Plans. 
This amendment contains actions to delegate management of selected 
species to the other agencies, remove selected species from the fishery 
management plans, group species for purposes of setting annual catch 
limits and annual catch targets, establish and acceptable biological 
catch control rule, establish an annual catch limit/annual catch target 
control rule, establish a generic framework procedure for implementing 
management changes, establish the initial specification of annual catch 
limits and annual catch targets for stocks and stock groups still in 
need of such specification, establish the apportionment of the black 
grouper, yellow tail snapper, and mutton snapper stocks between the 
Gulf and South Atlantic Council jurisdictions, set a commercial and 
recreational allocation of black grouper within in the Gulf Council's 
jurisdiction, and establish accountability measures to keep catch 
levels within their annual catch limits or take corrective action if 
they exceed the limits.
    The Public Hearings will begin at 6 p.m. and conclude at the end of 
public testimony or no later than 9 p.m. at the following locations:

Monday, May 2, 2011

    <bullet> ACL--Hilton St. Petersburg Carillon Parkway, 950 Lake 
Carillon Drive, St. Petersburg, FL, telephone: (727) 540-0050;
    <bullet> ACL--Clarion Hotel, 12635 South Cleveland Avenue, Fort 
Myers, FL 33907, telephone: (239) 936-4300;
    <bullet> Mackerel--Best Western, 7921 Lamar Poole Road, Biloxi, MS 
39532, telephone: (228) 875-7111;

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

    <bullet> Amend 32--Hilton St. Petersburg Carillon Parkway, 950 Lake 
Carillon Drive, St. Petersburg, FL, telephone: (727) 540-0050;
    <bullet> Amend 32--Clarion Hotel, 12635 South Cleveland Avenue, 
Fort Myers, FL 33907, telephone: (239) 936-4300;
    <bullet> Mackerel--Fairfield Inn & Suites, 3111 Loop Road, Orange 
Beach, FL 36561, telephone: (251) 543-4444;

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

    <bullet> Amend 32--Banana Bay Resort, 4590 Overseas Highway, 
Marathon, FL 33050, telephone: (305) 743-3500;
    <bullet> Mackerel--Boardwalk--Royal American Beach Getaways, 9400 
S. Thomas Drive, Panama City Beach, FL 32408, telephone: (850) 230-
4681;

Thursday, May 5, 2011

    <bullet> ACL--Banana Bay Resort, 4590 Overseas Highway, Marathon, 
FL 33050, telephone: (305) 743-3500;

Monday, May 9, 2011

    <bullet> Mackerel/Spiny Lobster, Sirata Beach Resort, 5300 Gulf 
Boulevard, St. Pete Beach, FL 33706, telephone: (727) 363-5176;
    <bullet> ACL/Amend 32--Renaissance Riverview Plaza, 64 South Water 
Street, Mobile, AL 36602;
    <bullet> ACL--Boardwalk--Royal American Beach Getaways, 9400 S. 
Thomas Drive, Panama City Beach, FL 32408, telephone: (850) 230-4681;

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

    <bullet> Amend 32/ACL--Hilton, 5400 Seawall Blvd., Galveston, TX 
77551, telephone: (409) 744-1757;
    <bullet> Amend 32/ACL--Best Western, 7921 Lamar Poole Road, Biloxi, 
MS 39532, telephone: (228) 875-7111;
    <bullet> Amend 32--Boardwalk--Royal American Beach Getaways, 9400 
S. Thomas Drive, Panama City Beach, FL 32408, telephone: (850) 230-
4681;

[[Page 20959]]

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

    <bullet> Amend 32--Harte Research Institute, Conference Room, 6300 
Ocean Drive, Corpus Christi, TX 78412-5869, telephone: (361) 825-2000;
    <bullet> Amend 32/ACL--Hilton Garden Inn, 4535 Williams Blvd., 
Kenner, LA 70065, telephone: (504) 712-0109;

Thursday, May 12, 2011

    <bullet> ACL--Plantation Suites and Conference Center, 1909 Highway 
361, Port Aransas, TX 78373, telephone: (361) 749-3866;

Monday, May 16, 2011

    <bullet> Mackerel--Fisheries Research Lab, 195 Ludwig Annex, Grand 
Isle, LA 70358, telephone: (985) 787-2163;

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

    <bullet> Mackerel--Hampton Inn, 506 West Bay Area Blvd., Webster, 
TX 77598, telephone: (281) 332-7952;

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

    <bullet> Mackerel--Plantation Suites and Conference Center, 1909 
Highway 361, Port Aransas, TX 78373, telephone: (361) 749-3866.
    Copies of the documents can be obtained by calling (813) 348-1630.

Special Accommodations

    These meetings are physically accessible to people with 
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other 
auxiliary aids should be directed to Kathy Pereira at the Council (see 
ADDRESSES) at least 5 working days prior to the meeting.

    Dated: April 11, 2011.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-9055 Filed 4-13-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P