[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 40 (Tuesday, March 2, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9397-9398]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-4299]


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

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XU76


Fisheries of the South Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico; 
Southeastern Data, Assessment, and Review (SEDAR); Spiny Lobster

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

ACTION: Notice of SEDAR Webinars and Workshop for South Atlantic and 
Gulf of Mexico spiny lobster.

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

SUMMARY: The SEDAR update of the assessment of the South Atlantic and 
Gulf of Mexico stock of spiny lobster will consist of a series of 
webinars and an Update Workshop. This assessment will update the stock 
assessment conducted under SEDAR 8. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

DATES: A Data Webinar will occur on March 23, 2010. Assessment Update 
Webinars will occur on June 22, July 13, and July 27, 2010. The Update 
Workshop will take place during August 23-25, 2010, and a follow-up 
webinar will occur on September 8, 2010. The Update Workshop location 
will be noticed at a later time. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

ADDRESSES: The Webinars may be attended by the public. Those interested 
in participating should contact Dale Theiling at SEDAR. See FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT to request an invitation providing webinar access 
information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dale Theiling, SEDAR Coordinator, 4055 
Faber Place Drive, Suite 201, North Charleston, SC 29405; telephone: 
(843) 571-4366; email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#7713161b1259031f121e1b1e1910370416111a1459191203"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="aecacfc2cb80dac6cbc7c2c7c0c9eeddcfc8c3cd80c0cbda">[email protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Gulf of Mexico, South Atlantic, and 
Caribbean Fishery Management Councils, in conjunction with NOAA 
Fisheries and the Atlantic and Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commissions 
have implemented the Southeast Data, Assessment and Review (SEDAR) 
process, a multi-step method for determining the status of fish stocks 
in the Southeast Region. A full benchmark assessment conducted under 
SEDAR includes three workshops: (1) Data Workshop, (2) Stock Assessment 
Workshop Process and (3) Review Workshop. The product of the Data 
Workshop is a data report which compiles and evaluates potential

[[Page 9398]]

datasets and recommends which datasets are appropriate for assessment 
analyses. The product of the Stock Assessment Workshop is a stock 
assessment report which describes the fisheries, evaluates the status 
of the stock, estimates biological benchmarks, projects future 
population conditions, and recommends research and monitoring needs. 
The assessment is independently peer reviewed at the Review Workshop. 
The product of the Review Workshop is a Review Workshop Report 
documenting Panel opinions regarding the strengths and weaknesses of 
the stock assessment and input data. Participants for SEDAR Workshops 
are appointed by the Gulf of Mexico, South Atlantic, and Caribbean 
Fishery Management Councils and NOAA Fisheries Southeast Regional 
Office and Southeast Fisheries Science Center. Participants include 
data collectors and database managers; stock assessment scientists, 
biologists, and researchers; constituency representatives including 
fishermen, environmentalists, and NGO's; international experts; and 
staff of Councils, Commissions, and state and federal agencies.
    SEDAR conducts updates of benchmark stock assessments previously 
conducted through the SEDAR program. Update assessments add additional 
data points to datasets incorporated in the original SEDAR benchmark 
assessment and run the benchmark assessment model to update population 
estimates. The spiny lobster update assessment will update the SEDAR 8 
benchmark of Southeastern United States spiny lobster, which included 
both the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. The update process consists 
of a series of webinars and an update workshop.

Spiny Lobster Update Process Schedule:

March 23, 2010; 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.; SEDAR Data Webinar

    An updated assessment data set and associated documentation will be 
presented and discussed during the Data Webinar. Participants will 
evaluate updates of data employed or considered in SEDAR 8 providing 
information on life history characteristics, catch statistics, discard 
estimates, length and age composition, and fishery dependent and 
fishery independent measures of stock abundance.

June 22, July 13, and July 27, 2010; 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.; SEDAR 
Assessment Webinars

    Using updated datasets adopted during the Data Webinar, 
participants will employ assessment models used in SEDAR 8 to evaluate 
stock status, estimate population benchmarks and management criteria, 
and project future conditions. Participants will recommend the most 
appropriate methods and configurations for determining stock status and 
estimating population parameters.

August 23-25, 2010; SEDAR Spiny Lobster Update Workshop

August 23, 2010: 1 p.m. - 8 p.m.; August 24, 2010: 8 a.m. - 8 p.m.; 
August 25, 2010: 8 a.m. - 1 p.m.

    During the Update Workshop assessment analysts will discuss and 
evaluate decisions made during the Data and Assessment Webinars. 
Participants will compare and contrast various assessment approaches, 
and determine whether the assessments are adequate for submission to 
Science and Statistics Committees of the South Atlantic Fishery 
Management Council and the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council. 
Workshop panelists will document their findings and recommendations in 
an Assessment Workshop Report.

Special Accommodations

    The Update Workshop is physically accessible to people with 
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other 
auxiliary aids should be directed to the Council office (see ADDRESSES) 
at least 10 business days prior to the workshop.

    Dated: February 25, 2010.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service,
[FR Doc. 2010-4299 Filed 3-1-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S


</pre><script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script></body>
</html>