[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 165 (Thursday, August 27, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43678-43679]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-20728]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XR01


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Chinook 
Salmon Bycatch Management Measures Workshop

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

ACTION: Notice of public workshop.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces a workshop to solicit comments from owners and 
operators of trawl catcher/processors and motherships in the Bering Sea 
pollock fishery about proposed equipment and operational requirements 
to monitor salmon bycatch. The workshop is open to the public, but NMFS 
is particularly seeking participation by people who are knowledgeable 
about the operations of the catcher/processors and motherships and who 
can discuss with NMFS the potential operational impacts of proposed 
monitoring requirements.

DATES: The public workshop will be held on Wednesday, September 23, 
2009, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Pacific standard time.

ADDRESSES: The workshop will be held at the Swedish Cultural Center, 
1920 Dexter Avenue N., Seattle, WA 98109. Directions to the Swedish 
Cultural Center are on its website at http://www.swedishculturalcenter.org/contacts.htm.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Watson, 907-586-7537 or Sally 
Bibb 907-586-7389.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The North Pacific Fishery Management Council 
has recommended revisions to the management of Chinook salmon bycatch 
in the Bering Sea pollock fishery under proposed Amendment 91 to the 
Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian 
Islands Management Area. NMFS is developing proposed revisions to 
equipment and operational requirements for catcher/processors and 
motherships to support using a count or census as the basis for 
accounting for Chinook salmon bycatch under Amendment 91. A census is 
an alternative to estimating Chinook salmon bycatch based on species 
composition samples taken by observers onboard the catcher/processors 
and motherships. NMFS is considering proposed requirements related to 
the storage and handling of salmon sorted from the groundfish catch; 
video monitoring of areas where salmon are sorted from the catch and 
stored prior to being counted by the observer; and electronic logbooks 
to facilitate timely vessel reporting of the count of salmon bycatch by 
species for each haul.
    This workshop is open to the public, but NMFS is particularly 
seeking input and discussion with people who work on the catcher/
processors and motherships, are familiar with the vessel operations, 
and have knowledge of the potential impact of changes in the handling, 
storage, and counting of salmon bycatch and procedures to ensure that 
salmon are not discarded from the vessel before they are counted by an 
observer. These proposed requirements will be included in the proposed 
rule for Amendment 91 that is expected to be published in late 2009.
    This workshop focuses only on catch monitoring requirements onboard 
catcher/processors and motherships and will not include discussion of 
proposed requirements for shoreside processing plants. Proposed 
revisions to monitoring requirements in the shoreside processing plants 
were included in the draft Environmental Impact Statement prepared for 
Amendment 91 which is available on the NMFS Alaska Region website at 
http://www.alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/

[[Page 43679]]

sustainablefisheries/bycatch/default.htm.

Special Accommodations

    These workshops will be physically accessible to people with 
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other 
auxiliary aids should be directed to Sally Bibb, 907-586-7389, at least 
10 working days prior to the meeting date.

    Dated: August 21, 2009.
James P. Burgess,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E9-20728 Filed 8-26-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S