Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 165 / Monday, August 28, 2023 / Notices 58555 

implementation, allowing participants 

to maintain levels of historical 

participation rather than forcing 

divestiture. 

The PCTC Program reduces the 

halibut and crab Prohibited Species 

Catch (PSC) limits for participating 

trawl CVs during the A and B seasons. 

NMFS will apportion halibut and crab 

PSC limits to PCTC Program 

cooperatives during the annual harvest 

specifications process based on the 

percentage of total BSAI Pacific cod CQ 

allocated to each cooperative. 

To support the sustained participation 

of AI communities in the Pacific cod 

trawl CV fishery, cooperatives are 

required to collectively set-aside 12 

percent of the A season CQ for delivery 

to an Aleutian Islands shoreplant (AI 

CQ set-aside) during years in which an 

AI community representative notifies 

NMFS of their intent to process Pacific 

cod. 

At this time, NMFS mailed out official 

records to eligible participants who 

have until October 10, 2023 to submit 

the Application for PCTC Program QS to 

NMFS. Any participants who do not 

join or associate with a cooperative by 

November 1 will not receive benefits 

from their QS for the 2024 fishing 

season. On November 1, 2023, all 

cooperatives must submit Applications 

for PCTC Program Cooperative Quota to 

NMFS. For the calendar year 2023, to 

provide for implementation of the 

Program during its first year, NMFS will 

allow each cooperative to submit the 

inter-cooperative agreement on or before 

December 31, 2023, after the November 

1 deadline for the Application for PCTC 

Program CQ. 

NMFS is conducting two public 

workshops to provide assistance to 

fishery participants in reviewing the 

requirements of the Program. At the 

workshops, NMFS will provide an 

overview of the Program, and discuss 

the key Program elements, including the 

process to apply for QS; cooperative and 

limited access participation provisions; 

cooperative quota transfer provisions; 

the appeals process; monitoring and 

enforcement; and electronic reporting. 

Additionally, NMFS will answer 

questions from workshop participants. 

For further information on the Program, 

please visit the NMFS Alaska Region 

website here: https://

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/ 

amendment-122-fishery-managementplan-groundfish-bering-sea-andaleutian-islands-management. 

Special Accommodations 

Requests for sign language 

interpretation or other auxiliary aids 

should be directed to Stephanie 

Warpinski, stephanie.warpinski@

noaa.gov, at least 5 working days prior 

to the meeting date. 

Dated: August 23, 2023. 

Jennifer M. Wallace, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2023–18530 Filed 8–25–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XD285] 

Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management 

Council (MAFMC); Public Meeting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; public meeting. 

SUMMARY: The Mid-Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council’s (Council) 

Scientific and Statistical Committee 

(SSC) will hold a meeting. 

DATES: The meeting will be held on 

Tuesday, September 12, 2023, starting at 

10 a.m. and continuing through 1 p.m. 

on Wednesday, September 13, 2023. See 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for agenda 

details. 

ADDRESSES: This will be an in-person 

meeting with a virtual option. SSC 

members, other invited meeting 

participants, and members of the public 

will have the option to participate in 

person or virtually via Webex webinar. 

Webinar connection instructions and 

briefing materials will be available at: 

www.mafmc.org/ssc. 

Meeting address: Royal Sonesta 

Harbor Court Baltimore, 550 Light 

Street, Baltimore, MD. 

Council address: Mid-Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council, 800 N. State 

Street, Suite 201, Dover, DE 19901; 

telephone: (302) 674–2331; website: 

www.mafmc.org. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Christopher M. Moore, Ph.D., Executive 

Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council; telephone: (302) 

526–5255. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: During 

this meeting, the SSC will discuss 

recent research that evaluates the 

science implications and fishery 

interactions associated with offshore 

wind development. The SSC will 

receive an update on the Council’s 

development of the Recreational 

Measures Setting Process Framework, 

including anticipated model 

development and management strategy 

evaluation analysis to support the 

action. The SSC will review and provide 

feedback on the updated Scup discard 

report and Gear Restricted Area (GRA) 

analysis. The SSC will get an overview 

of the Northeast commercial port 

sampling program and an update on 

Atlantic Mackerel management track 

stock assessment and projection 

scenarios. The SSC will also receive 

updates from the SSC ecosystem work 

group and the SSC overfishing limit 

(OFL) coefficient of variation (CV) subgroup. The SSC may take up any other 

business as necessary. 

A detailed agenda and background 

documents will be made available on 

the Council’s website (www.mafmc.org) 

prior to the meeting. 

Special Accommodations 

The meeting is physically accessible 

to people with disabilities. Requests for 

sign language interpretation or other 

auxiliary aid should be directed to 

Shelley Spedden, (302) 526–5251, at 

least 5 days prior to the meeting date. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. 

Dated: August 22, 2023. 

Rey Israel Marquez, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2023–18431 Filed 8–25–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XD292] 

Western Pacific Fishery Management 

Council; Public Meetings 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of public meetings. 

SUMMARY: The Western Pacific Fishery 

Management Council (Council) will 

hold its 149th Scientific and Statistical 

Committee (SSC) and its 196th Council 

meeting to take actions on fishery 

management issues in the Western 

Pacific Region. The Council will also 

hold meetings of the following standing 

committees: Pelagic and International 

Standing Committee (SC); Program 

Planning SC; Fishing Rights of 

Indigenous Peoples SC; and Executive 

and Budget SC. 

DATES: The meetings will be held 

between September 12 and September 

20, 2023. For specific times and 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1