58554 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 165 / Monday, August 28, 2023 / Notices 

following specific items with them to 

the workshop: 

• Individual vessel owners must 

bring a copy of the appropriate 

swordfish and/or shark permit(s), a copy 

of the vessel registration or 

documentation, and proof of 

identification; 

• Representatives of a businessowned or co-owned vessel must bring 

proof that the individual is an agent of 

the business (such as articles of 

incorporation), a copy of the applicable 

swordfish and/or shark permit(s), and 

proof of identification; and 

• Vessel operators must bring proof of 

identification. 

Workshop Objectives 

The Safe Handling, Release, and 

Identification Workshops are designed 

to teach the owner and operator of a 

vessel that fisheries with longline or 

gillnet gear the required techniques for 

the safe handling and release of 

entangled and/or hooked protected 

species, such as sea turtles, marine 

mammals, smalltooth sawfish, Atlantic 

sturgeon, and prohibited sharks. In an 

effort to improve reporting, the proper 

identification of protected species and 

prohibited sharks will also be taught at 

these workshops. Additionally, 

individuals attending these workshops 

will gain a better understanding of the 

requirements for participating in these 

fisheries. The overall goal of these 

workshops is to provide participants 

with the skills needed to reduce the 

mortality of protected species and 

prohibited sharks, which may prevent 

additional regulations on these fisheries 

in the future. 

Online Recertification Workshops 

NMFS implemented an online option 

for shark dealers and owners and 

operators of vessels that fish with 

longline and gillnet gear to renew their 

certificates in December 2021. To be 

eligible for online recertification 

workshops, dealers and vessel owners 

and operators need to have previously 

attended an in-person workshop. 

Information about the courses is 

available online at https://

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/atlantic-highlymigratory-species/atlantic-sharkidentification-workshops and https://

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/atlantic-highlymigratory-species/safe-handling-releaseand-identification-workshops. To access 

the course please visit: https://

hmsworkshop.fisheries.noaa.gov/start. 

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

Dated: August 23, 2023. 

Jennifer M. Wallace, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2023–18493 Filed 8–25–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XD277] 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone Off Alaska; Pacific Cod Trawl 

Cooperative Program; Public 

Workshop 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notification of public workshop. 

SUMMARY: NMFS will present a public 

workshop on the implementation of the 

Pacific cod Trawl Cooperative Program 

(PCTC Program or Program) for 

potentially eligible participants and 

other interested parties. The PCTC 

Program allocates Pacific cod harvest 

quota to qualifying groundfish License 

Limitation Program (LLP) license 

holders and qualifying processors and 

requires participants to form 

cooperatives to harvest the quota. At the 

workshop, NMFS will provide an 

overview of the PCTC Program, discuss 

the key PCTC Program elements, 

describe the process for participating in 

the Program, and answer questions. 

NMFS is conducting this public 

workshop to provide assistance to 

fishery participants in understanding 

and reviewing this Program. 

DATES: The same workshop will be 

presented in Seattle and then via 

webinar. The first workshop will be 

held in-person on Wednesday, 

September 20, 2023 from 5:30 to 7:30 

p.m. Pacific Standard Time in Seattle, 

Washington and will not have a webinar 

option. The second workshop will be 

held via webinar on Wednesday, 

September 27, 2023 from 5:30 to 7:30 

p.m. Alaska Standard Time. 

ADDRESSES: The first workshop on 

September 20 will be held in Seattle, 

Washington at The Mountaineers Seattle 

Program Center, 7700 Sand Point Way 

NE, Seattle, WA 98115. The second 

workshop will be held via webinar and 

the link to the meeting is: https://

meet.google.com/oky-ajgw-nhm. A 

phone connect is also available by 

calling +1 502–518–3401 and entering 

the following pin number: 163 659 

782#. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Stephanie Warpinski, 

stephanie.warpinski@noaa.gov, (907)- 

586–7234. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS 

published a final rule that implements 

Amendment 122 to the Bering Sea and 

Aleutian Islands Management Area 

(BSAI) Groundfish Fishery Management 

Plan (FMP) on (88 FR 53704, August 8, 

2023). The PCTC Program assigns 

Pacific cod harvest quota to qualifying 

groundfish LLP license holders and 

qualifying processors. The Program is a 

limited access privilege program for the 

harvest of Pacific cod in the BSAI trawl 

catcher vessel (CV) sector. Under the 

Program, participants holding quota 

share (QS) form harvesting cooperatives 

in association with a processor to 

harvest the annual harvest privilege of 

Pacific cod. 

The PCTC Program implements a 

complex suite of measures to improve 

fishery conditions for all participants. 

This Program establishes criteria for 

harvesters and processors in the BSAI 

trawl CV sector Pacific cod fishery to 

qualify for and receive QS, criteria for 

allocating QS in the initial year of 

implementation, and criteria for the 

transfer of QS. QS holders are required 

to join a cooperative (harvesters) or 

associate with a cooperative 

(processors). The aggregate QS of 

cooperative members and associated 

processors yields an exclusive harvest 

privilege for PCTC Program 

cooperatives, which NMFS will issue as 

cooperative quota (CQ) each year. CQ 

represents a portion of the A and B 

season BSAI trawl CV sector Pacific cod 

Directed Fishing Allowance (DFA). Of 

the total annual CQ, 77.5 percent is 

derived from QS issued to LLP licenses, 

and 22.5 percent is derived from QS 

issued to processors. The DFA for the C 

season remains available for harvest as 

a limited access fishery open to all CVs 

with the required trawl gear and area 

endorsements on the LLP license 

assigned to the vessel. 

As required under Magnuson-Stevens 

Act section 303A(c)(5)(D), the PCTC 

Program includes ownership and use 

caps to prevent a permit holder from 

acquiring an excessive share of the 

fishery. No person is permitted to hold 

more than 5 percent of harvester-issued 

QS or 20 percent of processor-issued 

QS. In addition, no vessel is allowed to 

harvest more than 5 percent of the 

annual CQ, and no company is allowed 

to process more than 20 percent of the 

annual CQ. The PCTC Program also 

includes legacy exemptions for persons 

over these ownership and use caps at 

the time of PCTC Program 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1
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 


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