Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 170 / Tuesday, September 5, 2023 / Notices 60645 

contact Tamiko Ford at Tamiko.Ford@

nist.gov. 

Alicia Chambers, 

NIST Executive Secretariat. 

[FR Doc. 2023–19087 Filed 9–1–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XD220] 

Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to 

Specified Activities; Taking Marine 

Mammals Incidental to In-Water 

Construction on Bainbridge Island, 

Washington 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; issuance of renewal 

incidental harassment authorization. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

regulations implementing the Marine 

Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), as 

amended, notification is hereby given 

that NMFS has issued a Renewal 

incidental harassment authorization 

(IHA) to Washington State Department 

of Transportation (WSDOT) Ferries 

Division to incidentally harass marine 

mammals incidental to the Bainbridge 

Island Ferry Terminal Overhead 

Loading Replacement Project on 

Bainbridge Island, Washington within 

the Puget Sound. 

DATES: This renewal IHA is valid from 

September 16, 2023 through September 

15, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of the 

original application, Renewal request, 

and supporting documents (including 

NMFS Federal Register notices of the 

original proposed and final 

authorizations, and the previous IHA), 

as well as a list of the references cited 

in this document, may be obtained 

online at: https://

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/permit/ 

incidental-take-authorizations-undermarine-mammal-protection-act. In case 

of problems accessing these documents, 

please call the contact listed below. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Rachel Wachtendonk, Office of 

Protected Resources, NMFS, (301) 427– 

8401. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The Marine Mammal Protection Act 

(MMPA) prohibits the ‘‘take’’ of marine 

mammals, with certain exceptions. 

Sections 101(a)(5)(A) and (D) of the 

MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) direct 

the Secretary of Commerce (as delegated 

to NMFS) to allow, upon request, the 

incidental, but not intentional, taking of 

small numbers of marine mammals by 

U.S. citizens who engage in a specified 

activity (other than commercial fishing) 

within a specified geographical region if 

certain findings are made and either 

regulations are issued or, if the taking is 

limited to harassment, an incidental 

harassment authorization is issued. 

Authorization for incidental takings 

shall be granted if NMFS finds that the 

taking will have a negligible impact on 

the species or stock(s) and will not have 

an unmitigable adverse impact on the 

availability of the species or stock(s) for 

taking for subsistence uses (where 

relevant). Further, NMFS must prescribe 

the permissible methods of taking and 

other ‘‘means of effecting the least 

practicable adverse impact’’ on the 

affected species or stocks and their 

habitat, paying particular attention to 

rookeries, mating grounds, and areas of 

similar significance, and on the 

availability of such species or stocks for 

taking for certain subsistence uses 

(referred to here as ‘‘mitigation 

measures’’). Monitoring and reporting of 

such takings are also required. The 

meaning of key terms such as ‘‘take,’’ 

‘‘harassment,’’ and ‘‘negligible impact’’ 

can be found in Section 3 of the MMPA 

(16 U.S.C. 1362) and the agency’s 

regulations at 50 CFR 216.103. 

NMFS’ regulations implementing the 

MMPA at 50 CFR 216.107(e) indicate 

that IHAs may be renewed for 

additional periods of time not to exceed 

1 year for each reauthorization. In the 

notice of proposed IHA for the initial 

authorization, NMFS described the 

circumstances under which we would 

consider issuing a renewal for this 

activity, and requested public comment 

on a potential renewal under those 

circumstances. Specifically, on a caseby-case basis, NMFS may issue a onetime 1-year Renewal IHA following 

notice to the public providing an 

additional 15 days for public comments 

when (1) up to another year of identical, 

or nearly identical, activities as 

described in the Detailed Description of 

Specified Activities section of the initial 

IHA issuance notice is planned or (2) 

the activities as described in the 

Description of the Specified Activities 

and Anticipated Impacts section of the 

initial IHA issuance notice would not be 

completed by the time the initial IHA 

expires and a renewal would allow for 

completion of the activities beyond that 

described in the DATES section of the 

notice of issuance of the initial IHA, 

provided all of the following conditions 

are met: 

1. A request for renewal is received no 

later than 60 days prior to the needed 

Renewal IHA effective date (recognizing 

that the Renewal IHA expiration date 

cannot extend beyond 1 year from 

expiration of the initial IHA). 

2. The request for renewal must 

include the following: 

• An explanation that the activities to 

be conducted under the requested 

Renewal IHA are identical to the 

activities analyzed under the initial 

IHA, are a subset of the activities, or 

include changes so minor (e.g., 

reduction in pile size) that the changes 

do not affect the previous analyses, 

mitigation and monitoring 

requirements, or take estimates (with 

the exception of reducing the type or 

amount of take). 

• A preliminary monitoring report 

showing the results of the required 

monitoring to date and an explanation 

showing that the monitoring results do 

not indicate impacts of a scale or nature 

not previously analyzed or authorized. 

3. Upon review of the request for 

renewal, the status of the affected 

species or stocks, and any other 

pertinent information, NMFS 

determines that there are no more than 

minor changes in the activities, the 

mitigation and monitoring measures 

will remain the same and appropriate, 

and the findings in the initial IHA 

remain valid. 

An additional public comment period 

of 15 days (for a total of 45 days), with 

direct notice by email, phone, or postal 

service to commenters on the initial 

IHA, is provided to allow for any 

additional comments on the proposed 

renewal. A description of the renewal 

process may be found on our website at: 

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/ 

marine-mammal-protection/incidentalharassment-authorization-renewals. 

History of Request 

On September 16, 2022, NMFS issued 

an IHA to WSDOT to take marine 

mammals incidental to two in-water 

construction projects on Bainbridge 

Island, Washington, in the Puget Sound: 

the Bainbridge Island Ferry Terminal 

Overhead Loading Replacement Project 

and Eagle Harbor Maintenance Facility 

Slip F Improvement Project (87 FR 

58313), effective from September 16, 

2022 through September 15, 2023. On 

February 15, 2023, NMFS received an 

application for the renewal of that 

initial IHA. As described in the 

application for the Renewal IHA, the 

activities for which incidental take is 

requested consist of activities that are 

covered by the initial authorization but 


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60646 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 170 / Tuesday, September 5, 2023 / Notices 

will not be completed prior to its 

expiration. As required, the applicant 

also provided a preliminary monitoring 

report which confirms that the applicant 

has implemented the required 

mitigation and monitoring, and which 

also shows that no impacts of a scale or 

nature not previously analyzed or 

authorized have occurred as a result of 

the activities conducted. The notice of 

the proposed Renewal incidental 

harassment authorization was published 

on July 26, 2023 (88 FR 48194). 

Description of the Specified Activities 

and Anticipated Impacts 

The WSDOT construction project 

consists of the Bainbridge Ferry 

Overhead Loading Replacement Project 

(the Bainbridge Project) and the Eagle 

Harbor Slip F Project (the Eagle Harbor 

Project). The Bainbridge Project consists 

of replacing the timber trestle and fixed 

steel portions of the overhead loading 

structure. This will require the 

installation of temporary work 

platforms, installation of a temporary 

walkway, installation of a new 

permanent walkway, the removal of the 

existing overhead loading walkway, and 

removal of all temporary work platforms 

and walkways. The Eagle Harbor Project 

consists of improving the maintenance 

efficiency of the facility. This will 

require replacing the existing gangplank 

system with a pile supported trestle, 

replacing the existing pair of timber 

dolphins with a pair of steel wingwalls 

and two fixed dolphins, and the 

removal of the existing timber walkway/ 

trestle, four timber pile dolphins, and a 

U-float. 

In total, the initial Bainbridge Project 

included the installation and removal of 

39 24-inch (in) diameter temporary steel 

pipe piles, the installation of 26 

permanent piles (14 30-in and 12 36-in 

steel pipe piles), and the removal of 76 

12-in timber piles. All temporary and 

permanent piles would be installed first 

using a vibratory hammer to within 5 

feet (ft; 1.5 meter (m)) of tip elevation, 

and then driven with an impact hammer 

to verify bearing capacity. The existing 

timber piles would be removed using a 

vibratory hammer. The vibratory and 

impact installation and vibratory 

extraction of the piles were expected to 

take up to 57 days of in-water work. The 

initial Eagle Harbor Project expected the 

installation of a new trestle supported 

by 9 24-in and 2 36-in steel pipe piles, 

the installation of the pair of steel 

wingwalls which would consist of 4 36- 

in steel reaction piles and 2 36-in fender 

piles, the installation of 2 fixed 

dolphins which would consist of 4 30- 

in diameter steel reaction piles and 1 

36-inch diameter fender pile, and the 

removal of 186 12-in timber piles and 4 

18-in steel piles. The piles supporting 

the trestle would be installed first using 

a vibratory hammer to within 5 ft (1.5 

m) of tip elevation, and then driven 

with an impact hammer to verify 

bearing capacity. The installation of the 

wingwall and dolphin piles and the 

removal of the steel and timber piles 

would use a vibratory hammer only. 

The vibratory and impact installation 

and vibratory extraction of the piles was 

expected to take up to 31 days of inwater work. 

Under the initial IHA, all work 

associated with the Eagle Harbor Slip F 

Project was completed over a 22-day 

period with use of a vibratory and 

impact hammer. For the Bainbridge 

Ferry Terminal Overhead Loading 

Replacement Project, all project related 

pile installation activities were 

completed over a 33-day period with 

use of a vibratory and impact hammer. 

This renewal is to cover the subset of 

the activities described for the initial 

IHA that will not be completed during 

the effective IHA period. WSDOT plans 

to remove all 45 12-in timber piles 

through vibratory means between 

September 2023 and September 2024. 

WSDOT estimates it will take 30 

minutes to remove a single pile, with up 

to 10 piles removed per day. 

The likely or possible impacts of the 

WSDOT’s planned activity on marine 

mammals could involve both nonacoustic and acoustic stressors and is 

unchanged from the impacts described 

in the initial IHA. Potential nonacoustic stressors could result from the 

physical presence of the equipment, 

vessels, and personnel; however, any 

impacts to marine mammals are 

expected to primarily be acoustic in 

nature. Acoustic stressors include 

effects of heavy equipment operation 

during pile removal. The effects of 

underwater noise from the WSDOT’s 

planned activities have the potential to 

result in Level B harassment of marine 

mammals in the action area. 

Detailed Description of the Activity 

A detailed description of the 

construction activities for which take is 

authorized here may be found in the 

notices of the proposed and final IHAs 

for the initial authorization (87 FR 

48623, August 10, 2022; 87 FR 58313, 

September 26, 2022). As previously 

mentioned, this request is for a subset 

of the activities authorized in the initial 

IHA that would not be completed prior 

to its expiration. The location, timing, 

and nature of the activities, including 

the types of equipment planned for use, 

are identical to those described in the 

previous notices. The Renewal IHA is 

effective from September 16, 2023 

through September 15, 2024. 

Description of Marine Mammals 

A description of the marine mammals 

in the area of the activities for take is 

authorized here, including information 

on abundance, status, distribution, and 

hearing, may be found in the notices of 

the proposed IHA for the initial 

authorization (87 FR 48623, August 10, 

2022). NMFS has reviewed the 

monitoring data from the initial IHA, 

recent draft Stock Assessment Reports, 

information on relevant Unusual 

Mortality Events, and other scientific 

literature, and determined that neither 

this nor any other new information 

affects which species or stocks have the 

potential to be affected or the pertinent 

information in the Description of the 

Marine Mammals in the Area of 

Specified Activities contained in the 

supporting documents for the initial 

IHA. 

Potential Effects on Marine Mammals 

and Their Habitat 

A description of the potential effects 

of the specified activity on marine 

mammals and their habitat for the 

activities for which take is authorized 

here may be found in the Federal 

Register notices of the proposed IHA for 

the initial authorization (87 FR 48623, 

August 10, 2022). NMFS has reviewed 

the monitoring data from the initial 

IHA, recent draft Stock Assessment 

Reports, information on relevant 

Unusual Mortality Events, other 

scientific literature, and the public 

comments, and determined that neither 

this nor any other new information 

affects our initial analysis of impacts on 

marine mammals and their habitat. 

Estimated Take 

A detailed description of the methods 

and inputs used to estimate take for the 

specified activity are found in the 

Federal Register notices of the proposed 

and final IHAs for the initial 

authorization (87 FR 48623, August 10, 

2022; 87 FR 58313, September 26, 

2022). Specifically, the source levels, 

days of operation, and marine mammal 

density and occurrence data applicable 

to this authorization remain unchanged 

from the previously issued IHA. 

Similarly, the stocks taken, methods of 

take, and types of take remain 

unchanged from the initial IHA, as do 

the number of takes, which are 

indicated below in Table 1. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 170 / Tuesday, September 5, 2023 / Notices 60647 

TABLE 1—AMOUNT OF TAKING, BY LEVEL B HARASSMENT, BY SPECIES AND STOCK AND PERCENT OF TAKE BY STOCK

Species Stock Proposed take Percent of stock 

Harbor seal ............................................................... Washington Northern Inland Waters ........................ 60 0.5 

California sea lion ..................................................... US ............................................................................. 3 <0.1 

Steller sea lion .......................................................... Eastern ..................................................................... 1 <0.1 

Killer whale ............................................................... West Coast Transient ............................................... 1 6 1.7 

Harbor porpoise ........................................................ Washington Inland Waters ....................................... 9 <0.1 

1Modeled take of 1 increased to typical group size (Ford et al. 2013). 

Description of Mitigation, Monitoring 

and Reporting Measures 

The mitigation, monitoring, and 

reporting measures included as 

requirements in this authorization are 

identical to those included in the 

Federal Register notice announcing the 

issuance of the initial IHA, and the 

discussion of the least practicable 

adverse impact included in that 

document remains accurate (87 FR 

48623, August 10, 2022). The following 

measures are included in this renewal: 

• WSDOT must avoid direct physical 

interaction with marine mammals 

during construction activity. If a marine 

mammal comes within 10 m of such 

activity, operations must cease and 

vessels must reduce speed to the 

minimum level required to maintain 

steerage and safe working conditions, as 

necessary to avoid direct physical 

interaction; 

• Pre-start clearance monitoring must 

be conducted during periods of 

visibility sufficient for the lead 

Protected Species Observer (PSO) to 

determine the shutdown zones clear of 

marine mammals. Construction may 

commence when the determination is 

made; 

• Pile driving/removal activity must 

be halted upon observation of either a 

species for which incidental take is not 

authorized or a species for which 

incidental take has been authorized but 

the authorized number of takes has been 

met, entering or within the harassment 

zone; 

• WSDOT will establish and 

implement the shutdown zones. The 

purpose of a shutdown zone is generally 

to define an area within which 

shutdown of the activity would occur 

upon sighting of a marine mammal (or 

in anticipation of an animal entering the 

defined area). Shutdown zones typically 

vary based on the activity type and 

marine mammal hearing group. Since 

the Level A harassment threshold is 

under 10 m for all hearing groups, the 

shutdown zone for all hearing groups 

will be 10 m; 

• WSDOT must also implement 

shutdown measures for Southern 

Resident killer whales and humpback 

whales. If Southern Resident killer 

whales or humpback whales are sighted 

within the vicinity of the project areas 

and are approaching the Level B 

harassment zone, WSDOT must shut 

down the pile driving equipment to 

avoid possible take of these species. If 

a killer whale approaches the Level B 

harassment zone during pile driving, 

and it is unknown whether it is a 

Southern Resident killer whale or a 

transient killer whale, it must be 

assumed to be a Southern Resident 

killer whale and WSDOT would 

implement the shutdown measure. The 

shutdown zone for Southern Resident 

killer whales, humpback whales, and 

other unauthorized species is 2,175 m; 

• Prior to the start of pile driving for 

the day, the PSOs must contact the Orca 

Network to find out the location of the 

nearest marine mammal sightings; 

• WSDOT must submit a draft report 

detailing all monitoring within 90 

calendar days of the completion of 

marine mammal monitoring or 60 days 

prior to the issuance of any subsequent 

IHA for this project, whichever comes 

first; 

• WSDOT must prepare and submit 

final report within 30 days following 

resolution of comments on the draft 

report from NMFS; 

• WSDOT must submit all PSO 

datasheets and/or raw sighting data (in 

a separate file from the Final Report 

referenced immediately above); and 

• WSDOT must report injured or 

dead marine mammals. 

Comments and Responses 

NMFS received no public comments. 

Determinations 

NMFS has concluded that there is no 

new information suggesting that our 

analysis or findings should change from 

those reached for the initial IHA. Based 

on the information and analysis 

contained here and in the referenced 

documents, NMFS has determined the 

following: (1) the required mitigation 

measures will effect the least practicable 

impact on marine mammal species or 

stocks and their habitat; (2) the 

authorized takes will have a negligible 

impact on the affected marine mammal 

species or stocks; (3) the authorized 

takes represent small numbers of marine 

mammals relative to the affected stock 

abundances; (4) WSDOT’s activities will 

not have an unmitigable adverse impact 

on taking for subsistence purposes as no 

relevant subsistence uses of marine 

mammals are implicated by this action, 

and; (5) appropriate monitoring and 

reporting requirements are included. 

National Environmental Policy Act 

To comply with the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

(NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and 

NOAA Administrative Order (NAO) 

216–6A, NMFS must review our 

proposed action (i.e., the issuance of an 

IHA renewal) with respect to potential 

impacts on the human environment. 

This action is consistent with 

categories of activities identified in 

Categorical Exclusion B4 (incidental 

take authorizations with no anticipated 

serious injury or mortality) of the 

Companion Manual for NOAA 

Administrative Order 216–6A, which do 

not individually or cumulatively have 

the potential for significant impacts on 

the quality of the human environment 

and for which we have not identified 

any extraordinary circumstances that 

would preclude this categorical 

exclusion. Accordingly, NMFS 

determined that the issuance of the 

initial IHA qualified to be categorically 

excluded from further NEPA review. 

NMFS has determined that the 

application of this categorical exclusion 

remains appropriate for this Renewal 

IHA. 

Endangered Species Act (ESA) 

No incidental take of ESA-listed 

species is proposed for authorization or 

expected to result from this activity. 

Therefore, NMFS has determined that 

formal consultation under section 7 of 

the ESA is not required for this action. 

Renewal 

NMFS has issued a Renewal IHA to 

WSDOT for the take of marine mammals 

incidental to conducting Bainbridge 

Island Ferry Terminal Overhead 

Loading Replacement Project on 

Bainbridge Island, Washington within 


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60648 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 170 / Tuesday, September 5, 2023 / Notices 

the Puget Sound, from September 16, 

2023 through September 15, 2024. 

Dated: August 29, 2023. 

Catherine Marzin, 

Acting Director, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2023–19016 Filed 9–1–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XD312] 

Pacific Fishery Management Council; 

Public Meeting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of a public online 

meeting. 

SUMMARY: The Ecosystem-Based 

Management and Groundfish 

Subcommittees of the Pacific Fishery 

Management Council’s (Pacific Council) 

Scientific and Statistical Committee 

(SSC) will convene an online meeting to 

review a proposed approach for 

developing the use of ecosystem risk 

evaluation tables and any other 

Ecosystem and Climate Information for 

Species, Fisheries, and Fishery 

Management Plan (Initiative 4) materials 

provided by the Council’s Ecosystem 

Workgroup. The SSC Ecosystem-Based 

Management and Groundfish 

Subcommittee meeting is open to the 

public. 

DATES: The SSC Ecosystem-Based 

Management and Groundfish 

Subcommittee meeting will be held 

Thursday, September 21, 2023, from 1 

p.m. until 5 p.m. (Pacific Daylight Time) 

or until business for the day has been 

completed. 

ADDRESSES: The SSC Ecosystem-Based 

Management and Groundfish 

Subcommittee meeting will be 

conducted as an online meeting. 

Specific meeting information, including 

the agenda and directions on how to 

join the meeting and system 

requirements, will be provided in the 

workshop announcement on the Pacific 

Council’s website (see 

www.pcouncil.org). You may send an 

email to Kris Kleinschmidt 

(kris.kleinschmidt@noaa.gov) or contact 

him at (503) 820–2412 for technical 

assistance. 

Council address: Pacific Fishery 

Management Council, 7700 NE 

Ambassador Place, Suite 101, Portland, 

OR 97220. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Marlene A. Bellman, Staff Officer, 

Pacific Council; telephone: (503) 820– 

2414; email: marlene.bellman@

noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

purpose of the SSC Ecosystem-Based 

Management and Groundfish 

Subcommittee meeting is to review an 

approach being developed by the 

Council’s Ecosystem Workgroup to 

develop ecosystem risk evaluation 

tables for several example groundfish 

species, their potential use in the 

Council process, and any intersection 

with the SSC’s scientific uncertainty 

buffers and stock category designations 

which result from the stock assessment 

process. 

No management actions will be 

decided by the meeting participants. 

The participants’ role will be 

development of recommendations and 

reports for consideration by the SSC and 

the Pacific Council at a future Council 

meeting. The Pacific Council and SSC 

are scheduled to consider the Ecosystem 

and Climate Information for Species, 

Fisheries, and Fishery Management Plan 

Initiative 4 at their March 2024 meeting 

in Fresno, CA. 

Although nonemergency issues not 

contained in the meeting agenda may be 

discussed, those issues may not be the 

subject of formal action during this 

meeting. Action will be restricted to 

those issues specifically listed in this 

notice and any issues arising after 

publication of this notice that require 

emergency action under Section 305(c) 

of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act, 

provided the public has been notified of 

the intent of the workshop participants 

to take final action to address the 

emergency. 

Special Accommodations 

Requests for sign language 

interpretation or other auxiliary aids 

should be directed to Kris Kleinschmidt 

(kris.kleinschmidt@noaa.gov; (503) 820– 

2412) at least 10 days prior to the 

meeting date. 

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

Dated: August 30, 2023. 

Rey Israel Marquez, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2023–19096 Filed 9–1–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XD315] 

New England Fishery Management 

Council; Public Meeting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting. 

SUMMARY: The New England Fishery 

Management Council (Council) is 

scheduling a public hybrid meeting of 

its Joint Groundfish Advisory and 

Recreational Advisory Panel to consider 

actions affecting New England fisheries 

in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). 

Recommendations from this group will 

be brought to the full Council for formal 

consideration and action, if appropriate. 

DATES: This hybrid meeting will be held 

on Thursday, September 21, 2023, at 

9:30 a.m. 

ADDRESSES: 

Meeting address: This meeting will be 

held at the DoubleTree by Hilton, 50 

Ferncroft Road, Danvers, MA 01923; 

telephone: (978) 777–2500. 

Webinar registration URL 

information: https://

attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/ 

6730926944645695575. 

Council address: New England 

Fishery Management Council, 50 Water 

Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cate 

O’Keefe, Executive Director, New 

England Fishery Management Council; 

telephone: (978) 465–0492. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Agenda 

The Groundfish Advisory Panel and 

Recreational Advisory Panel will meet 

jointly to discuss Atlantic Cod 

Transition Plan—a summary of fishery 

data from the Research Track stock 

assessment for Atlantic cod. They will 

also discuss Framework Adjustment 66/ 

Specifications and Management 

Measures—an update on the 

development of draft alternatives as 

well as Framework Adjustment 68/ 

Acceptable Biological Catches (ABC) 

Control Rules—the findings from the 

facilitated meeting and Groundfish 

Committee motions from meeting held 

on August 17, 2023. The Panels will 

discuss 2024 Council Priorities— 

possible groundfish priorities for the 

Council to consider for 2024, and 

recommendations to the Groundfish 

Committee, as appropriate. Other 

business will be discussed as necessary. 


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