Document Headings

                    Document headings vary by document type but may contain                    the following:                  
                -                       the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document                    
                -                       the number of the CFR title and the number of each part                      the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly                      related to                    
                -                       the agency docket number / agency internal file number                    
                -                       the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in                      the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory                      Actions                    

                    See the                                          Document Drafting Handbook                                        for more details.                  

###### Department of Commerce

###### National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

          - [RTID 0648-XD378]

# AGENCY:

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

# ACTION:

Notice of meeting.

# SUMMARY:

The Advisory Committee to the U.S. Section to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), supported by NMFS, is holding a public meeting via webinar session to receive an update and provide input on the development of a management strategy evaluation (MSE) for North Atlantic swordfish. The meeting is open to all interested stakeholders.

# DATES:

A virtual meeting that is open to the public will be held by webinar session on October 5, 2023, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. EDT.

# ADDRESSES:

                        Please register to attend the meeting at:                         *https://forms.gle/​2wkHbTstzFDkHpYu9.*                         Registration will close on October 3, 2023, at 5 p.m. EDT. Instructions for accessing the webinar session will be emailed to registered participants.                    

# FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

                        Bryan Keller, Office of International Affairs, Trade, and Commerce, (301) 427-7725,                         *Bryan.Keller@noaa.gov.*

# SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

                    MSE is a process that allows fishery managers and stakeholders (                    *e.g.,*                     industry, scientists, and non-governmental organizations) to assess how well different strategies achieve specified management objectives for a fishery. ICCAT expects to finalize its North Atlantic swordfish MSE in 2023 and anticipates adopting a management procedure in November 2023 to set the total allowable catch (TAC) for 2024 and future years for the stock. NMFS, and the U.S. Government more broadly, has been fully engaged in the MSE development process, an important part of which involves considering stakeholder input, including through periodic consultations with the Advisory Committee to the U.S. Section to ICCAT. The United States is also participating in the development of the North Atlantic swordfish MSE through the active involvement of U.S. scientists in the work carried out by ICCAT's Standing Committee on Research and Statistics (SCRS).                

The October 5 meeting is primarily informational in nature. It is intended to update U.S. stakeholders on the progress of the North Atlantic swordfish MSE process and increase awareness and understanding of that process. NMFS will provide information on the progress of the SCRS in developing initial candidate management procedures (CMPs) and testing them based on the input provided to-date by ICCAT's Panel 4 on management objectives and other relevant matters. CMPs illustrate tradeoffs associated with achieving identified management objectives related to stock status, stock safety, yield, and TAC stability over time. CMP testing assists ICCAT in refining management objectives and narrowing the number of viable CMPs for possible adoption by the Commission.

There will also be an opportunity for the Advisory Committee and other stakeholders to provide input on the North Atlantic swordfish MSE. Such input helps inform U.S. scientists who are participating in the MSE work of the SCRS as well as U.S. managers participating in North Atlantic swordfish MSE meetings at the Commission level later in 2023.

                        (Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971*et seq.;*16 U.S.C. 1801*et seq.*)                    

Dated: September 14, 2023.

Alexa Cole,

Director, Office of International Affairs, Trade, and Commerce, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 2023-20292 Filed 9-19-23; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-22-P