70936 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 197 / Friday, October 13, 2023 / Notices 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; public meeting. 

SUMMARY: The Mid-Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council will hold a public 

webinar to collect input on summer 

flounder commercial mesh regulations 

and exemptions. 

DATES: The meeting will be held on 

Wednesday, November 1, 2023, from 2 

p.m. until 5 p.m. EDT. For agenda 

details, see SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held 

via webinar. Connection information 

will be posted prior to the meeting at 

www.mafmc.org. 

Council address: Mid-Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council, 800 N State 

Street, Suite 201, Dover, DE 19901; 

telephone: (302) 674–2331; 

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: The MidAtlantic Fishery Management Council 

(Council) will host a webinar to collect 

public input on multiple summer 

flounder commercial trawl mesh 

regulations topics, as described below. 

The Council is seeking feedback to 

consider whether modifications to these 

measures may be needed and will 

review these topics at the December 

2023 Council meeting jointly with the 

Atlantic States Marine Fisheries 

Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup, 

and Black Sea Bass Board (Board). 

The first issue is the minimum mesh 

size requirements for the commercial 

summer flounder trawl fishery. The 

Fishery Management Plan (FMP) 

currently allows two options for 

summer flounder minimum mesh sizes: 

5.5-inch diamond or 6.0-inch square. 

The Council and Board have previously 

reviewed information suggesting that 

the selectivity of the 6.0′′ square mesh 

is not equivalent to that of the 5.5′′ 

diamond mesh, and the 6.0′′ square 

mesh may be retaining too many 

undersized summer flounder. 

Additional input is being sought from 

industry on use patterns of these two 

minimum mesh sizes, factors 

influencing choice of mesh, cost of 

modifications to mesh size regulations, 

and whether modifications to the 

minimum mesh size may be necessary. 

There are two exemptions to the 

minimum mesh size regulations that are 

also under review for Council and Board 

consideration in December 2023: (1) the 

Small Mesh Exemption Program, and (2) 

the flynet exemption. Vessels landing 

more than 200 lb of summer flounder 

east of longitude 72° 30.0′ W, from 

November 1 through April 30, and using 

mesh smaller than 5.5-inch diamond or 

6.0-inch square are required to obtain a 

small mesh exemption program (SMEP) 

permit from NMFS. The exemption is 

designed to allow vessels to retain some 

bycatch of summer flounder while 

operating in other small-mesh fisheries. 

This exemption program is being 

reviewed to determine whether it is still 

meeting its original intention, and if 

changes to the SMEP are needed relative 

to the area, timing, possession limit, or 

other aspects of the program. 

Vessels fishing with a two-seam otter 

trawl flynet are also exempt from the 

minimum mesh size requirements. 

Exempt flynets have large mesh in the 

wings that measure 8 to 64 inches, the 

belly of the net has 35 or more meshes 

that are at least 8 inches, and the mesh 

decreases in size throughout the body of 

the net, sometimes to 2 inches or 

smaller. Previous Council and Board 

discussions have suggested that the 

flynet exemption is being used to fish 

with ‘‘high rise’’ nets that may not meet 

the regulatory definition of flynets, 

pointing to a potential enforcement and 

compliance issues and/or a need to 

revise the regulatory language. The 

Council is seeking additional input from 

industry on how these two exemptions 

are used and any recommendations for 

modifications to the program, including 

consideration of whether they are still 

needed. 

The primary target audience for this 

webinar includes: (a) any commercial 

industry participant using trawl gear to 

fish for summer flounder, (b) 

commercial fishing industry 

participants utilizing either of the 

summer flounder mesh size exemptions 

while targeting any species, (c) any 

stakeholder with knowledge of these 

gear types and their use, and (d) any 

member of the public who wishes to 

provide comments or recommendations 

on these regulations. Additional 

information, background documents, 

and instructions for providing written 

comments will be posted to the 

Council’s website at: https://

www.mafmc.org/. 

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: October 6, 2023. 

Rey Israel Marquez, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2023–22662 Filed 10–12–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XD456] 

South Atlantic Fishery Management 

Council; Public Meetings 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of scoping meetings. 

SUMMARY: The South Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council (Council) will 

hold a series of scoping meetings via 

webinar pertaining to Framework 

Amendment 13 to the Fishery 

Management Plan for Coastal Migratory 

Pelagic Resources in the Gulf of Mexico 

and Atlantic Region. The amendment 

addresses Atlantic migratory group 

Spanish mackerel catch levels. 

DATES: The scoping meetings will be 

held via webinar on Monday, October 

30, 2023, at 6 p.m. and Wednesday, 

November 1, 2023, at 6 p.m. 

ADDRESSES: Council address: South 

Atlantic Fishery Management Council, 

4055 Faber Place Drive, Suite 201, N 

Charleston, SC 29405. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Christina Wiegand, Fishery Social 

Scientist, SAFMC; phone: (843) 571– 

4366 or toll free: (866) SAFMC–10; fax: 

(843) 769–4520; email: 

christina.wiegand@safmc.net. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

scoping meetings will be conducted via 

webinar. Registration is required. The 

public scoping document, online public 

comment form, and webinar registration 

information will be posted on the 

Council’s website at: https://safmc.net/ 

public-hearings-and-scoping/ as it 

becomes available. Public comments 

must be received by 5 p.m. on 

November 10, 2023. 

Framework Amendment 13 to the 

Coastal Migratory Pelagics FMP 

The Council is considering action to 

address updated scientific information 

on the Atlantic Spanish mackerel stock 

provided through the Southeast Data, 

Assessment, and Review (SEDAR) 78 

stock assessment (2022). The 

assessment, which included revised 


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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 197 / Friday, October 13, 2023 / Notices 70937 

recreational landings based on the 

Marine Recreational Information 

Program’s newer Fishing Effort Survey 

method, indicated that the Atlantic 

Spanish mackerel stock was not 

overfished nor undergoing overfishing. 

The amendment currently includes 

actions to update catch levels to be 

consistent with SEDAR 78 and the 

Council’s Scientific and Statistical 

Committee recommendations. 

During the scoping meetings, Council 

staff will present an overview of the 

draft framework amendment and will be 

available for informal discussions and to 

answer questions via webinar. Members 

of the public will have an opportunity 

to go on record to record their 

comments for consideration by the 

Council. 

Special Accommodations 

These meetings are physically 

accessible to people with disabilities. 

Requests for auxiliary aids should be 

directed to the Council office (see 

ADDRESSES) 3 days prior to the meeting. 

Note: The times and sequence specified in 

this agenda are subject to change. 

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

Dated: October 6, 2023. 

Rey Israel Marquez, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2023–22658 Filed 10–12–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XD453] 

Fisheries of the Gulf of Mexico; 

Southeast Data, Assessment, and 

Review (SEDAR); Public Meeting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of SEDAR 87 Post Data 

Workshop Webinar for Gulf of Mexico 

White, Pink, and Brown Shrimp. 

SUMMARY: The SEDAR 87 assessment 

process of Gulf of Mexico white, pink, 

and brown shrimp will consist of a Data 

Workshop, and a series of assessment 

webinars, and a Review Workshop. See 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. 

DATES: The SEDAR 87 Post Data 

Workshop webinar will be held 

November 6, 2023, from 1 p.m. to 4 

p.m., Eastern Time. 

ADDRESSES: 

Meeting address: The meeting will be 

held via webinar. The webinar is open 

to members of the public. Those 

interested in participating should 

contact Julie A. Neer at SEDAR (see FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT) to 

request an invitation providing webinar 

access information. Please request 

webinar invitations at least 24 hours in 

advance of each webinar. 

SEDAR address: 4055 Faber Place 

Drive, Suite 201, North Charleston, SC 

29405. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julie 

A. Neer, SEDAR Coordinator; (843) 571– 

4366; email: Julie.neer@safmc.net. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Gulf 

of Mexico, South Atlantic, and 

Caribbean Fishery Management 

Councils, in conjunction with NOAA 

Fisheries and the Atlantic and Gulf 

States Marine Fisheries Commissions 

have implemented the Southeast Data, 

Assessment and Review (SEDAR) 

process, a multi-step method for 

determining the status of fish stocks in 

the Southeast Region. SEDAR is a multistep process including: (1) Data 

Workshop, (2) a series of assessment 

webinars, and (3) A Review Workshop. 

The product of the Data Workshop is a 

report that compiles and evaluates 

potential datasets and recommends 

which datasets are appropriate for 

assessment analyses. The assessment 

webinars produce a report that describes 

the fisheries, evaluates the status of the 

stock, estimates biological benchmarks, 

projects future population conditions, 

and recommends research and 

monitoring needs. The product of the 

Review Workshop is an Assessment 

Summary documenting panel opinions 

regarding the strengths and weaknesses 

of the stock assessment and input data. 

Participants for SEDAR Workshops are 

appointed by the Gulf of Mexico, South 

Atlantic, and Caribbean Fishery 

Management Councils and NOAA 

Fisheries Southeast Regional Office, 

HMS Management Division, and 

Southeast Fisheries Science Center. 

Participants include data collectors and 

database managers; stock assessment 

scientists, biologists, and researchers; 

constituency representatives including 

fishermen, environmentalists, and 

NGO’s; International experts; and staff 

of Councils, Commissions, and state and 

federal agencies. 

The items of discussion during the 

Post Data Workshop webinar are as 

follows: 

Participants will discuss and finalize 

any outstanding data issues remaining 

from the Data Workshop. 

Although non-emergency issues not 

contained in this agenda may come 

before this group for discussion, those 

issues may not be the subject of formal 

action during this meeting. Action will 

be restricted to those issues specifically 

identified 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 to take final action 

to address the emergency. 

Special Accommodations 

These meetings are physically 

accessible to people with disabilities. 

Requests for sign language 

interpretation or other auxiliary aids 

should be directed to the Council office 

(see ADDRESSES) at least 5 business days 

prior to each workshop. 

Note: The times and sequence specified in 

this agenda are subject to change. 

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

Dated: October 6, 2023. 

Rey Israel Marquez, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2023–22660 Filed 10–12–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XD455] 

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’s is convening its 

Scientific and Statistical Committee 

(SSC) 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 Friday, October 27, 2023, beginning 

at 9:30 a.m. 

ADDRESSES: 

Meeting address: The meeting will be 

held at the Hilton Garden Inn, 100 

Boardman Street, Boston, MA 02128, 

(617) 567–6789. 

Webinar registration information: 

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/ 

register/114112148113299549. Call in 


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