78726 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 220 / Thursday, November 16, 2023 / Notices 

(1) B Reports (Executive Director 

including CCC update, IRA funding 

workplan, GOA Pacific cod 

allocation review, industry reports 

on 2023 crab avoidance; NMFS 

Management including Cook Inlet 

Salmon Secretarial FMP 

amendment, Final Observer 

Deployment Plan, year-end inseason management report, 

Aquaculture Opportunity Areas 

Request for Information; NOAA 

General Counsel (GC), NOAA 

Enforcement; Alaska Department of 

Fish and Game (ADF&G); United 

States Coast Guard (USCG); United 

States Fish and Wildlife Service 

(USFWS); Advisory Panel and SSC 

report) 

(2) Crab C Share recent participation 

requirement—Final Action 

(3) Crab Facility Use Caps—Final Action 

(4) BSAI Groundfish specifications— 

review BS and AI Ecosystem Status 

Reports; SAFE report; adopt ABC/ 

OFLs; Joint Groundfish Plan Teams 

report; BSAI Groundfish Plan Team 

Report Chum Salmon bycatch— 

preliminary review 

(5) GOA Groundfish specifications;— 

GOA ESR Report; SAFE report; 

adopt ABC/OFLs; GOA Plan Team 

report 

(6) EFH FMP amendments—Initial/final 

action 

(7) Crab FMP housekeeping 

amendment—Initial/final action 

(8) 2024 Charter Halibut Management 

Measures—Final action; committee 

report 

(9) GOA Tanner Crab protections— 

review discussion paper 

(10) BS FEP CCTF Taskforce—review 

workplan and report 

(11) Staff Tasking 

Connection Information 

You can attend the meeting online 

using a computer, tablet, or smart 

phone; or by phone only. Connection 

information will be posted online at: 

https://www.npfmc.org/upcomingcouncil-meetings. For technical support, 

please contact our administrative staff, 

email: npfmc.admin@noaa.gov. 

If you are attending the meeting inperson, please refer to the COVID 

avoidance protocols on our website, 

https://www.npfmc.org/current-or-nextcouncil-meeting/. 

Public Comment 

Public comment letters will be 

accepted and should be submitted 

electronically through the links at 

https://www.npfmc.org/current-or-nextcouncil-meeting/. The Council strongly 

encourages written public comment for 

this meeting, to avoid any potential for 

technical difficulties to compromise oral 

testimony. The written comment period 

is open from November 10, 2023, to 

December 1, 2023, and closes at 12 p.m. 

Alaska Time on Friday, December 1, 

2023. 

Although other non-emergency issues 

not on the agenda may come before this 

group for discussion, those issues may 

not be the subject of formal action 

during this meeting. Actions 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 Council’s intent to take 

final action to address the emergency. 

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

Dated: November 13, 2023. 

Rey Israel Marquez, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2023–25359 Filed 11–15–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XD529] 

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, NEFMC) 

will hold a three-day hybrid meeting 

with both in-person and remote 

participation to consider actions 

affecting New England fisheries in the 

exclusive economic zone (EEZ). 

DATES: The meeting will be held on 

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 

December 5, 6, and 7, 2023, beginning 

at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday and 9:00 a.m. 

on Wednesday and Thursday. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at 

the Hotel Viking, One Bellevue Avenue, 

Newport, RI 02840; telephone (401) 

847–3300; online at 

www.hotelviking.com. Join the webinar 

at https://register.gotowebinar.com/ 

register/8673787082024040282. 

Council address: New England 

Fishery Management Council, 50 Water 

Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950; 

telephone (978) 465–0492; 

www.nefmc.org. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cate 

O’Keefe, Executive Director, New 

England Fishery Management Council; 

telephone: (978) 465–0492, ext. 113. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Agenda 

Tuesday, December 5, 2023 

After brief announcements, the 

Council will receive reports on recent 

activities from its Chair and Executive 

Director, the GARFO Regional 

Administrator, the NOAA Office of 

General Counsel, the Northeast 

Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) 

Director, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council liaison, and 

representatives from the Atlantic States 

Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), 

the U.S. Coast Guard, NOAA’s Office of 

Law Enforcement, the Northeast Trawl 

Advisory Panel, and the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service. The Council then will 

receive a progress report from its Risk 

Policy Working Group, which is 

continuing to work on revisions to the 

Council’s Risk Policy Statement. Next, 

members of the public will have the 

opportunity to speak during an open 

comment period on issues that relate to 

Council business but are not included 

on the published agenda for this 

meeting. The Council asks the public to 

limit remarks to 3–5 minutes. These 

comments will be received both in 

person and through the webinar. A 

guide for how to publicly comment 

through the webinar is available on the 

Council website at https://

s3.amazonaws.com/nefmc.org/NEFMCmeeting-remote-participation_

generic.pdf. 

After the lunch break, the Council 

will receive a report from the East Coast 

Climate Coordination Group about its 

first meeting on work following up on 

implementing recommendations from 

the East Coast Climate Change Scenario 

Planning Initiative. The Council will 

engage in a discussion about next steps. 

The Responsible Offshore Science 

Alliance (ROSA) will report on the 

alliance’s mission, activities, and steps 

to support the Council’s offshore wind 

efforts and streamline communications. 

The Habitat Committee report will 

follow. The Council will review its 

comments on the draft Wind Energy 

Areas for the Gulf of Maine (GOM) and 

discuss other GOM leasing/planning 

issues. It also will receive a presentation 

on other offshore wind and habitatrelated updates. To close out the day, 

the Council will receive a NOAA 

General Counsel briefing on disclosure 

of financial interests and voting recusal 

regulations for regional fishery 

management council members. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 220 / Thursday, November 16, 2023 / Notices 78727 

Following the adjournment of official 

business, the Council will host a public 

outreach session to foster open lines of 

communication among Council 

members, staff, industry, and all 

meeting attendees. 

Wednesday, December 6, 2023 

The Council will begin the second 

day of its meeting with a presentation 

on the peer-reviewed results of the 

September 2023 Management Track 

Stock Assessments for Acadian redfish, 

Atlantic mackerel, northern and 

southern red hake, the Northeast skate 

complex, northern windowpane 

flounder, and spiny dogfish. Next, the 

Council’s Scientific and Statistical 

Committee will provide overfishing 

limit (OFL) and acceptable allowable 

biological catch (ABC) 

recommendations for Gulf of Maine 

haddock, Acadian redfish, northern and 

southern windowpane flounder, white 

hake, northern and southern red hake, 

northern silver hake, southern whiting 

(silver and offshore hake combined), 

Atlantic sea scallops, and the Northeast 

skate complex. The Skate Committee 

report will follow. The Council will take 

final action on Framework 12 to the 

Northeast Skate Complex Fishery 

Management Plan (FMP), which was 

initiated to develop 2024–2025 fishery 

specifications and measures to expand 

possession of smooth and barndoor 

skates. 

Following the lunch break, the 

Council will take final action on 2024– 

2026 specifications for the small-mesh 

multispecies (whiting) fishery. The 

Council then will hear from the Scallop 

Committee and take final action on 

Scallop Framework 38, which contains 

2024 fishery specifications, 2025 default 

specifications, alternatives for increased 

vessel monitoring system (VMS) polling 

rates near closed area boundaries, and 

other measures. As the last item of 

business for the day, the Council will 

receive an update on a joint scallop/ 

habitat action to potentially authorize 

scallop fishery access to the Habitat 

Closure Area on the Northern Edge of 

Georges Bank. 

Thursday, December 7, 2023 

The Council will lead off the third 

day of its meeting with the Groundfish 

Committee report, which will cover 

three items. First, the Council will take 

final action on Framework Adjustment 

66 to the Northeast Multispecies 

(Groundfish) FMP, which includes (1) 

2024–2025 total allowable catches for 

U.S./Canada shared resources on 

Georges Bank; (2) 2024–2025 

specifications for Georges Bank 

yellowtail flounder, white hake, and 

Gulf of Maine haddock; (3) 2024–2026 

specifications for Acadian redfish, 

northern windowpane, and southern 

windowpane; (4) a revised white hake 

rebuilding plan; (5) Atlantic halibut 

issues; (6) extending removal of the 

sector management uncertainty buffer 

for white hake and Gulf of Maine 

haddock until the next specifications 

cycle; and (7) modification of the 

scallop fishery accountability measure 

for Georges Bank yellowtail flounder for 

fishing years 2024 and 2025. Next, the 

Council will receive a progress report on 

Framework Adjustment 68 to the 

Groundfish FMP, which is being 

developed to revise the ABC control 

rules for groundfish. Finally, the 

Council will receive an update on the 

Atlantic Cod Management Transition 

Plan. 

Following the lunch break, the 

Council will take final action on 2024 

Council Priorities for all fishery 

management plans and other Council 

responsibilities. The Council then will 

close out the meeting with other 

business. 

Although non-emergency issues not 

contained on this agenda may come 

before the Council for discussion, those 

issues may not be the subject of formal 

action during these meetings. Council 

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 MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act, provided the public 

has been notified of the Council’s intent 

to take final action to address the 

emergency. The public also should be 

aware that the meeting will be recorded. 

Consistent with 16 U.S.C. 1852, a copy 

of the recording is available upon 

request. 

Special Accommodations 

These meetings are physically 

accessible to people with disabilities. 

Requests for sign language 

interpretation or other auxiliary aids 

should be directed to Executive Director 

Cate O’Keefe (see ADDRESSES) at least 5 

days prior to the meeting date. 

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

Dated: November 13, 2023. 

Rey Israel Marquez, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2023–25358 Filed 11–15–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XD527] 

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 Summer 

Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass 

Advisory Panel will hold a public 

meeting. 

DATES: The meeting will be held on 

Monday, December 4, 2023, from 3 p.m. 

until 6 p.m. 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; 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: The 

Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea 

Bass Advisory Panel will meet to review 

and provided feedback on the 

Monitoring Committee’s 

recommendations for 2024–2025 

recreational management measures for 

summer flounder and scup and 2024 

recreational management measures for 

black sea bass. The Advisory Panel will 

also receive a brief update on the 

Recreational Measures Setting Process 

Framework/Addenda. Additionally, the 

Advisory Panel will review recent 

analysis and stakeholder input on the 

commercial summer flounder minimum 

mesh regulations and exemptions (i.e., 

minimum mesh size regulations, Small 

Mesh Exemption Program, and the 

flynet exemption), and provide feedback 

and recommendations on these issues. 

Input provided by the Advisory Panel 

will be considered during the December 

2023 joint meeting of the Mid-Atlantic 

Fishery Management Council and the 

Atlantic States Marine Fisheries 

Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup, 

and Black Sea Bass Management Board. 


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