Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 56 / Friday, March 23, 2007 / Notices 13749 

Council address: New England 

Fishery Management Council, 50 Water 

Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul 

J. Howard, Executive Director, New 

England Fishery Management Council; 

telephone: (978) 465–0492. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Committee will receive management 

advice from the Skate Plan Development 

Team (PDT) based on the status of skate 

stocks in the recent SAW assessment. In 

addition, the committee will discuss 

strawman management alternatives and 

review a draft scoping document. The 

Regional Administrator, Patricia Kurkul, 

notified the Council on February 21, 

2007 that winter skate is overfished 

according to 2006 data. The letter stated 

that the Magnuson-Stevens Act requires 

the Council to prepare a fishery 

management plan amendment or 

proposed regulation within one year to 

address the condition. In addition to 

winter skate, thorny skate is an 

overfished condition, smooth skate is 

very close to the biomass threshold, and 

little skate is very close to the 

overfishing threshold. Under other 

business, the Multispecies (Skate) 

Committee may discuss groundfish 

management issues at this meeting but 

will not take action at this time. 

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 

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 

Act, provided the public has been 

notified of the Council’s intent to take 

final action to address the emergency. 

Special Accommodations 

This meeting is physically accessible 

to people with disabilities. Requests for 

sign language interpretation or other 

auxiliary aids should be directed to Paul 

J. Howard, Executive Director, at (978) 

465–0492, at least 5 days prior to the 

meeting date. 

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

Dated: March 19, 2007. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E7–5306 Filed 3–22–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[I.D. 031907C] 

New England Fishery Management 

Council; Public Meeting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of a public meeting. 

SUMMARY: The New England Fishery 

Management Council (Council) will 

hold a three-day Council meeting on 

April 10–12, 2007, to consider actions 

affecting New England fisheries in the 

exclusive economic zone (EEZ). 

DATES: The meeting will be held on 

Tuesday, April 10 beginning at 9 a.m., 

and Wednesday and Thursday, April 

11–12, beginning at 8:30 a.m. each day. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at 

the Mystic Hilton Hotel, 20 Coogan 

Boulevard, Mystic, CT 06355; 

telephone: (860) 572–0731. 

Council address: New England 

Fishery Management Council, 50 Water 

Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul 

J. Howard, Executive Director, New 

England Fishery Management Council; 

telephone: (978) 465–0492. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Tuesday, April 10, 2007 

Following introductions, the Council 

will hear a series of brief reports from 

the Council Chairman and Executive 

Director, the NOAA Northeast Regional 

Administrator, Northeast Fisheries 

Science Center and Mid-Atlantic 

Fishery Management Council liaisons, 

NOAA General Counsel and 

representatives of the U.S. Coast Guard, 

NOAA Enforcement, and the Atlantic 

States Marine Fisheries Commission. 

Following these reports, the Council 

will host a briefing on NOAA’s 

Aquaculture Program with a focus on 

the major provisions of the 2007 

National Offshore Aquaculture Act. 

During the morning session, the Council 

also will receive an update from the 

Standard Bycatch Reporting 

Methodology (SBRM) Committee 

concerning an amendment that would 

modify all Council fishery management 

plans (FMPs) to include SBRM 

provisions. This agenda item will be 

followed by a summary of the ongoing 

discussions concerning changes to 

regional Council processes and 

procedures as a result of reauthorization 

of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act. The 

afternoon agenda will include a NOAA 

scoping hearing on ending overfishing 

and alternatives that would address 

annual catch limits and accountability 

measures, provisions that are now part 

of the reauthorized Magnuson-Stevens 

Act. The day will conclude with a 

discussion of a strawman process that 

could address other new requirements 

of Magnuson-Stevens Act, specifically, a 

streamlined process to comply with the 

National Environmental Policy Act. 

Wednesday, April 11, 2007 

The Council intends to both approve 

a Draft Supplemental Environmental 

Impact Statement and select preferred 

alternatives for Amendment 11 to the 

Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan. 

It also will consider initiation of 

Framework Adjustment 20 the the FMP, 

an action to extend measures 

implemented by emergency action to 

prevent overfishing through the end of 

fishing year 2007. The emergency 

reduced the number of scallop trips in 

the Elephant trunk Area in 2007. The 

framework would continue the 

measures through March 1, 2008. The 

Scallop Survey Advisory Committee 

will provide an update on progress to 

develop and test a prototype scallop 

dredge for survey use. The Council will 

then hold a public hearing on Phase I of 

its Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) 

Omnibus Amendment 2 Draft 

Supplemental Environmental Impact 

Statement. The public is invited to 

comment on the EFH designation 

alternatives, Habitat Area of Particular 

Concern alternatives, an evaluation of 

prey species for NEFMC-managed 

species and an evaluation of the 

potential impacts of non-fishing 

activities on EFH. 

Thursday, April 12, 2007 

The Council’s Research Steering 

Committee Chairman will report on the 

committee’s recommendations 

concerning the use of information 

provided in several cooperative research 

final reports. This will be followed by 

a discussion of other issues related to 

cooperative research, including research 

priorities for 2007. The Omnibus Sector 

Committee will provide an update on 

the development of an amendment that 

will provide an overall framework for 

the development of sectors. The 

Groundfish Committee will report on its 

efforts to develop Amendment 16 to the 

Northeast Multispecies FMP. The 

Council also will consider developing 

comments on proposed sector 

operations plans for the Cape Cod 

Commercial Hook Gear Sector and the 

Fixed Gear Sector that operates under 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
13750 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 56 / Friday, March 23, 2007 / Notices 

the Multispecies FMP. Any approved 

comments would be forwarded to the 

NOAA Fisheries Regional 

Administrator. An open period for the 

public to address any other Councilrelated business will be provided at this 

point in the day. During the afternoon 

session of the meeting, the Skate 

Committee will review management 

advice from the Skate Plan Development 

Team, as well as draft management 

alternatives for possible inclusion in an 

amendment to the Skate FMP. The 

Council also may approve a scoping 

document for this action. At the end of 

the day, the Council’s Enforcement 

Committee will discuss committee 

progress to develop recommendations 

concerning the use of VMS and other 

tools to address safety-at sea, regulatory 

compliance, and other fishery 

management-related activities. 

Although other non-emergency issues 

not contained in this agenda may come 

before this Council for discussion, those 

issues may not be the subjects of formal 

action during this meeting. 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 Act, provided that the public 

has been notified of the Council’s intent 

to take final action to address the 

emergency. 

Special Accommodations 

This meeting is physically accessible 

to people with disabilities. Requests for 

sign language interpretation or other 

auxiliary aids should be directed to Paul 

J. Howard (see ADDRESSES) at least 5 

days prior to the meeting date. 

Dated: March 20, 2007. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E7–5317 Filed 3–22–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[I.D. 031607D] 

North Pacific Fishery Management 

Council; Public Meetings 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of public committee 

meetings. 

SUMMARY: The North Pacific Fishery 

Management Council’s (Council) Steller 

Sea Lion Mitigation Committee 

(SSLMC) will meet in Juneau, AK. 

DATES: The meeting will be held on 

April 16–17, 2007, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 

p.m. The Proposal Scoring 

Subcommittee will meet on April 16 

and the full Committee will meet April 

17–19, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: The meetings will be held at 

the National Marine Fisheries Service, 

709 W 9th Avenue, Regional 

Administrator’s Conference Room, 

Juneau, AK. 

Council address: North Pacific 

Fishery Management Council, 605 W. 

4th Ave., Suite 306, Anchorage, AK 

99501–2252. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bill 

Wilson, North Pacific Fishery 

Management Council; telephone: (907) 

271–2809. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Committee will review proposals and 

proposal scoring process with the 

Subcommittee; receive proposal 

presentations from proposers; discuss 

proposals with proposers and request 

additional information as needed. 

Special Accommodations 

These meetings are physically 

accessible to people with disabilities. 

Requests for sign language 

interpretation or other auxiliary aids 

should be directed to Gail Bendixen, 

(907) 271–2809, at least 5 working days 

prior to the meeting date. 

Dated: March 19, 2007. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E7–5307 Filed 3–22–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[I.D. 031607F] 

Marine Mammals; File No. 1095–1837 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; issuance of permit. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

Dorian S. Houser, Ph.D., Biomimetica, 

7951 Shantung Drive, Santee, CA 92071 

has been issued a permit to conduct 

research on marine mammals. 

ADDRESSES: The permit and related 

documents are available for review 

upon written request or by appointment 

in the following office(s): 

Permits, Conservation and Education 

Division, Office of Protected Resources, 

NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 

13705, Silver Spring, MD 20910; phone 

(301)713–2289; fax (301)427–2521; and 

Southwest Region, NMFS, 501 West 

Ocean Blvd., Suite 4200, Long Beach, 

CA 90802–4213; phone (562)980–4001; 

fax (562)980–4018. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kate 

Swails or Amy Sloan, (301)713–2289. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On July 5, 

2006, notice was published in the 

Federal Register ( 71 FR 38136) that a 

request for a scientific research permit 

to take individuals of any species of 

cetaceans in the U.S. had been 

submitted by the above-named 

individual. The requested permit has 

been issued under the authority of the 

Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, 

as amended (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.), the 

regulations governing the taking and 

importing of marine mammals (50 CFR 

part 216), the Endangered Species Act of 

1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 

et seq.), and the Regulations Governing 

the Taking, Importing, and Exporting of 

Endangered and Threatened species (50 

CFR parts 222–226). 

The applicant will use auditory 

evoked potential recordings with noninvasive suction cup sensors on up to 15 

individuals of any species of cetaceans 

in the U.S. The research will be 

conducted on stranded or accidentally 

entrapped animals in the field or at a 

rehabilitation center. 

In compliance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), a final 

determination has been made that the 

activity proposed is categorically 

excluded from the requirement to 

prepare an environmental assessment or 

environmental impact statement. 

Issuance of this permit, as required by 

the ESA, was based on a finding that 

such permit: (1) was applied for in good 

faith; (2) will not operate to the 

disadvantage of such endangered 

species; and (3) is consistent with the 

purposes and policies set forth in 

section 2 of the ESA. 

Dated: March 19, 2007. 

P. Michael Payne, 

Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education 

Division, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E7–5380 Filed 3–22–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES