[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 200 (Thursday, October 16, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53821-53822]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-27357]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 100697C]


Advisory Committee to the U.S. Section of the International 
Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT); Fall Meeting 
and Notice of Availability of Statement of Operating Practices and 
Procedures (SOPP)

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

ACTION: Notice of public meeting and of availability of SOPP.

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SUMMARY: The Advisory Committee to the U.S. Section of ICCAT will hold 
its annual fall meeting on November 2-4, 1997. In addition, the 
Advisory Committee has finalized its SOPP and is announcing the 
availability of this document to the public.

DATES: The open sessions will be held on November 2, 1997, from 1 p.m. 
to 6 p.m. and November 3, 1997, from 8 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Closed 
sessions will be held on November 3 from 1:45 p.m. to 6 p.m. and on 
November 4 from 8 a.m.

[[Page 53822]]

to 1 p.m. Written comments should be received no later than October 31, 
1997.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at NOAA Headquarters, 1315 East-
West Highway (Silver Spring Metro Center Building 3), Silver Spring, MD 
20910 in conference room 4527. Written comments should be sent to Kim 
Blankenbeker, Executive Secretary to the Advisory Committee, NOAA - 
Fisheries, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Copies of 
the Advisory Committee's SOPP also can be requested by writing the 
Committee's Executive Secretary.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kim Blankenbeker, (301) 713-2276.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Advisory Committee to the U.S. Section 
to ICCAT will meet in two open sessions to consider information being 
presented on stock status of highly migratory species and 1997 
management recommendations of ICCAT's Standing Committee on Research 
and Statistics (SCRS). Also in the open sessions, the Advisory 
Committee will review and consider 1996 ICCAT meeting accomplishments, 
reports of ICCAT's intersessional meetings, results of the Committee's 
regional meetings, and implementation of 1996 and prior ICCAT 
recommendations and resolutions. Furthermore, the Committee will review 
highly migratory species research and management activities, including 
an overview of the status of recommendations resulting from the 
Advisory Committee's 1997 Species Working Group Workshop. Both sessions 
will be open to the public; however, the November 2 session will be the 
only opportunity for public comment. Written comments are encouraged 
and, if mailed, should be received by October 31, 1997, (See 
ADDRESSES). They can also be submitted during the open sessions of the 
Advisory Committee meeting.
    The Advisory Committee will meet in closed session to discuss 
sensitive information, the discussion of which relates to U.S. 
negotiating positions to be taken at the Fifteenth Regular Meeting of 
the Commission to be held in Madrid, Spain, November 14-21, 1997. The 
Advisory Committee will discuss various options for the U.S. 
negotiating position during the closed sessions. Accordingly, the 
determination has been made that the Committee shall go into executive 
session for the afternoon session of November 3 and for the entire 
November 4 session.
    The Atlantic Tunas Convention Act requires that the Advisory 
Committee draft its SOPP and make the document available to the general 
public. The Advisory Committee has finalized this document. It 
specifies the processes governing the Committee as a whole, its sub-
groups, and its meetings, and it spells out Committee member functions. 
Members of the public that are interested in receiving a copy of the 
SOPP should write to the Advisory Committee's Executive Secretary (see 
ADDRESSES).

Special Accommodations

    The meeting locations are physically accessible to people with 
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other 
auxiliary aids should be directed to Kim Blankenbeker at (301) 713-2276 
at least 5 days prior to the meeting date.

    Dated: October 10, 1997.
Bruce Morehead,
Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries.
[FR Doc. 97-27357 Filed 10-15-97; 8:45 am]
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