2038 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 9 / Friday, January 13, 2012 / Notices 

Division, NOAA’s National Marine 

Fisheries Service, 1201 NE. Lloyd Blvd., 

Suite 1100, Portland, Oregon 97232. The 

documents are also available on the 

Internet at www.nwr.noaa.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rich 

Turner, Portland, OR, at phone number: 

(503) 736–4737, email: 

rich.turner@noaa.gov 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

notice is relevant to the following 

species and evolutionarily significant 

units (ESUs): 

Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus 

tshawytscha): Threatened, naturally 

produced and artificially propagated 

Lower Columbia River. 

Chum salmon (O. keta): Threatened, 

naturally produced and artificially 

propagated Columbia River. 

Coho salmon (O. kisutch): 

Threatened, naturally produced and 

artificially propagated Lower Columbia 

River. 

Steelhead (O. mykiss): Threatened, 

naturally produced and artificially 

propagated Lower Columbia River. 

Dated: January 10, 2012. 

Angela Somma, 

Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office 

of Protected Resources, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–612 Filed 1–12–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XA931 

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 meeting from January 

31, 2012, through February 2, 2012 to 

consider actions affecting New England 

fisheries in the exclusive economic zone 

(EEZ). 

DATES: The meeting will be held on 

Tuesday, January 31 through Thursday, 

February 2, 2012, starting at 9 a.m. on 

Tuesday, 8 a.m. on Wednesday, and 

8:30 a.m. on Thursday. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at 

the Sheraton Portsmouth Harborside 

Hotel, 250 Market Street, Portsmouth, 

NH 03801–3478; telephone: (603) 431– 

2300; fax: (603) 431–7805. 

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, January 31, 2012 

Following introductions and any 

announcements, brief reports will be 

presented by the Council Chairman and 

Executive Director, NOAA Fisheries 

Regional Administrator (Northeast 

Region), Northeast Fisheries Science 

Center and Mid-Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council liaisons, as well as 

NOAA General Counsel, representatives 

of the U.S. Coast Guard and the Atlantic 

States Marine Fisheries Commission, 

and staff from the Vessel Monitoring 

Systems Operations and Law 

Enforcement offices. During this period, 

the Council also will receive an update 

on the activities of the Northeast 

Regional Ocean Council. That 

discussion will be followed by a review 

of any experimental fishery permit 

applications that have been made 

available since the November 2011 

Council meeting. 

The Council will then receive an 

update on progress to date on Essential 

Fish Habitat (EFH) Omnibus 2, which is 

focusing on the development of 

management alternatives to minimize 

the adverse effects of fishing activities 

on essential fish habitat and the 

protection of deep sea corals. Next, the 

Council’s Research Steering Committee 

will review its findings on a number 

final cooperative research projects and 

its ongoing discussions with NOAA 

Fisheries about accounting for scientific 

research catch and the sale of that catch. 

An open period for public comments 

will follow during which any interested 

party may provide brief comments on 

issues relevant to Council business but 

not listed on the meeting agenda. 

Following a lunch break, Council staff 

will present a white paper outlining the 

details of a draft Fishery Management 

Plan Performance Evaluation process. 

This will include a question and answer 

session for both the Council and public. 

This is part of the Council’s actions to 

respond to the Touchstone Report on 

the fisheries management process in 

New England. The Bureau of Ocean 

Energy Management (BOEM) will 

present an update and discuss several 

New England offshore wind energy 

projects and proposals. The day will 

conclude with a report from the 

Council’s Sea Scallop Committee. The 

committee’s intent is to request 

initiation of Framework 24 to the Sea 

Scallop Fishery Management Plan 

(FMP). That action will include fishery 

specifications for fishing years 2013 and 

2014, as well as several additional 

measures identified by the Council in 

priority order: (1) Possible modification 

of Georges Bank access area opening 

dates; (2) measures to address subannual catch limits for yellowtail 

flounder for the limited access general 

category (LAGC) trawl fishery; and (3) 

leasing LAGC Individual Fishing Quota 

(IFQ) fish mid-year. 

Wednesday, February 1, 2012 

The day will begin with a summary of 

Stock Assessment Workshop (SAW) 53 

results and possibly the subsequent peer 

review of the Gulf of Maine cod and 

black sea bass assessments addressed 

during the SAW. The Scientific and 

Statistical Committee’s (SSC) report will 

follow, during which the committee 

chairman will provide an overview of 

SSC’s December 2012 planning meeting, 

including the use of social science 

information in the development of a risk 

policy for ABC recommendations, a 

process for addressing cod discard 

mortality in the groundfish hook fishery 

and SSC outreach. There also will be a 

detailed report of the committee’s 

January 25, 2012 discussion and any 

decisions about the status of Gulf of 

Maine (GOM) cod. 

Following the SSC’s report, the 

Council will receive a briefing on new 

Marine Recreational Information 

Program estimates of recreational catch 

for 2004 to 2011. The Council’s interest 

here is Gulf of Maine cod and haddock. 

The Groundfish Committee will then 

report on a range of issues. These 

include a report on the Northeast 

Multispecies FMP Amendment 18 

scoping hearings concerning 

accumulation limits, the development of 

a course of action to address the recent 

Gulf of Maine cod stock assessment and 

a possible request to NOAA Fisheries 

for emergency action to address 

overfishing of that stock. There will be 

an update concerning progress on a new 

sector framework adjustment and 

potential modifications to the 

groundfish closed areas in effect in the 

FMP. Finally, there will be a 

presentation on the Rednet Project, a 

cooperative fishermen/scientific effort 

to redevelop a sustainable redfish trawl 

fishery. This may be followed by a 

review of recent sector exemption 

requests and any related Council 

recommendations. 

Thursday, February 2, 2012 

The last day of the Council meeting 

will begin with development of 

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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 9 / Friday, January 13, 2012 / Notices 2039 

comments on the Small Mesh 

Multispecies Secretarial Amendment, 

an action that which will address the 

small mesh hake fishery and is 

scheduled to become effective on May 1, 

2012. The Council also will be asked to 

approve final Draft Amendment 19 to 

Northeast Multispecies FMP for 

purposes of holding public hearings on 

the proposed alternatives. This will be 

followed by a discussion of progress to 

develop a range of alternatives for 

consideration in Amendment 6 to the 

Monkfish FMP. The Council also will 

consider adopting a committee 

recommendation to establish a control 

date for use in the development of 

future management measures including, 

but not limited to, catch shares and 

accumulation limits. There will be a 

briefing by NOAA Fisheries concerning 

its intent to prepare an Environmental 

Impact Statement and FMP amendment 

that would consider catch shares for the 

Atlantic shark fisheries. Council 

meeting adjournment will take place 

once the Enforcement Committee asks 

for Council input on recommendations 

concerning gear stowage and NOAA 

Enforcement’s draft priorities document. 

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: January 10, 2012. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–553 Filed 1–12–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XA930 

North Pacific Fishery Management 

Council; Public Meetings 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Meetings of the North Pacific 

Fishery Management Council and its 

advisory committees. 

SUMMARY: The North Pacific Fishery 

Management Council (Council) and its 

advisory committees will hold public 

meetings, January 30—February 7, 2012, 

at the Renaissance Hotel in Seattle, WA. 

DATES: The Council will begin its 

plenary session at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, 

February 1 continuing through Tuesday, 

February 7. Council’s Advisory Panel 

(AP) will begin at 8 a.m., Monday, 

January 30 and continue through Friday, 

February 6. The Scientific Statistical 

Committee (SSC) will begin at 8 a.m. on 

Monday, January 30 and continue 

through Wednesday, February 1. The 

Ecosystem Committee will meet January 

31, 9 a.m. The Enforcement Committee 

will meet January 31 at 1 p.m. All 

meetings are open to the public, except 

executive sessions. 

ADDRESSES: The meetings will be held at 

the Renaissance Hotel, 515 Madison 

Street, Seattle, WA. 

Council address: North Pacific 

Fishery Management Council, 605 W. 

4th Avenue, Suite 306, Anchorage, AK 

99501–2252. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

David Witherell, Council staff; 

telephone: (907) 271–2809. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Council Plenary Session: The agenda 

for the Council’s plenary session will 

include the following issues. The 

Council may take appropriate action on 

any of the issues identified. Reports: 

1. Executive Director’s Report 

(including update on Halibut Catch 

Share Plan, review and approve 

Standard Operations and Procedures 

(SOPPs)). 

NMFS Management Report (including 

update on Essential Fish Habitat 

(EFH) process) 

Alaska Department of Fish & Game 

Report 

NOAA Enforcement Report 

United States Coast Guard Report 

United States Fish & Wildlife Service 

Report 

International Pacific Halibut 

Commission (IPHC) Report 

Protected Species Report (Steller Sea 

Lion (SSL) Center of Independent 

Experts (CIE) Terms of Reference). 

2. Final action to allow formation of 

a Community Quota Entity (CQE) in 

Area 4B. 

3. Halibut Prohibited Species Catch 

(PSC): Initial review of Fishery 

Management Plan (FMP) amendment to 

set Gulf of Alaska (GOA) Halibut PSC. 

4. Bering Sea Aleutian Island (BSAI) 

Crab Management: Update on Pribilof 

Blue King Crab Rebuilding Plan, action 

as necessary; BSAI Crab Model 

Workshop Report. (SSC only); 

Preliminary Review on BSAI Tanner 

Crab Rebuilding Plan; Report on BSAI 

Crab Right of First Refusal (ROFR) 

Workgroup, action as necessary (T); 

Final action on BSAI Crab Electronic 

Data Reporting (EDR) Revisions. 

5. Habitat Issues; Initial review of 

GOA Trawl Sweep modifications; Initial 

review Habitat Area Particular Concern 

(HAPC)—Skate egg deposition sites; 

Updated discussion paper on Bristol 

Bay Red King Crab spawning area/ 

fishery effects(T); Report on 2012–2015 

Deep Sea Coral Research 

6. Groundfish Issues/Miscellaneous; 

Discussion paper on GOA Chinook 

Bycatch in all trawl fisheries; 

Discussion paper on GOA Pollock Dseason; Discussion paper on American 

Fisheries Act (AFA) Vessel Replacement 

GOA Sideboards; Discussion paper on 

BSAI Flatfish specification flexibility. 

7. Staff Tasking: Review Committees 

and tasking; discuss schedule for 

Groundfish Programmatic Supplemental 

Environmental Impact Statement 

(PSEIS); Review Individual Fishing 

Quotas (IFQs) proposals and provide 

direction. 

8. Other Business 

The SSC agenda will include the 

following issues: 

1. Crab Management 

2. Habitat Issues 

3. Halibut PSC 

4. SSC workshop—Stock Recruitment 

The Advisory Panel will address most 

of the same agenda issues as the 

Council, except C–1, and B reports. The 

Agenda is subject to change, and the 

latest version will be posted at http:// 

www.alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/npfmc/ 

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 these meetings. 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 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES