[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 8 (Thursday, January 11, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1909-1910]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-00471]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XD644]


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.

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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, 
January 30, January 31, and February 1, 2024, beginning at 9 a.m. each 
day.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will take place at The Venue at Portwalk Place, 
22 Portwalk Place, Portsmouth, NH 03801; telephone (603) 422-6114; 
online at https://www.thevenueatportwalkplace.com. Join the webinar at 
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4656306835494284629.
    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, January 30, 2024

    The Council will begin this meeting in Closed Session to discuss 
appointments to its Scientific and Statistical Committee. At 9:30 a.m., 
the open session will begin with brief announcements, followed by 
reports on recent activities from the Council's 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 U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service, and the Advisory Committee to the U.S. Section of the 
International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas 
(ICCAT). The Council then will receive a progress report from its Risk 
Policy Working Group that will focus on addressing Terms of Reference 1 
and 2 to revise the Council's Risk Policy. Next, the Council will 
receive an update from GARFO and the NOAA National Centers for Coastal 
Ocean Science on revised siting for the Blue Water Fisheries offshore 
aquaculture project in federal waters off the coast of New Hampshire.
    After the lunch break, 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/NEFMC-meeting-remote-participation_generic.pdf. The Council then will 
hear from its Herring Committee, which will provide an update on 
Amendment 10 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan. This is 
an action to minimize user conflicts in the herring fishery. The 
Council will review a draft scoping document and scoping meeting 
schedule to gather public input on the range of issues that potentially 
could be addressed in this amendment. To close out the day, the Council 
will receive a congressional update on current legislative activities. 
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. This event 
will be held at the AC Hotel on the Lobby Level, 299 Vaughn Street, 
which is a four-minute walk from the Council meeting room at The Venue 
at Portwalk Place in Portsmouth, NH.

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

    The Council will begin the second day of its meeting with a 
presentation on the three-year review of the Northeast Region's 
Standardized Bycatch Reporting Methodology. Next, the Council will 
receive a report on activities within the Northeast Fisheries Science 
Center's Fishery Monitoring and Research Division, including: (1) the 
status of ongoing responsibilities; (2) at-sea monitoring and observer 
program activities; and (3) cooperative research updates. This report 
will be followed by an overview of a Northeast Fisheries Science Center 
white paper outlining potential plans for industry-based surveys to 
complement federal spring and fall bottom trawl surveys on the NOAA 
ship Henry B. Bigelow. The Council will have an opportunity to provide 
input on research priorities for consideration in future industry-based 
survey as they relate to its own research priorities.
    Following the lunch break, the Council will receive a NOAA 
Fisheries presentation on the Marine Recreational Information Program 
(MRIP), which will include an update on the status of MRIP's Fishing 
Effort Survey (FES). This will be followed by the Groundfish Committee 
report, which will cover four items as follows. (1) Recreational 
Measures: the Council will provide recommendations to GARFO on fishing 
year 2024 recreational measures for Georges Bank cod, Gulf of Maine 
cod, and Gulf of Maine haddock. (2) The Atlantic Cod Management 
Transition Plan: the Council will receive an update on transition 
planning. (3) Metrics for the Groundfish Amendment 23 Monitoring System 
Review: the Council will receive a progress report on this action. And 
(4) 2024 Groundfish Priorities: the Council will receive a preliminary 
overview of the groundfish

[[Page 1910]]

workplan for year ahead. As the final item of business for the day, the 
Council will revisit fishing year 2024-2026 specifications approved in 
December 2023 for the small-mesh multispecies (whiting) fishery to 
address southern red hake rebuilding.

Thursday, February 1, 2024

    The Council will lead off the third day of its meeting with a Spiny 
Dogfish Committee report, where it will review, discuss, and approve 
fishing year 2024-2026 spiny dogfish specifications. Next, the Council 
will receive a progress report on Monkfish Framework 15, which is part 
of a joint New England/Mid-Atlantic Council action to reduce monkfish/
dogfish large-mesh gillnet fishery interactions with Atlantic sturgeon. 
Then, the Council will receive an update from its On-Demand Fishing 
Gear Conflict Working Group on activities to prevent or reduce 
potential gear conflicts between mobile, fixed, and recreational gear 
and on-demand (ropeless) fishing gear. This update will be followed by 
a presentation on the peer-reviewed 2023 Black Sea Bass Research Track 
Stock Assessment. 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 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 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. 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

    This meeting is 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: January 8, 2024.
Rey Israel Marquez,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-00471 Filed 1-10-24; 8:45 am]
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