[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 174 (Monday, September 9, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73076-73077]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-20274]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XE261]


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, September 24, 2024 through 
Thursday, September 26, 2024, beginning at 9 a.m. all three days.

ADDRESSES: 
    Meeting address: The meeting will take place at the Beauport Hotel, 
55 Commercial Street, Gloucester, MA 01930; telephone: (978) 282-0008; 
online at https://www.beauporthotel.com. Join the webinar at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/244255849872817749.
    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, September 24, 2024

    After brief announcements, a representative from the Greater 
Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO) will swear in new and 
reappointed Council members. Then, the Council will hold its annual 
election of officers before receiving reports on recent activities from 
its Chair and Executive Director, the GARFO Regional Administrator's 
representative, the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) 
Director, the NOAA Office of General Counsel, 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, and the NMFS Highly Migratory Species 
Advisory Panel. Next, the Council will receive three 2024 monitoring 
reports, which will be plan development team (PDT) overviews of the 
2023 skate, small-mesh multispecies (whiting), and monkfish fisheries 
respectively. Following the monkfish monitoring report, the Council 
will receive a presentation on improvements to the Monkfish Research 
Set-Aside (RSA) Program as recommended by 2023 Monkfish RSA Working 
Group. The Council then will engage in a discussion and determine how 
it intends to address future monitoring and/or fishery performance 
reports.
    Following 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. Next, the chair of a 
subpanel of the Council's Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) 
will present the subpanel's review of a potential new method for 
determining scallop dredge survey sampling design and strata. Following 
this presentation, the Scallop Committee will provide a progress report 
on Framework Adjustment 39 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery 
Management Plan, including a preliminary overview of the 2024 scallop 
survey season. Framework 39 is being developed to set 2025 scallop 
fishing year specifications and 2026 default specifications, revise 
flatfish accountability measures (AMs), and provide measures to allow 
Northern Gulf of Maine (NGOM) permit holders fishing on directed 
scallop trips in the NGOM Management Area to possess scallops south of 
42[deg] 20'. The Council also will receive an update on 2024 scallop 
work priorities. Lastly, the Northeast Trawl Advisory Panel (NTAP) will 
report on NTAP's full panel meeting in July and an August working

[[Page 73077]]

group meeting covering industry-based trawl surveys, including 
contingency plans for the NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow, as well as 
restrictor rope and offshore wind issues. 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 in the 
same hotel as the meeting itself--the Beauport Hotel in Gloucester, MA.

Wednesday, September 25, 2024

    The Council will begin the second day of its meeting with a report 
from its Risk Policy Working Group. The Council is scheduled to approve 
a revised Risk Policy statement and concept at this meeting. The 
Northeast Fisheries Science Center then will provide an overview of the 
June 2024 Management Track Stock Assessments for Atlantic herring, four 
Atlantic cod stock units, Georges Bank yellowtail flounder, black sea 
bass, surfclams, butterfish, and tilefish.
    Following the lunch break, the Scientific and Statistical Committee 
(SSC) chair will provide the SSC's overfishing limit (OFL) and 
acceptable biological catch (ABC) recommendations for Atlantic herring, 
the four new Atlantic cod stock units, and Georges Bank yellowtail 
flounder. The report also will cover the SSC's review of methods for 
apportioning the biomass of Georges Bank cod and Georges Bank haddock 
into the Eastern Georges Bank Management Area. The Groundfish Committee 
report will follow with four items. The Council first will take final 
action on Amendment 25, which was developed to incorporate the four new 
cod stock units into the Northeast Multispecies (Groundfish) Fishery 
Management Plan. Then, the Council will receive a progress report on 
Framework Adjustment 69, which is an action to set specifications for 
several groundfish stocks for fishing years 2025-2027, U.S./Canada 
total allowable catches (TACs) for shared resources on Georges Bank for 
2025-2026, incorporate revisions to flatfish sub-annual catch limits 
(sub-ACLs) and accountability measures (AMs), and address other 
measures. The Council next will receive updates on its Atlantic Cod 
Management Transition Plan and 2024 groundfish work priorities before 
adjourning for the day.

Thursday, June 26, 2024

    The Council will lead off the third day of its meeting with the 
Atlantic Herring Committee report. The Council will either take final 
action on 2025-2027 specifications for the Atlantic herring fishery or 
provide direction on the development of additional measures, which may 
include the potential initiation of a framework adjustment or 
consideration of in-season adjustments. A report from the Council's On-
Demand Fishing Gear Conflict Working Group will follow. This report 
contains three components: (1) a GARFO update on the status of Atlantic 
Large Whale Take Reduction Plan modifications; (2) a NEFSC summary of 
on-demand fishing gear trials; and (3) Council review and discussion of 
the On-Demand Fishing Gear Conflict Working Group's input on its terms 
of reference, as well as a gear marking/gear interaction white paper 
and possible regulatory and management measures.
    Following the lunch break, the Council will discuss ecosystem, 
climate, and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) initiatives, which will 
cover: (1) a report on the establishment of the Council's new Climate 
and Ecosystem Steering Committee and a decision on the status of the 
Council's existing Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management Committee (EBFM) 
and EBFM Plan Development Team; (2) a report on the August 2024 
Climate, Ecosystems, and Fisheries Initiative coordination meeting, 
which was hosted by the East Coast Climate Coordination Group; and (3) 
an update on the status of the Council's IRA-funded projects. The 
Council then will engage in its initial discussion on 2025 Council 
Priorities before closing 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: September 4, 2024.
Rey Israel Marquez,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-20274 Filed 9-6-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P