Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 201 / Thursday, October 17, 2024 / Notices 83669 

measures will effect the least practicable 

impact on marine mammal species or 

stocks and their habitat; (2) the 

authorized takes will have a negligible 

impact on the affected marine mammal 

species or stocks; (3) the authorized 

takes represent small numbers of marine 

mammals relative to the affected stock 

abundances; (4) COSW’s activities will 

not have an unmitigable adverse impact 

on taking for subsistence purposes as no 

relevant subsistence uses of marine 

mammals are implicated by this action, 

and; (5) appropriate monitoring and 

reporting requirements are included. 

National Environmental Policy Act 

This action is consistent with 

categories of activities identified in 

Categorical Exclusion B4 (incidental 

take authorizations with no anticipated 

serious injury or mortality) of the 

Companion Manual for NOAA 

Administrative Order 216–6A, which do 

not individually or cumulatively have 

the potential for significant impacts on 

the quality of the human environment 

and for which we have not identified 

any extraordinary circumstances that 

would preclude this categorical 

exclusion. Accordingly, NMFS 

determined that the issuance of the 

initial IHA qualified to be categorically 

excluded from further NEPA review. 

NMFS has preliminarily determined 

that the application of this categorical 

exclusion remains appropriate for this 

renewal IHA. 

Endangered Species Act 

Section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered 

Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 

seq.) requires that each Federal agency 

insure that any action it authorizes, 

funds, or carries out is not likely to 

jeopardize the continued existence of 

any endangered or threatened species or 

result in the destruction or adverse 

modification of designated critical 

habitat. To ensure ESA compliance for 

the issuance of IHAs, NMFS consults 

internally whenever we propose to 

authorize take for endangered or 

threatened species. 

NMFS’ Office of Protected Resources 

is proposing to authorize take of four 

species of marine mammals that are 

listed under the ESA (i.e., NARW, fin 

whale, sei whale, and sperm whale) and 

has determined these activities fall 

within the scope of activities analyzed 

in the NMFS Greater Atlantic Regional 

Fisheries Office programmatic 

consultation regarding geophysical 

surveys along the U.S. Atlantic coast in 

the three Atlantic renewable energy 

regions (completed June 29, 2021; 

revised September 2021). 

Renewal 

NMFS has issued a renewal IHA to 

COSW for the take of marine mammals 

incidental to conducting marine site 

characterization with HRG surveys off 

the coast of New Jersey and New York 

in the New York Bight from July 1, 

2024, through June 30, 2025. 

Dated: October 10, 2024. 

Kimberly Damon-Randall, 

Director, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2024–23984 Filed 10–16–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XE376] 

Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management 

Council; Public Meeting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of hybrid meeting open 

to the public offering both in-person and 

virtual options for participation. 

SUMMARY: The Gulf of Mexico Fishery 

Management Council (Council) will 

hold a four-day meeting to consider 

actions affecting the Gulf of Mexico 

fisheries in the exclusive economic zone 

(EEZ). 

DATES: The meeting will convene 

Monday, November 4 through 

Thursday, November 7, 2024. Daily 

schedule will be 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m., EST. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will take place 

at the Hilton St. Petersburg Bayfront 

Hotel, located at 333–1st Street South, 

St. Petersburg, FL 33701. If you prefer 

to ‘‘listen in’’, you may access the login information by visiting our website at 

https://www.gulfcouncil.org. 

Council address: Gulf of Mexico 

Fishery Management Council, 4107 W 

Spruce Street, Suite 200, Tampa, FL 

33607; telephone: (813) 348–1630. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

Carrie Simmons, Executive Director, 

Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management 

Council; telephone: (813) 348–1630. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Monday, November 4, 2024; 8:30 a.m.– 

5 p.m., EST 

The meeting will begin in Full 

Council with review and adoption of 

Proposed Council Committee 

Assignments for November 2024 

through August 2025 and Current 

Council Committee Assignments. 

Committee Sessions will follow 

beginning with the Habitat Protection & 

Restoration Committee’s review of the 

Final Essential Fish Habitat Contract 

Report. The Law Enforcement 

Committee will convene to receive a 

report from the October 2024 Law 

Enforcement Technical Committee 

meeting. 

Sustainable Fisheries Committee will 

gather to discuss Research and 

Monitoring Priorities for 2025–2028 

including Scientific and Statistical 

Committees (SSC) Recommendations, 

review and discuss SSC 

Recommendations for the following 

items: Southeast Data, Assessment, and 

Review (SEDAR) Process Changes and 

Assessment Approaches; Consideration 

of Carryover and Phase-in for Gulf 

Stocks in Proposed Acceptable 

Biological Catch (ABC) Control Rule 

Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE) 

Simulations; and receive a presentation 

for Consideration of Wahoo for Federal 

Management. 

Following lunch, the Shrimp 

Committee will review Draft Shrimp 

Framework Action: Modification of the 

Vessel Position Data Collection Program 

for the Gulf of Mexico Shrimp Fishery 

and presentation. 

The Reef Fish Committee will review 

the Reef Fish and Individual Fishing 

Quota (IFQ) Program Landings, and 

State Program Landings for Red 

Snapper. 

Tuesday, November 5, 2024; 8:30 a.m.– 

5:30 p.m., EST 

The Council will receive a Litigation 

update. Following, the Reef Fish 

Committee will reconvene to review and 

discuss Draft Options: Reef Fish 

Amendment 58B: Modifications to 

Deep-water Grouper Management 

Measures, Presentation: Modifications 

to Lane Snapper Minimum Size and 

Recreational Bag Limits and Draft 

Options: Reef Fish Amendment 58A: 

Modifications to Shallow-water Grouper 

Management Measures and receive a 

presentation for Reef Fish Amendment 

60: Individual Fishing Quota 

Distributional Issues. 

The Committee will also review draft 

options for Federal For-hire Fishing 

Season for Red Snapper, receive the 

SSC Summary Report for SEDAR 88 

Stock Assessment for Gulf Red Grouper, 

Recreational Red Snapper Texas 

Calibration Simulation and 

Southeastern U.S. Black Grouper 

Management Strategy. The Committee 

will discuss updated NMFS Bottom 

Longline Index for Gulf Red Snapper 

and Request for an update on the 

Greater Amberjack Count. 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
83670 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 201 / Thursday, October 17, 2024 / Notices 

Wednesday, November 6, 2024; 8:30 

a.m.–5 p.m., EST 

The Data Collection Committee will 

receive a presentation on Highly 

Migratory Species Proposed rule, 

discuss For-hire Data Collection 

Amendment, review Southeast Region 

Headboat Survey Report, and receive 

updates on Marine Resources 

Information Program (MRIP) Transition 

and Pilot Project. 

The Council will reconvene at 

approximately 11 a.m., EST with a Call 

to Order, Announcements and 

Introductions, Adoption of Agenda and 

Approval of Minutes. 

The Council will present the 2023 

Law Enforcement Team of the Year 

Award and receive presentation updates 

for the National Seafood Strategy, 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 

(BOEM) Wind Energy Development in 

Gulf of Mexico and Exempted Fishing 

Permit from Texas SeaGrant. Following 

lunch, the Council will hold public 

testimony beginning at 1:45 p.m. to 5 

p.m., EST for comments for open 

testimony on other fishery issues or 

concerns. Public comment may begin 

earlier than 1:45 p.m. EST but will not 

conclude before that time. Persons 

wishing to give public testimony inperson must register at the registration 

kiosk in the meeting room. Persons 

wishing to give public testimony 

virtually must sign up on the Council 

website during the Council meeting. 

Registration for virtual testimony closes 

one hour (12:45 p.m. EST) before public 

testimony begins. 

Thursday, November 7, 2024; 8:30 

a.m.–5 p.m., EST 

The Council will receive Committee 

reports from Habitat Protection & 

Restoration, Law Enforcement, 

Sustainable Fisheries, Shrimp, Data 

Collection, and Reef Fish Committees 

and discuss Council recommendation 

on Exempted Fishing Permit. The 

Council will receive updates from the 

following supporting agencies: South 

Atlantic Fishery Management Council 

Liaison; Florida Law Enforcement 

Efforts, NOAA Office of Law 

Enforcement (OLE); Gulf States Marine 

Fisheries Commission; U.S. Coast 

Guard; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 

and Department of State. 

Lastly, the Council will hold a 

discussion on Council Planning and 

Primary Activities, and any Other 

Business items. 

Meeting Adjourns 

The meeting will be a hybrid meeting; 

both in-person and virtual participation 

available. You may register for the 

webinar to listen-in only by visiting 

https://www.gulfcouncil.org and click 

on the Council meeting on the calendar. 

The timing and order in which agenda 

items are addressed may change as 

required to effectively address the issue, 

and the latest version along with other 

meeting materials will be posted on the 

website as they become available. 

Although other non-emergency issues 

not contained in this agenda may come 

before this group for discussion, in 

accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), those 

issues may not be the subject of formal 

action during these meeting. Actions 

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 

These meetings are physically 

accessible to people with disabilities. 

Requests for sign language 

interpretation or other auxiliary aid or 

accommodations should be directed to 

Kathy Pereira, (813) 348–1630, at least 

15 days prior to the meeting date. 

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

Dated: October 11, 2024. 

Alyssa Weigers, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2024–23935 Filed 10–16–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XE381] 

South Atlantic 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 South Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council (SAFMC; Council) 

will hold a meeting via webinar of its 

Snapper Grouper Private Angler 

Advisory Panel (AP) to discuss 

permitting and education alternatives 

for the private recreational component 

of the snapper grouper fishery. 

DATES: The AP meeting will be held 

Monday, November 4, 2024 from 9 a.m. 

until 11:30 a.m. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held 

via webinar. Webinar registration is 

required. Details are included in 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kim 

Iverson, Public Information Officer, 

SAFMC; phone: (843) 302–8440 or toll 

free: (866) SAFMC–10; fax: (843) 769– 

4520; email: kim.iverson@safmc.net. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Meeting 

information, including the webinar 

registration link, online public comment 

form, agenda, and briefing book 

materials will be posted on the 

Council’s website at: https://safmc.net/ 

advisory-panel-meetings/. Comments 

become part of the Administrative 

Record of the meeting and will 

automatically be posted to the website 

and available for Council consideration. 

At this meeting, the AP will review 

guidance from the June 2024 Council 

meeting and further address a series of 

permit and education topics posed by 

the Council. 

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 

identified 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. 

Special Accommodations 

The meeting is physically accessible 

to people with disabilities. Requests for 

auxiliary aids should be directed to the 

Council office (see ADDRESSES) 5 days 

prior to the meeting. 

Note: The times and sequence specified in 

this agenda are subject to change. 

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

Dated: October 11, 2024. 

Alyssa Weigers, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2024–23937 Filed 10–16–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1