Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 14 / Thursday, January 22, 2015 / Notices 3221 

The products of these technical 

working groups will be a set of wellcharacterized whole genome and 

synthetic DNA RMs along with the 

methods (documentary standards) and 

reference data necessary for use of the 

RMs. These products will be designed to 

help enable translation of whole genome 

sequencing to regulated clinical 

applications. The consortium meets in 

workshops two times per year, in 

January at Stanford University in Palo 

Alto, CA, and in August at the National 

Institute of Standards and Technology 

in Gaithersburg, MD. At these 

workshops, including the last meetings 

at Stanford in January 2014 and at NIST 

in August 2014, participants in the 

consortium have discussed progress 

developing well-characterized genomes 

for NIST Reference Materials and 

planned future experiments and 

analysis of these genomes (see https://

federalregister.gov/a/2012-18064, 

https://federalregister.gov/a/2013- 

18934, and https://federalregister.gov/a/ 

2014-18841 for past workshops at 

NIST). The August 2014 meeting, which 

included meetings of each of the four 

working groups, was announced in the 

Federal Register (79 FR 46774) on 

August 11, 2014, and the meeting is 

summarized at https://

sites.stanford.edu/abms/content/

workshop-summary-and-slides-august2014. 

There is no cost for participating in 

the consortium. No proprietary 

information will be shared as part of the 

consortium, and all research results will 

be in the public domain. 

All attendees are required to preregister. Anyone wishing to attend this 

meeting must pre-register at http://

app.certain.com/profile/form/

index.cfm?PKformID=0x19409085b04 

by 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time on Thursday, 

January 22, 2015, in order to attend. 

Dated: January 14, 2015. 

Richard Cavanagh, 

Acting Associate Director of Laboratory 

Programs. 

[FR Doc. 2015–01158 Filed 1–21–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XD670 

Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; 

Atlantic Shark Management Measures; 

2015 Research Fishery 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting. 

SUMMARY: On October 31, 2014, NMFS 

published a notice inviting qualified 

commercial shark permit holders to 

submit applications to participate in the 

2015 shark research fishery. The shark 

research fishery allows for the collection 

of fishery-dependent data for future 

stock assessments and cooperative 

research with commercial fishermen to 

meet the shark research objectives of the 

Agency. Every year, the permit terms 

and permitted activities (e.g., number of 

hooks and retention limits) specifically 

authorized for selected participants in 

the shark research fishery are designated 

depending on the scientific and research 

needs of the Agency, as well as the 

number of NMFS-approved observers 

available. In order to inform selected 

participants of this year’s specific 

permit requirements and ensure all 

terms and conditions of the permit are 

met, NMFS is holding a mandatory 

permit holder meeting (via conference 

call) for selected participants. The date 

and time of that meeting is announced 

in this notice. 

DATES: A conference call will be held on 

January 29, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: A conference call will be 

conducted. See SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION for information on how to 

access the conference call. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Karyl Brewster-Geisz or Delisse Ortiz at 

(301) 427–8503. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Atlantic shark fisheries are managed 

under the authority of the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens 

Act). The 2006 Consolidated Highly 

Migratory species (HMS) Fishery 

Management Plan (FMP) is 

implemented by regulations at 50 CFR 

part 635. 

The final rule for Amendment 2 to the 

2006 Consolidated HMS FMP (73 FR 

35778, June 24, 2008, corrected at 73 FR 

40658, July 15, 2008) established, 

among other things, a shark research 

fishery to maintain time-series data for 

stock assessments and to meet NMFS’ 

research objectives. The shark research 

fishery gathers important scientific data 

and allows selected commercial 

fishermen the opportunity to earn more 

revenue from selling the sharks caught, 

including sandbar sharks. Only the 

commercial shark fishermen selected to 

participate in the shark research fishery 

are authorized to land/harvest sandbar 

sharks subject to the sandbar quota 

available each year. The 2015 sandbar 

shark quota is 116.6 mt dw per year. 

The selected shark research fishery 

participants also have access to the 

research large coastal shark, small 

coastal shark, and pelagic shark quotas 

subject to retention limits and quotas 

per §§ 635.24 and 635.27, respectively. 

On October 31, 2014 (79 FR 64750), 

NMFS published a notice inviting 

qualified commercial shark directed and 

incidental permit holders to submit an 

application to participate in the 2015 

shark research fishery. NMFS received 7 

applications, of which 6 applicants were 

determined to meet all the 

qualifications. NMFS selected all 6 

qualified participants after considering 

how to meet research objectives in 

particular regions. NMFS expects to 

invite qualified commercial shark 

permit holders to submit an application 

for the 2016 shark research fishery later 

in 2015. 

As with past years, the 2015 permit 

terms and permitted activities (e.g., 

number of hooks and retention limits) 

specifically authorized for selected 

participants in the shark research 

fishery were designated depending on 

the scientific and research needs of the 

Agency, as well as the number of 

NMFS-approved observers available. In 

order to inform selected participants of 

this year’s specific permit requirements 

and ensure all terms and conditions of 

the permit are met, per the requirements 

of § 635.32 (f)(4), NMFS is holding a 

mandatory permit holder meeting via 

conference call. 

Conference Call Date, Time, and Dial-In 

Number 

The conference call will be held on 

January 29, 2015, from 2 to 4 p.m. (EST). 

Participants and interested parties 

should call 1–888–810–4795 and use 

the passcode 8297434. Selected 

participants who do not attend will not 

be allowed to participate in the shark 

research fishery. While the conference 

call is mandatory for selected 

participants, other interested parties 

may call in and listen to the discussion. 

Selected participants are encouraged 

to invite their captain, crew, or anyone 

else who may assist them in meeting the 

terms and conditions of the shark 

research fishery permit. 

Dated: January 15, 2015. 

Emily H. Menashes, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2015–00920 Filed 1–21–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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