[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 57 (Thursday, March 24, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16717-16718]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-06256]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XB908]


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). The Council continues to follow all 
public safety measures related to COVID-19 and intends to do so for 
this meeting.

DATES: The meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 12, Wednesday, April 
13 and Thursday, April 14, 2022, beginning at 1 p.m. on Tuesday and 9 
a.m. on Wednesday and Thursday.

ADDRESSES: 
    Meeting address: The meeting will be held at the Hilton Hotel, 20 
Coogan Boulevard, Mystic, CT 06355; telephone: (860) 572-0731; online 
at https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/mysmhhf-hilton-mystic/. Join the 
webinar at https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/2725063024732767759.
    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: Thomas A. Nies, Executive Director, 
New England Fishery Management Council; telephone: (978) 465-0492, ext. 
113.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Agenda

Tuesday, April 12, 2022

    After brief announcements, Council members and staff will each 
introduce themselves. Next, the Council will

[[Page 16718]]

receive reports on recent activities from its Chair and Executive 
Director, the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO) 
Regional Administrator, the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) 
Director, the NOAA Office of General Counsel, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery 
Management Council liaison, staff from the Atlantic States Marine 
Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), and representatives from the U.S. Coast 
Guard, NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement, the Advisory Committee to the 
U.S. Section of the International Commission for the Conservation of 
Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), and the NMFS Highly Migratory Species Advisory 
Panel. Next, the Council will receive the Monkfish Committee report and 
initiate Framework Adjustment 13 to the Monkfish Fishery Management 
Plan (FMP). This action will include 2023-25 specifications for the 
fishery and other management measures. The Council then will go into 
the Habitat Committee report. First, the Council will discuss and take 
final action on a framework to designate one or more Habitat Areas of 
Particular Concern (HAPCs) in Southern New England. The Council also 
will receive an update on offshore energy, aquaculture, cables, and 
other habitat-related work and approve a comment letter on the Coast 
Guard's Port Access Route Study (PARS) for approaches to Maine, New 
Hampshire, and Massachusetts. The Council then will adjourn for the 
day.

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

    The Council will begin the second day of its meeting with the 
Scallop Committee report, which will cover three issues: (1) An update 
on work being conducted by the Scallop Survey Working Group; (2) next 
steps for the Evaluation of the Atlantic Sea Scallop Rotational 
Management Program final report, which the Council received during the 
February 2022 meeting; and (3) potential approval of a scoping document 
for limited access leasing. Next, GARFO staff will provide an overview 
of the agency's efforts to develop bycatch reduction measures to reduce 
takes of sea turtles in trawl fisheries. The Council will provide 
comments on this action. The Council then will receive a report on 
outcomes from the March 2022 meeting of the Northeast Trawl Advisory 
Panel (NTAP). Following this report, the Northeast Fisheries Science 
Center will present the peer review results for recent research track 
assessments for Gulf of Maine haddock, Illex squid, and butterfish.
    After the lunch break, the Council will receive a presentation from 
the Gulf of Maine Research Institute on its Maximized Retention 
Electronic Monitoring Program for Groundfish Monitoring Amendment 23. 
This presentation will be followed by the Groundfish Committee report. 
First, the Council will initiate Framework Adjustment 65 to the 
Groundfish FMP, which will include: (1) 2023 total allowable catches 
(TACs) for U.S./Canada shared resources on Georges Bank; (2) 2023-24 
specifications for Georges Bank cod and Georges Bank yellowtail 
flounder; (3) 2023-25 specifications for 14 additional groundfish 
stocks; (4) revised rebuilding plans for Gulf of Maine cod and Southern 
New England/Mid-Atlantic winter flounder; (6) additional measures to 
promote stock rebuilding; and (7) acceptable biological catch (ABC) 
control rule revisions. Next, the Council will discuss potential 
modifications to its 2022 groundfish priorities to address possible 
changes to Atlantic cod management units. The Council then will adjourn 
for the day.

Thursday, April 14, 2022

    The Council will lead off the third day of its meeting with an 
update on the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's work to rebuild 
Atlantic mackerel. The Council will have the opportunity to provide 
comments and feedback on the mackerel rebuilding program. Next, 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 Northeast Fisheries Science Center then 
will present the State of the Ecosystem 2022 report for New England. 
The Council's Scientific and Statistical Committee will provide 
recommendations on this report prior to the Council's discussion. Next, 
the Council will take up the Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management (EBFM) 
Committee report. This will include: (1) An update on planning for EBFM 
informational outreach workshops and an introduction to the workshop 
facilitator; and (2) committee recommendations on a plan to conduct a 
Prototype Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE) for EBFM and the Georges 
Bank example Fishery Ecosystem Plan (eFEP).
    Following the lunch break, the Council will receive an update from 
GARFO on the status of the Industry-Funded Monitoring (IFM) Program for 
the Atlantic herring fishery, which will be followed by Council 
discussion. Then, the Council 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 Thomas A. Nies (see ADDRESSES) at least 5 days 
prior to the meeting date.
    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    Dated: March 21, 2022.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-06256 Filed 3-23-22; 8:45 am]
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