[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 111 (Wednesday, June 10, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 31713-31714]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-15440]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[I.D. 060298A]


New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold 
a 2-day public meeting on June 24 and 25, 1998, to consider actions 
affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

DATES: The meeting will be held on Wednesday, June 24, 1998, at 10 a.m. 
and on Thursday, June 25, 1998, at 8:30 a.m.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Peabody Marriott Hotel, 8A 
Centennial Drive, Peabody, MA 01960; telephone (978) 977-9700. Requests 
for special accommodations should be addressed to the New England 
Fishery Management Council, 5 Broadway, Saugus, MA 01906-1097; 
telephone: (781) 231-0422.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul J. Howard, Executive Director, 
New England Fishery Management Council, (781) 231-0422.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Wednesday, June 24, 1998

    At 9 a.m., the Council will convene a meeting of its Interspecies 
Committee to develop comments on NMFS' proposed list of authorized 
fisheries and gear and on draft proposed regulations for fishing vessel 
buyback programs. The full Council meeting will begin at 10 a.m. with 
discussions on several experimental fishery proposals for sea scallops. 
The Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS (Regional Administrator), 
will seek public input at this time on a proposal to allow the use of 
Atlantic sea scallop dredge vessels in the Northeast Multispecies 
Georges Bank closed areas to investigate scallop growth, natural 
mortality, and population densities and to collect data that would 
assist the Council in the development of a scallop area management 
program. The Interspecies Committee will then review their comments on 
the fisheries/gear list and proposed buyback program regulations and, 
if necessary, modify them based on feedback from the Council. The 
Habitat Committee will approve proposed essential fish habitat (EFH) 
designations and alternatives for American plaice, pollock, redfish, 
whiting, sea scallops, Atlantic salmon, winter and windowpane flounder, 
and white hake for purposes of preparing a public hearing document. The 
Committee also will ask for overall approval of the EFH Amendment 
public hearing document.

Thursday, June 25, 1998

    The meeting will begin with reports from the Council Chairman, 
Executive Director, Regional Administrator, Northeast Fisheries Science 
Center and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council liaisons, and 
representatives of the Coast Guard and the Atlantic States Marine 
Fisheries Commission. Following reports, the Council will provide 
guidance to the Spiny Dogfish Committee on draft management measures 
for inclusion in the fishery

[[Page 31714]]

management plan public hearing document. The Overfishing Definition 
Review Panel will present its final report on definitions revised or 
developed to meet the requirements of the Sustainable Fisheries Act. 
During the afternoon session, the Enforcement Committee will review its 
evaluation of the effectiveness of current management measures, 
including trip limits, closed areas, days-at-sea, and NMFS penalty 
schedule. The Whiting Committee will ask the Council to approve 
additional management measures to be considered at public hearings, 
including a moratorium on commercial permits, limited access 
qualification criteria, mesh size restrictions, trip limits, and other 
options for the northern and southern management areas. The Groundfish 
Committee Chairman will review the Committee's plan to address Gulf of 
Maine cod management proposals and summarize the most recent Canadian 
management information on Georges Bank groundfish stocks. Prior to 
addressing any other outstanding business, the Council will consider 
interim management measures for the monkfish fishery.

Announcement of Experimental Fishery Applications

    The Regional Administrator will consider the authorization of two 
experimental fisheries based on recently submitted proposals. The first 
would allow the harvest of dogfish using longlines in the Nantucket 
Shoals Dogfish Exemption Area. The second proposal would allow the 
applicant to study the effects of a modified whiting net on flatfish 
bycatch in the Southern New England Regulated Mesh Area. Exempted 
fishing permits to conduct experimental fishing would be issued to 
exempt participating vessels from various restrictions in the Atlantic 
Sea Scallop and Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plans.
    Although other issues not contained in this agenda may come before 
this Council for discussion, in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens 
Fishery Conservation and Management Act, those issues may not be the 
subject of formal Council action during this meeting. Council action 
will be restricted to those issues specifically listed in this notice.

Special Accommodations

    This meeting is physically accessible to people with disabilities. 
Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids 
should be directed to Paul J. Howard (see ADDRESSES) at least 5 days 
prior to the meeting date.

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

    Dated: June 4, 1998.
Richard W. Surdi,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Serivce.
[FR Doc. 98-15440 Filed 6-9-98; 8:45 am]
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