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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 250 (Tuesday, December 31, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 107111-107112]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-31176]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XE575]

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).

DATES: The meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 28, 2025 through 
Thursday, January 30, 2025, beginning at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday and 9 
a.m. on Wednesday and Thursday.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will take place at The Venue at Portwalk Place, 
22 Portwalk Place, Portsmouth, NH; telephone: (603) 422-6114; online at 
https://www.thevenueatportwalkplace.com. Join the webinar at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3666534172564880989.
    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, January 28, 2025

    After brief announcements, the Council will 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, 
and representatives from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries 
Commission (ASMFC), the U.S. Coast Guard, NOAA's Office of Law 
Enforcement, and the Advisory Committee to the U.S. Section to the 
International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas 
(ICCAT). Next, the Council will receive a report from its Risk Policy 
Working Group on updates to the implementation strategy for the 
Council's revised Risk Policy. The Habitat Committee report will 
follow. The Council will receive an overview of new essential fish 
habitat (EFH) designation methods and the EFH Review Report before 
providing direction on future actions. Next, the Council will: (1) 
approve updates to the Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) 
section of the Council's Operations Handbook; (2) adjourn the public 
portion of the meeting; and (3) enter into closed session to discuss 
SSC appointments.

Wednesday, January 29, 2025

    The Council will begin the second day of its meeting with a survey 
update from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center on: (1) the 2024 
survey season; (2) continency planning for the NOAA Ship Henry B. 
Bigelow; (3) the shakedown cruise for the NOAA Ship Pisces; (4) 
Northeast Trawl Advisory Panel work on an industry-based trawl survey; 
and (5) other survey-related issues. The Northeast Fisheries Science 
Center also will provide a presentation on the peer-reviewed results of 
the 2024 Yellowtail Flounder Research Track Stock Assessment. The 
Council then will receive a NOAA Fisheries presentation on the Marine 
Recreational Information Program (MRIP) Fishing Effort Survey follow-up 
study, which will be followed by a public listening session on NOAA 
Fisheries' collaborative initiative to re-envision recreational fishing 
data collection partnership approaches.
    Following the lunch break, the Council will hear from the 
Groundfish Committee and provide recommendations to GARFO on fishing 
year 2025 recreational measures for Western Gulf of Maine cod and Gulf 
of Maine haddock. It also will receive an overview of the 2025 
groundfish work priorities, including Phase 2 cod transition planning. 
The Council then will engage in a special session on fisheries and 
habitat research in offshore

[[Page 107112]]

wind areas, which will include six short presentations. Following 
adjournment, the Council will host its Public Outreach gathering, an 
informational exchange to foster open lines of communication among 
Council members, staff, industry, and meeting attendees. All are 
welcome and light snacks will be provided. Public Outreach will be 
combined with a poster session on fisheries and habitat research in 
offshore wind areas, as well as port hours by offshore wind developers. 
These events will take place at the AC Hotel at 299 Vaughn Street in 
Portsmouth, NH, a 4-minute walk from the Council's meeting room at The 
Venue at Portwalk Place.

Thursday, January 30, 2025

    The Council will lead off the third day of its meeting with the 
Atlantic Herring Committee report, which will begin with an update on 
Amendment 10 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan. Amendment 
10 is an action to minimize user conflicts in the Atlantic herring 
fishery and address river herring/shad catch. The Council also will: 
(1) receive an overview of ASMFC's 2024 river herring benchmark stock 
assessment; (2) discuss preliminary 2024 year-end catch information 
prepared by the Herring Plan Development Team; and (3) possibly 
consider revised recommendations for 2025 specifications. The Scallop 
Committee will provide a presentation on the development of a Scallop 
Strategic Plan. The Council will review the workplan for this 
initiative and the schedule for outreach meetings. It also will receive 
an overview of the 2025 scallop work priorities. 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. After public comment, the Council's On-
Demand Fishing Gear Conflict Working Group will provide a progress 
report on work towards addressing the group's terms of reference, which 
include identifying the implications of on-demand fishing gear use for 
Council-managed fisheries. The Council then 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 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: December 20, 2024.
Rey Israel Marquez,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-31176 Filed 12-30-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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