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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 247 (Thursday, December 26, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 104986-104988]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-30733]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XE537]

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Alaska 
Pollock Workshop

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

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

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SUMMARY: NMFS will convene a workshop on walleye pollock in Alaska for 
the purposes of synthesizing ongoing research, building and 
strengthening collaborations, and highlighting topics which need more 
attention. The focus will be on biological and ecological scientific 
research.

DATES: The workshop is open to the public from January 14, 2025-Jan 16, 
2025 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific standard time. Please see 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for the daily meeting agenda.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be a hybrid format with the in-person 
component in Room 2076, Building 4, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, 
Western Regional Center, Seattle, WA. The virtual component will be 
held on Google Meet at: https://meet.google.com/wwy-yxuo-usf.
    Or dial: (US) +1 636-649-4229 PIN: 118 376 198; FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT: Cole Monnahan, 206-526-4224; 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: For further information, please visit 
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wm5by946rWdgrcdz5JgywTvC_KueUQVFCxU9AGUdDqE.

Daily Meeting Agenda

    The agenda is subject to change; all times are in Pacific Standard 
Time (PST), and are approximate and may be changed at the discretion of 
the coordinators. Presentations are grouped by themes, and can focus on 
different large marine ecosystems (LME) in Alaska, including the Gulf 
of Alaska (GOA), Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI), the Northern 
Bering Sea (NBS), and the Eastern Bering Sea (EBS).

                                                               Day 1--Tuesday January 14th
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Start PST                Length (mins)           Theme                 Presenter                   Topic                       LME
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9 a.m..............................              15  ......................  Monnahan..............  Introductions..............
9:15 a.m...........................              15  ......................  Monnahan..............  Work shop goals and
                                                                                                      products: conceptual
                                                                                                      models of key processes.
9:30 a.m...........................              15  Early life history....  L Rogers..............  Changes in the timing of     BSAI/GOA.
                                                                                                      spawning and early life
                                                                                                      stage development.
9:45 a.m...........................              15  Early life history....  Page..................  Fall Condition of Young-Of-  EBS/NBS.
                                                                                                      The-Year Walleye Pollock
                                                                                                      in the Southeastern and
                                                                                                      Northern Bering Sea.
10 a.m.............................              15  Early life history....  Stabeno...............  EcoFOCI....................  GOA.
10:15 a.m..........................              15  Early life history....  Slesinger.............  Population-specific and      GOA.
                                                                                                      temperature effects on
                                                                                                      hatch timing and success.
10:30 a.m..........................              15  ......................  ......................  Break......................
10:45 a.m..........................              15  Early life history....  Laurel................  A history of Gulf of Alaska  GOA.
                                                                                                      age-0 pollock in the
                                                                                                      nearshore.
11 a.m.............................              15  Early life history....  Miller................  GOA-wide juvenile gadid      GOA.
                                                                                                      survey.
11:15 a.m..........................              15  Early life history....  Champagnat............  DSEM models to explain       GOA.
                                                                                                      variation in recruitment
                                                                                                      in the GOA.
11:30 a.m..........................              30  Early life history....  ......................  General Discussion.........  All.
12 p.m.............................              60  Early life history....  ......................  Breakout discussion:         Split GOA/BSAI.
                                                                                                      building conceptual models
                                                                                                      of recruitment.
1 p.m..............................              60  ......................  ......................  Lunch break................
2 p.m..............................              15  Biology & feeding       Goldstein.............  Age, growth, life history,   BSAI/GOA.
                                                      ecology.                                        FT-NIRS for age,
                                                                                                      condition, and
                                                                                                      reproduction.
2:15 p.m...........................              15  Biology & feeding       Lamb..................  Results of multi-year        GOA.
                                                      ecology.                                        juvenile pollock diet
                                                                                                      study (WGOA).

[[Page 104987]]

 
2:30 p.m...........................              15  Biology & feeding       Reum..................  Decadal patterns in walleye  BSAI/GOA.
                                                      ecology.                                        pollock diets in Alaskan
                                                                                                      marine ecosystems.
2:45 p.m...........................              15  Biology & feeding       Indivero..............  Spatio-temporal model of     EBS.
                                                      ecology.                                        weight-at-age; forecasting
                                                                                                      distribution shifts with
                                                                                                      climate change and spatial
                                                                                                      overlap with choke species.
3 p.m..............................              15  Biology & feeding       Miller................  Patterns in movement and     EBS.
                                                      ecology.                                        trophic behavior of adult
                                                                                                      walleye pollock in the
                                                                                                      Bering Sea--results from
                                                                                                      stable isotope analysis of
                                                                                                      eye lenses.
3:15 p.m...........................              15  Biology & feeding       Abookire..............  Effects of ocean warming on  GOA.
                                                      ecology.                                        weight at age,
                                                                                                      recruitment, and age
                                                                                                      structure diversity for
                                                                                                      GOA walleye pollock.
3:30 p.m...........................              15  Biology & feeding       Bigman................  Changes in size-at-age of    EBS.
                                                      ecology.                                        pollock with temperature
                                                                                                      and oxygen.
3:45 p.m...........................              15  ......................  ......................  Break......................
4 p.m..............................              30  Biology & feeding       ......................  General Discussion.........  All.
                                                      ecology.
4:30 p.m...........................              60  Biology & feeding       ......................  Breakout discussion:         Split GOA/BSAI.
                                                      ecology.                                        building conceptual models
                                                                                                      of growth.
5:30 p.m...........................              30  ......................  ......................  Conclude for day...........
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                                             Day 2--Wednesday, January 15th
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
           Start time PST             Length (mins)           Theme                 Presenter                   Topic                       LME
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9 a.m..............................              15  ......................  McGowan...............  Recap and updates on
                                                                                                      conceptual models.
9:15 a.m...........................              15  Population monitoring.  Vechter...............  Past, current, and           BSAI/GOA.
                                                                                                      potential future data
                                                                                                      collections from the
                                                                                                      commercial pollock fishery.
9:30 a.m...........................              15  Population monitoring.  Yochum................  Fishery-dependent data       BSAI/GOA.
                                                                                                      collection.
9:45 a.m...........................              15  Population monitoring.  Schaal................  Genomic analysis of GOA and  BSAI/GOA.
                                                                                                      Bering Sea Pollock.
10 a.m.............................              15  Population monitoring.  Wassermann............  Pollock population           BSAI/GOA.
                                                                                                      monitoring issues.
10:15 a.m..........................              15  Population monitoring.  Neidecher.............  Maturity, hisology,          BSAI/GOA.
                                                                                                      fecundity data used to
                                                                                                      assess spawning stratagy
                                                                                                      and changes in spawning
                                                                                                      patterns.
10:30 a.m..........................              15  ......................  ......................  Break......................
10:45 a.m..........................              15  Population monitoring.  Ressler...............  Acoustic-trawl surveys of    BSAI/GOA.
                                                                                                      pollock in Alaska--what
                                                                                                      they provide, outstanding
                                                                                                      questions.
11 a.m.............................              15  Population monitoring.  Levine................  Use of moored echosounders   BSAI/GOA.
                                                                                                      to better understand
                                                                                                      pollock behavior.
11:15 a.m..........................              60  Population monitoring.  ......................  General Discussion.........  All.
12:15 p.m..........................              60  ......................  ......................  Lunch break................
1:15 p.m...........................              15  Predation/food webs...  Dorn..................  GOA-CLIM...................  GOA.
1:30 p.m...........................              15  Predation/food webs...  Holsman...............  Climate integrated stock     BSAI/GOA.
                                                                                                      assessment advice.
1:45 p.m...........................              15  Predation/food webs...  Barnes................  Predators as samplers:       GOA.
                                                                                                      using food habits data to
                                                                                                      inform climate- and
                                                                                                      community-driven shifts in
                                                                                                      habitat quality for EFH
                                                                                                      species.
2 p.m..............................              15  Predation/food webs...  Gerson................  Using predators as samplers  GOA.
                                                                                                      to quantify foraging
                                                                                                      landscapes throughout the
                                                                                                      Gulf of Alaska.
2:15 p.m...........................              15  Predation/food webs...  Rovellini.............  Implications of arrowtooth   GOA.
                                                                                                      flounder predation on
                                                                                                      pollock for GOA Optimum
                                                                                                      Yield.
2:30 p.m...........................              15  ......................  ......................  Break......................
2:45 p.m...........................              15  Predation/food webs...  McHuron...............  Marine mammal consumption    BSAI/GOA.
                                                                                                      of pollock.
3 p.m..............................              60  Predation/food webs...  ......................  General Discussion.........  All.
4 p.m..............................              45  ......................  ......................  Breakout discussions for
                                                                                                      conceptual models.
4:45 p.m...........................  ..............  ......................  ......................  Conclude for day...........
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                                              Day 3--Thursday January 16th
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
           Start time PST             Length (mins)           Theme                 Presenter                   Topic                       LME
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9 a.m..............................              15  ......................  Ferriss...............  Recap from day 2...........  GOA.

[[Page 104988]]

 
9:15 a.m...........................              15  Climate/ecosystem.....  Miller................  Establishing new trophic     EBS.
                                                                                                      indices of age-0 pollock
                                                                                                      for the Bering Sea: a
                                                                                                      stable isotopic
                                                                                                      retrospective analysis of
                                                                                                      trophic response to
                                                                                                      changing ocean conditions.
9:30 a.m...........................              15  Climate/ecosystem.....  Wassermann............  EBS pollock model-based      EBS.
                                                                                                      indices.
9:45 a.m...........................              15  Climate/ecosystem.....  Siddon................  EBS ESR and EBS Pollock      EBS.
                                                                                                      risk table.
10 a.m.............................              15  Climate/ecosystem.....  Ferriss...............  GOA Risk table ecosystem     GOA.
                                                                                                      information: data included
                                                                                                      and gaps.
10:15 a.m..........................              15  Climate/ecosystem.....  Shotwell..............  GOA pollock ESP indicators   GOA.
                                                                                                      and applications to ABC
                                                                                                      and TAC decisions.
10:30 a.m..........................              15  Climate/ecosystem.....  Whitney...............  Can ecosystem and or socio-  BSAI.
                                                                                                      economic functions play a
                                                                                                      role in specifying
                                                                                                      management objectives?.
10:45 a.m..........................              15  ......................  ......................  Break......................
11 a.m.............................              15  Climate/ecosystem.....  M. Rogers.............  NBS Regional Work Plan--     NBS.
                                                                                                      Pollock isoscapes in warm
                                                                                                      and cold conditions.
11:15 a.m..........................              15  Climate/ecosystem.....  Thorson...............  State-space models to        EBS.
                                                                                                      integrate climate and
                                                                                                      forage drivers into
                                                                                                      research and operations.
11:30 a.m..........................              15  Climate/ecosystem.....  Adams.................  Single and multi-species     GOA.
                                                                                                      management strategies
                                                                                                      under climate change.
11:45 a.m..........................              60  Climate/ecosystem.....  ......................  General Discussion.........  All.
12:45 p.m..........................              60  ......................  ......................  Lunch break................
1:45 p.m...........................              30  Recruitment model.....  TBD...................  Present hypothesized set of  GOA.
                                                                                                      conceptual models for
                                                                                                      recruitment.
2:15 p.m...........................              30  Growth model..........  TBD...................  Present hypothesized set of  GOA.
                                                                                                      conceptual models for
                                                                                                      growth.
2:45 p.m...........................              15  ......................  ......................  Break......................
3 p.m..............................              30  Recruitment model.....  TBD...................  Present hypothesized set of  BSAI.
                                                                                                      conceptual models for
                                                                                                      recruitment.
3:30 p.m...........................              30  Growth model..........  TBD...................  Present hypothesized set of  BSAI.
                                                                                                      conceptual models for
                                                                                                      growth.
4 p.m..............................              60  Report writing........
5 p.m..............................  ..............  ......................  ......................  Conclude for day...........
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The meeting is open to the public; however, during the `Report 
Writing' session on Thursday, January 16th, the public should not 
engage in discussion.

Special Accommodations

    This meeting is physically accessible to people with disabilities. 
Special requests should be directed to Cole Monnahan, via email (see 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).

    Dated: December 19, 2024.
Kelly Denit,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-30733 Filed 12-23-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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