36708 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 131 / Tuesday, July 13, 2021 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XB205] 

Fisheries of the South Atlantic; 

Southeast Data, Assessment, and 

Review (SEDAR); Public Meeting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of SEDAR 77 HMS 

Hammerhead Shark Stock Identification 

(ID) Webinar 2. 

SUMMARY: The SEDAR 77 assessment of 

the Atlantic stock of hammerhead 

sharks will consist of a stock ID process, 

data webinars/workshop, a series of 

assessment webinars, and a review 

workshop. 

DATES: The SEDAR 77 HMS 

Hammerhead Shark Stock ID Webinar 2 

has been scheduled for Tuesday August 

10, 2021, from 12 p.m. until 3 p.m. ET. 

ADDRESSES: 

Meeting address: The meeting will be 

held via webinar. The webinar is open 

to members of the public. Registration is 

available online at: https://

attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/ 

1490341148333434635. 

SEDAR address: South Atlantic 

Fishery Management Council, 4055 

Faber Place Drive, Suite 201, N 

Charleston, SC 29405; 

www.sedarweb.org. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kathleen Howington, SEDAR 

Coordinator, 4055 Faber Place Drive, 

Suite 201, North Charleston, SC 29405; 

phone: (843) 571–4371; email: 

Kathleen.Howington@safmc.net. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Gulf 

of Mexico, South Atlantic, and 

Caribbean Fishery Management 

Councils, in conjunction with NOAA 

Fisheries and the Atlantic and Gulf 

States Marine Fisheries Commissions, 

have implemented the Southeast Data, 

Assessment and Review (SEDAR) 

process, a multi-step method for 

determining the status of fish stocks in 

the Southeast Region. SEDAR is a threestep process including: (1) Data 

Workshop; (2) Assessment Process 

utilizing webinars; and (3) Review 

Workshop. The product of the Data 

Workshop is a data report which 

compiles and evaluates potential 

datasets and recommends which 

datasets are appropriate for assessment 

analyses. The product of the Assessment 

Process is a stock assessment report 

which describes the fisheries, evaluates 

the status of the stock, estimates 

biological benchmarks, projects future 

population conditions, and recommends 

research and monitoring needs. The 

assessment is independently peer 

reviewed at the Review Workshop. The 

product of the Review Workshop is a 

Summary documenting panel opinions 

regarding the strengths and weaknesses 

of the stock assessment and input data. 

Participants for SEDAR Workshops are 

appointed by the Gulf of Mexico, South 

Atlantic, and Caribbean Fishery 

Management Councils and NOAA 

Fisheries Southeast Regional Office, 

Highly Migratory Species Management 

Division, and Southeast Fisheries 

Science Center. Participants include: 

Data collectors and database managers; 

stock assessment scientists, biologists, 

and researchers; constituency 

representatives including fishermen, 

environmentalists, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs); 

international experts; and staff of 

Councils, Commissions, and state and 

federal agencies. 

The items of discussion at the SEDAR 

77 HMS Hammerhead Shark Stock ID 

Webinar 2 are as follows: 

• Participants will use review genetic 

studies, growth patterns, and any other 

relevant information on hammerhead 

shark stock structure. 

• Participants will make final 

recommendations on biological stock 

structure and define the unit stock or 

stocks to be addressed through this 

assessment. 

Although non-emergency issues not 

contained in this agenda may come 

before this group for discussion, those 

issues may not be the subject of formal 

action during this meeting. Action will 

be restricted to those issues specifically 

identified 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 intent to take final action 

to address the emergency. 

Special Accommodations 

This meeting is accessible to people 

with disabilities. Requests for auxiliary 

aids should be directed to the South 

Atlantic Fishery Management Council 

office (see ADDRESSES) at least 5 

business days prior to the meeting. 

Note: The times and sequence 

specified in this agenda are subject to 

change. 

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

Dated: July 8, 2021. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2021–14850 Filed 7–12–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XB221] 

Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management 

Council (MAFMC); Public Meeting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; public meeting. 

SUMMARY: The Mid-Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council (Council) will 

meet with the Atlantic States Marine 

Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) 

Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea 

Bass Management Board. 

DATES: The meeting will be held on 

Wednesday August 4, 2021, from 10:15 

a.m. to 12:15 p.m. For agenda details, 

see SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held 

via webinar. Details on the proposed 

agenda, webinar listen-in access, and 

any meeting materials will be posted at 

www.mafmc.org/meetings. 

Council address: Mid-Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council, 800 N State 

Street, Suite 201, Dover, DE 19901; 

telephone: (302) 674–2331; 

www.mafmc.org. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Christopher M. Moore, Ph.D., Executive 

Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council, telephone: (302) 

526–5255. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: During 

this meeting, the Council and the 

ASMFC’s Summer Flounder, Scup, and 

Black Sea Bass Management Board will 

reconsider revisions to the commercial 

black sea bass state allocations 

previously approved through the 

Council’s Black Sea Bass Commercial 

State Allocation Amendment and the 

Commission’s Addendum XXXIII. 

Background materials will be posted to 

www.mafmc.org/meetings. 

Although non-emergency issues not 

contained in this agenda may come 

before this group for discussion, in 

accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), those 

issues may not be the subject of formal 

action during these meetings. Actions 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 131 / Tuesday, July 13, 2021 / Notices 36709 

will be restricted to those issues 

specifically identified in this notice and 

any issues arising after publication of 

this notice that require emergency 

action under Section 305(c) of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act, provided the 

public has been notified of the Council’s 

intent to take final action to address the 

emergency. 

Special Accommodations 

The meeting is physically accessible 

to people with disabilities. Requests for 

sign language interpretation or other 

auxiliary aids should be directed to 

Kathy Collins at the Council Office, 

(302) 526–5253, at least 5 days prior to 

the meeting date. 

Dated: July 7, 2021. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2021–14783 Filed 7–12–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XB224] 

Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management 

Council; Public Meeting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice for request of proposals 

for Ageing Study on Gulf of Mexico 

Gray Triggerfish. 

SUMMARY: The Gulf of Mexico Fishery 

Management Council is requesting 

proposals from qualified contractors to 

organize and conduct an Expanded 

Sampling and Ageing Study on Gulf of 

Mexico Gray Triggerfish. 

DATES: This will be a 24-month project 

and a maximum $250,000 is available to 

fund the work. Proposal Submission 

Deadline: August 13, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Council address: Gulf of 

Mexico Fishery Management Council, 

4701 W Spruce Street, Suite 200, 

Tampa, FL 33607; telephone: (813) 348– 

1630. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

John Froeschke, Deputy Director, Gulf of 

Mexico Fishery Management Council; 

john.froeschke@gulfcouncil.org; 

telephone: (813) 348–1630. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Proposal Submission Deadline Friday, 

August 13, 2021 

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery 

Management Council (Council) seeks a 

highly-qualified contractor to organize 

and conduct an ageing study on Gulf of 

Mexico (Gulf) gray triggerfish, Balistes 

capriscus. The Term of Contract is 24 

months and Maximum Funding 

Available for Work is $250,000. The 

contractor is tasked with evaluating and 

proposing new techniques to efficiently 

sample, process, and utilize different 

ageing structures (i.e., spines and 

otoliths) for gray triggerfish in the Gulf. 

Proposal applicants are encouraged to 

develop work plans to collaborate with 

state and federal partners to collect 

representative samples across a range of 

age classes. Typically, the various Gulf 

state and federal creel and port samplers 

would be able to contribute to this work; 

however, otoliths are not currently 

taken at dockside intercepts under 

current sample collection protocols. 

Sampling gray triggerfish otoliths that 

are small, fragile, and difficult to extract 

may require obtaining filleted carcasses 

(i.e., racks) from fishery-dependent 

intercepts. If additional samples are 

necessary, the proposal may consider an 

effective method for field collection of 

gray triggerfish otoliths and dorsal 

spines. 

Gray triggerfish have historically been 

aged by counting translucent zones in 

the first dorsal spine since gray 

triggerfish otoliths are small, fragile, and 

difficult to extract. During the Data/ 

Assessment workshop deliberations for 

SEDAR 62, it was noted that a study 

applying bomb radiocarbon validation 

to compare spine and otolith ages 

routinely resulted in lower age estimates 

from spines versus otoliths, and called 

into question the reliability of growth 

estimates derived from spine-based ages 

(Patterson et al. 2019: SEDAR62–WP– 

17). 

Background 

During its January 2021 meeting, the 

Council identified unspent Council 

funds in 2020. These unspent funds 

were primarily due to limited travel 

during the COVID–19 pandemic. The 

Council is considering funding a 

research study, on the ageing of gray 

triggerfish, that could be completed, 

available, and contributory to the 

scheduled SEDAR Research Track 

assessment of Gulf gray triggerfish to 

begin in 2024. The last assessment for 

Gulf gray triggerfish (SEDAR 62) was 

terminated because of irreconcilable 

data issues, with ageing of gray 

triggerfish being an outstanding 

concern. 

Gray triggerfish have historically been 

aged by counting translucent zones in 

the first dorsal spines since gray 

triggerfish otoliths tend to be small, 

fragile, and difficult to extract. Allman 

et al. (2016) conducted an age validation 

study of gray triggerfish spines that 

revealed two peaks in translucent zone 

formation, which was interpreted as a 

doublet pattern (two closely spaced 

translucent zones) representing a single 

year in the life. However, during 

workshop deliberations for SEDAR 62, it 

was noted that a study applying bomb 

radiocarbon validation to compare spine 

and otolith ages resulted in otolith ages 

better aligning with known regional 

coral and otolith carbon-14 values 

compared to spines, which under-aged 

known records. Whereas, the 

comparison of vertebra versus otolithderived ages indicated a close 

agreement (Patterson et al. 2019: 

SEDAR62–WP–17). 

Shervette et al. (2021), conducted a 

study on gray triggerfish in Ghana and 

U.S. South Atlantic that compared 

ageing of spines and otoliths. They also 

developed a methodology for removing 

the otoliths from gray triggerfish. Whole 

otoliths were submerged in water and 

read against a black background with 

magnified stereoscope, and then each 

opaque zone was counted. Spines were 

also read and fish were aged by 

counting the number of translucent 

zones in the spine section. Two 

independent readers with ageing 

experience of 8 years +, read the otoliths 

and spines. This study found age 

estimates for spines ranged from 1 to 8 

years and for otoliths 3 to 13 years. An 

age bias plot indicating a potential 

ageing bias starting at age-3 between 

spines and otoliths of gray triggerfish. 

Therefore, the Council is interested in 

funding an age study for Gulf gray 

triggerfish to reconcile ageing 

differences in hard parts. The Council 

also seeks expert advice from funded 

work to determine whether it is possible 

to develop an algorithm to convert 

spine-based ages to the more accurate 

otolith-based ages for Gulf gray 

triggerfish. 

Scope of Work 

The contractor will be responsible for 

all data products outlined below and is 

encouraged to contribute additional 

products and suggestions in the 

proposal for this work. The selected 

contractor is also responsible for a midterm project summary report and a 

presentation of the final results to the 

Scientific and Statistical Committees 

and the Council. The proposed scope of 

work should include the following: 


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