[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 178 (Thursday, September 15, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54537-54538]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-18355]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 090205B]


Large Coastal Shark 2005/2006 Stock Assessment Data Workshop

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

ACTION: Notification of workshop.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces the time and location for the large coastal 
shark (LCS) stock assessment data workshop, the first of three 
workshops for the LCS stock assessment to be conducted in 2005/2006.

DATES: The data workshop will start at 1 p.m. on Monday, October 31, 
2005, and will conclude at 1 p.m. on Friday, November 4, 2005.

ADDRESSES: The Data workshop will be held at the Bay Point Marriott 
Resort, 4200 Marriott Drive, Bay Point, FL 32408.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julie Neer at (850) 234-6541; or Karyl 
Brewster-Geisz at (301) 713-2347, fax (301) 713-1917.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Atlantic shark fisheries are managed 
under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and

[[Page 54538]]

Management Act. The Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic HMS (HMS FMP) 
is implemented by regulations at 50 CFR part 635.
    Stock assessments are periodically conducted to determine stock 
status relative to current management criteria. Collection of the best 
available scientific data and conducting stock assessments are critical 
to determine appropriate management measures for rebuilding stocks. 
Based on the last LCS stock assessment in 2002, NMFS determined that 
the LCS complex is overfished and overfishing is occurring. LCS are 
currently under a 26-year rebuilding plan. Potential changes to 
existing management measures will be based, in large part, on the 
results of this 2005/2006 stock assessment.
    This assessment will be conducted in a manner similar to the 
Southeast Data, Assessment, and Review (SEDAR) process. SEDAR is a 
cooperative process initiated in 2002 to improve the quality and 
reliability of fishery stock assessments in the South Atlantic, Gulf of 
Mexico, and U.S. Caribbean. SEDAR emphasizes constituent and 
stakeholder participation in assessment development, transparency in 
the assessment process, and a rigorous and independent scientific 
review of completed stock assessments. SEDAR is organized around three 
workshops. The first is a data workshop where datasets are documented, 
analyzed, and reviewed, and data for conducting assessment analyses are 
compiled. The second is an assessment workshop where quantitative 
population analyses are developed and refined and population parameters 
are estimated. The third and final is a review workshop where a panel 
of independent experts reviews the data and assessment and recommends 
the most appropriate values of critical population and management 
quantities. All workshops are open to the public. More information on 
the SEDAR process can be found at http://www.sefsc.noaa.gov/sedar/.
    NMFS announces the data workshop, the first of three workshops for 
the LCS 2005/2006 stock assessment, which will be held from October 31 
- November 4, 2005, at the Bay Point Marriott Resort in Panama City, FL 
(see DATES and ADDRESSES). Prospective participants and observers will 
be contacted with the data workshop details. This workshop is open to 
the public. Persons interested in participating or observing the Data 
workshop should contact Julie Neer (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT). The next two workshops will be held at a later date. The time 
and locations of these workshops will be announced in a Federal 
Register notice.

Special Accommodations

    These meetings are physically accessible to people with 
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other 
auxiliary aids should be directed to Julie Neer at (850) 234-6541, at 
least 7 days prior to the Data workshop.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq.

    Dated: September 9, 2005.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 05-18355 Filed 9-14-05; 8:45 am]
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