Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 102 / Thursday, May 27, 2010 / Notices 29725 

Council and Committees for discussion, 

in accordance with the MagnusonStevens Conservation and Management 

Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), those 

issues may not be the subject of formal 

action during these meetings. Actions of 

the Council and Committees will be 

restricted to those issues specifically 

identified in the agendas 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 

action to address the emergency. The 

established times for addressing items 

on the agenda may be adjusted as 

necessary to accommodate the timely 

completion of discussion relevant to the 

agenda items. In order to further allow 

for such adjustments and completion of 

all items on the agenda, the meeting 

may be extended from, or completed 

prior to the date/time established in this 

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 Tina O’Hern at the 

Council (see ADDRESSES) at least 5 

working days prior to the meeting. 

Dated: May 24, 2010. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2010–12777 Filed 5–26–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XW67 

Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management 

Council; Public Hearings 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of public meetings. 

SUMMARY: The Mid-Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council will hold scoping 

hearings for an amendment 

(Amendment 14) to the Fishery 

Management Plan (FMP) for Atlantic 

Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish (MSB). 

DATES: See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

for specific dates of hearings. 

ADDRESSES: See SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION for hearing addresses. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Daniel T. Furlong, Executive Director, 

Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management 

Council, 800 N. State Street, Suite 201, 

Dover, DE 19901; telephone: (302) 526– 

5255. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

•June 14, 2010, 7 p.m. - 9 p.m.: Hilton 

Garden Inn, Providence Airport/ 

Warwick, One Thuber Street, Warwick, 

RI 02886, telephone: (401) 734–9600; 

•June 15, 2010, 7 p.m. - 9 p.m.: 

Holiday Inn Express East End, 1707 Old 

Country Rd., Route 58, Riverhead, NY 

11901, telephone: (631) 548–1000; 

•June 17, 2010, 7 p.m. - 9 p.m.: 

Congress Hall, 251 Beach Ave, Cape 

May, NJ 08204, telephone: (609) 884– 

6592; and 

•June 23, 2010, 7 p.m. - 9 p.m.: 

Virginia Marine Resources Commission, 

2600 Washington Avenue, 3rd Floor, 

Newport News, VA 23607. 

There will also be a separate written 

comment period for Amendment 14 

scoping, which will be described in an 

upcoming Federal Register 

announcement for the ‘‘Notice of Intent 

(NOI)’’ to develop an EIS that 

accompanies Amendment 14. That NOI 

will also contain information regarding 

these scoping hearings, but to provide 

the public with sufficient advance 

notice this notice is being published 

now since the NOI will likely publish 

shortly before the scoping hearings. 

More details on the topics addressed 

in this supplementary information 

section may be found in the 

Amendment 14 scoping document. The 

Amendment 14 scoping document is 

available by contacting Dan Furlong (see 

above) or online at: http:// 

www.mafmc.org/fmp/msb.htm. 

The Council initiated Amendment 14 

to the MSB FMP for two reasons: (1) 

There is concern by some stakeholders 

that there may be too much capacity in 

the squid (both Loligo and Illex) 

fisheries and that uncontrolled 

activation of latent capacity could cause 

negative economic effects for 

participants. Implementation of catch 

shares may address some of these 

concerns; and (2) There is concern by 

some stakeholders that more should be 

done to monitor and/or minimize the 

incidental catch of river herrings 

(blueback and alewife) and shads 

(American and hickory) in the MSB 

fisheries, especially given the currently 

low levels of monitoring in the MSB 

fisheries and the likely poor stock status 

of shads and river herrings. 

Related to the above concerns, this 

amendment may address one or more of 

the following issues: (1) The 

implementation of catch share systems 

for the squid fisheries to further refine 

the existing management process; the 

biological and socio-economic outcomes 

of a catch share system and how such 

outcomes depend on specific program 

design features; the possible need for 

changes to existing information 

collection processes if a catch share 

system is implemented; and (2) The 

need for additional fishery monitoring 

in order to determine the significance of 

river herring and shad incidental catch 

in the MSB fisheries; and the 

effectiveness and impacts of possible 

management measures to minimize 

bycatch and/or incidental catch of river 

herrings and shads in the MSB fisheries. 

The Council will first gather 

information during the scoping period. 

This is the first and best opportunity for 

members of the public to raise concerns 

related to the scope of issues that will 

be considered in Amendment 14. The 

Council needs your input both to 

identify management issues and 

develop effective alternatives. Your 

comments early in the amendment 

development process will help us 

address issues of public concern in a 

thorough and appropriate manner. 

Comments can be made during the 

scoping hearings as described above or 

in writing - the written comment period 

will be announced soon. If the Council 

decides to move forward with 

Amendment 14, the Council will 

develop a range of management 

alternatives to be considered and 

prepare a draft Environmental Impact 

Statement (DEIS) to analyze the impacts 

of the management alternatives being 

considered as required by the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). 

Following a review of any comments on 

the DEIS, the Council will then choose 

preferred management measures for 

submission with the Final EIS to the 

Secretary of Commerce for publishing of 

a proposed and then final rule, both of 

which have additional comment 

periods. 

Special Accommodations 

The hearings are physically accessible 

to people with disabilities. Requests for 

sign language interpretation or other 

auxiliary aids should be directed to M. 

Jan Saunders at the Mid-Atlantic 

Council Office, (302) 526–5251, at least 

5 days prior to the meeting date. 

Dated: May 24, 2010. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2010–12776 Filed 5–26–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 


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