Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 179 / Monday, September 15, 2008 / Notices 53195 

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 includes 

three workshops: (1) Data Workshop, (2) 

Stock Assessment Workshop 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 Stock 

Assessment Workshop 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 Consensus 

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 and 

Southeast Fisheries Science Center. 

Participants include data collectors and 

database managers; stock assessment 

scientists, biologists, and researchers; 

constituency representatives including 

fishermen, environmentalists, and 

NGO’s; International experts; and staff 

of Councils, Commissions, and state and 

federal agencies. 

Each SEDAR workshop panel is asked 

to provide research and monitoring 

recommendations to improve future 

assessments and feedback on the 

process to help improve SEDAR itself. 

Over time, certain key topics emerge 

that reveal a research need or 

procedural suggestion that is common to 

multiple assessments. The SEDAR 

Steering Committee endorses procedural 

workshops such as that noticed here to 

address those issues that affect multiple 

assessments and require more time and 

resources to resolve than are typically 

available during the normal assessment 

development process. The goal of these 

workshops is to develop guidelines and 

practices that will increase the 

efficiency of subsequent SEDAR 

assessments. 

Although non-emergency issues not 

contained in this agenda may come 

before these groups 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 

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 

These meetings are physically 

accessible to people with disabilities. 

Requests for sign language 

interpretation or other auxiliary aids 

should be directed to the Council office 

(see ADDRESSES) at least 10 business 

days prior to each workshop. 

Dated: September 10, 2008. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E8–21469 Filed 9–12–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XK51 

Fisheries of the South Atlantic and 

Gulf of Mexico; SEDAR; Public 

Meetings 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of Southeastern Data, 

Assessment, and Review (SEDAR) 

Procedural Workshop on Catchability. 

SUMMARY: Due to a paucity of fisheryindependent monitoring information, 

stock assessments of Southeastern 

fisheries resources conducted through 

SEDAR rely heavily on evaluating 

fishery-dependent data sources to detect 

population abundance signals. Recently, 

assessment methods were developed 

that allowed for relaxation of the 

constant catchability assumption 

typically used when analyzing fishery 

dependent catch per unit effort 

information. While both assessment 

scientists and participating constituent 

representatives agree it is highly 

unlikely that catchability has remained 

constant, agreeing on the specifics that 

allow incorporating catchability changes 

remains a challenge. 

SEDAR will convene a workshop 

including representatives from Federal 

and state agencies, non-governmental 

organizations, Council technical and 

constituent advisors, and university 

researchers to evaluate catchability 

issues. Participants will review 

information addressing catchability 

changes, develop recommendations for 

incorporating catchability changes in 

SEDAR assessments, and recommend 

criteria for consideration when 

developing catchability profiles for 

individual species or fisheries. 

Participants will prepare a SEDAR 

procedures document addressing their 

recommendations that will be used to 

guide future SEDAR assessments. 

DATES: The SEDAR Catchability 

Procedural Workshop will take place 

November 17–20, 2008; SEDAR 

Catchability Procedural Workshop 

Schedule: November 17, 2008: 1 p.m. - 

8 p.m.; November 18–19, 2008: 8 a.m. - 

8 p.m.; November 20, 2008: 8 a.m. - 4 

p.m. 

ADDRESSES: The SEDAR Catchability 

Procedural Workshop will be held at the 

Doubletree Atlanta Buckhead, 3342 

Peachtree Road, NE, Atlanta, GA 30326; 

telephone: (800) 222–8733. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julie 

Neer, SEDAR Coordinator, 4055 Faber 

Place Drive, Suite 201, North 

Charleston, SC 29405; telephone: (843) 

571–4366. 

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 includes 

three workshops: (1) Data Workshop, (2) 

Stock Assessment Workshop 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 Stock 

Assessment Workshop 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 Consensus 

Summary documenting Panel opinions 

regarding the strengths and weaknesses 

of the stock assessment and input data. 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES

53196 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 179 / Monday, September 15, 2008 / Notices 

Participants for SEDAR Workshops are 

appointed by the Gulf of Mexico, South 

Atlantic, and Caribbean Fishery 

Management Councils and NOAA 

Fisheries Southeast Regional Office 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 (NGO’s); 

International experts; and staff of 

Councils, Commissions, and state and 

federal agencies. 

Each SEDAR workshop panel is asked 

to provide research and monitoring 

recommendations to improve future 

assessments and feedback on the 

process to help improve SEDAR itself. 

Over time, certain key topics emerge 

that reveal a research need or 

procedural suggestion that is common to 

multiple assessments. The SEDAR 

Steering Committee endorses procedural 

workshops such as that noticed here to 

address those issues that affect multiple 

assessments and require more time and 

resources to resolve than are typically 

available during the normal assessment 

development process. The goal of these 

workshops is to develop guidelines and 

practices that will increase the 

efficiency of subsequent SEDAR 

assessments. 

Although non-emergency issues not 

contained in this agenda may come 

before these groups 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 

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 

These meetings are physically 

accessible to people with disabilities. 

Requests for sign language 

interpretation or other auxiliary aids 

should be directed to the Council office 

(see ADDRESSES) at least 10 business 

days prior to each workshop. 

Dated: September 10, 2008. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E8–21470 Filed 9–12–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XK52 

Fisheries of the South Atlantic and 

Gulf of Mexico; SEDAR; Public 

Meetings 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of Southeastern Data, 

Assessment, and Review (SEDAR) 

Procedural workshop - Caribbean Data 

Evaluation. 

SUMMARY: The Council-Federal 

cooperative SEDAR process provides 

stock assessments for fisheries resources 

of the Southeast Region. Assessment 

priorities are typically established by 

management need or perceptions of 

management or population problems, 

and often do not consider data 

availability. As a result, despite several 

attempts by SEDAR, no acceptable 

quantitative assessments have been 

developed for Caribbean stocks because 

data to support traditional stock 

assessment methods simply do not 

exist. It is clear that alternative methods 

need to be developed that will allow 

assessing Caribbean fisheries resources 

in a manner that will withstand 

independent peer review. Identifying 

and evaluating available data sources 

across all managed species is a strong 

first step that is consistent with peer 

review and assessment report 

recommendations. 

SEDAR will convene a workshop 

including representatives from Federal 

agencies, territorial governments, nongovernmental organizations, Council 

technical and constituent advisors, and 

university researchers. Participants will 

catalog and evaluate basic data, address 

alternative assessment methods that will 

accommodate the available data, and 

recommend assessment priorities that 

are consistent with available data and 

methods. 

DATES: The SEDAR Caribbean Data 

Evaluation Workshop will take place 

January 26–29, 2009; SEDAR 

Catchability Procedural Workshop 

Schedule: January 26, 2009: 1 p.m. - 8 

p.m.; January 27–28, 2009: 8 a.m. - 8 

p.m.; January 29, 2009: 8 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

ADDRESSES: The SEDAR Caribbean Data 

Evaluation Workshop will be held at the 

Hotel El Convento, 100 Cristo Street, 

Old San Juan, Puerto Rico 00901; 

telephone: (787) 723–9036. 

Council address: South Atlantic 

Fishery Management Council, 4055 

Faber Place Drive, Suite 201, North 

Charleston, SC 29405. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julie 

Neer, SEDAR Coordinator, 4055 Faber 

Place Drive, Suite 201, North 

Charleston, SC 29405; telephone: (843) 

571–4366. 

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 SEDAR process, 

a multi-step method for determining the 

status of fish stocks in the Southeast 

Region. SEDAR includes three 

workshops: (1) Data Workshop, (2) 

Stock Assessment Workshop 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 Stock 

Assessment Workshop 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 Consensus 

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 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 (NGO’s); 

International experts; and staff of 

Councils, Commissions, and state and 

federal agencies. 

Each SEDAR workshop panel is asked 

to provide research and monitoring 

recommendations to improve future 

assessments and feedback on the 

process to help improve SEDAR itself. 

Over time, certain key topics emerge 

that reveal a research need or 

procedural suggestion that is common to 

multiple assessments. The SEDAR 

Steering Committee endorses procedural 

workshops such as that noticed here to 

address those issues that affect multiple 

assessments and require more time and 

resources to resolve than are typically 

available during the normal assessment 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES