Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 249 / Tuesday, December 30, 2014 / Notices 78403 

Workshop; and (2) a series of 

assessment webinars; and (3) Review 

Workshop. The product of the Data 

Workshop is a report which compiles 

and evaluates potential datasets and 

recommends which datasets are 

appropriate for assessment analyses. 

The product of the Assessment Webinar 

Process is a report which compiles and 

evaluates potential datasets and 

recommends which datasets are 

appropriate for assessment analyses; 

and 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 in the 

Assessment Process webinars are as 

follows: 

1. Using datasets and initial 

assessment analysis recommended from 

the Data Workshop, panelists will 

employ assessment models to evaluate 

stock status, estimate population 

benchmarks and management criteria, 

and project future conditions. 

2. Panelists will recommend the most 

appropriate methods and configurations 

for determining stock status and 

estimating population parameters. 

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 

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 the meeting. 

Note: The times and sequence specified in 

this agenda are subject to change. 

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

Dated: December 22, 2014. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–30281 Filed 12–29–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XD687 

New England Fishery Management 

Council; Public Meeting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; public meeting. 

SUMMARY: The New England Fishery 

Management Council’s (Council) 

Scientific and Statistical Committee 

(SSC) will meet to consider actions 

affecting New England fisheries in the 

exclusive economic zone (EEZ). 

DATES: The meeting will be held on 

Tuesday, January 13, 2015 beginning at 

9:30 a.m. 

ADDRESSES: 

Meeting Address: The meeting will be 

held at the Hilton Providence, 21 

Atwells Ave., Providence, RI 02903. 

Council Address: New England 

Fishery Management Council, 50 Water 

Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Thomas A. Nies, Executive Director, 

New England Fishery Management 

Council; telephone: (978) 465–0492. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Agenda Items 

The New England Fishery 

Management Council’s SSC’s items for 

discussion will be: Planning for ABC 

recommendations needed by the 

Council in 2015; Discuss a process for 

dealing with ABC recommendations 

when recent assessment information is 

not available; Review & schedule the 

SSC meetings calendar for 2015 and 

discuss fishery performance indicators. 

Also on the agenda will be discussion 

about improvements to the SSC process. 

The committee will address other 

business as necessary. 

Although non-emergency issues not 

contained in this agenda may be 

discussed, 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 Council’s intent to take final action 

to address the emergency. 

Special Accommodations 

This meeting is physically accessible 

to people with disabilities. Requests for 

sign language interpretation or other 

auxiliary aids should be directed to 

Thomas A. Nies (see ADDRESSES) at least 

5 days prior to the meeting date. 

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

Dated: December 22, 2014. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–30414 Filed 12–29–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XD676 

South Atlantic Fishery Management 

Council; Public Meetings 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of a public meeting. 

SUMMARY: The South Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council (SAFMC) and Gulf 

of Mexico Fishery Management Council 

(GMFMC) will hold a meeting of their 

Joint Council Committee on South 

Florida Management Issues 

(Committee). 

DATES: The Committee meeting will be 

held from 9 a.m. on Tuesday, January 

13, 2015 until 12 noon on Thursday, 

January 15, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: 

Meeting Address: The meeting will be 

held at the Key West Marriott Beachside 

Hotel, 3841 N. Roosevelt Blvd., Key 

West, FL; phone: (305) 296–8100. 

South Atlantic Fishery Management 

Council Address: South Atlantic Fishery 

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78404 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 249 / Tuesday, December 30, 2014 / Notices 

Management Council, 4055 Faber Place 

Drive, Suite 201, N. Charleston, SC 

29405. 

Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management 

Council Address: 2203 N. Lois Ave., 

Suite 1100, Tampa, FL 33607. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Robert Mahood, Executive Director, 

SAFMC; phone: (843) 571–4366 or toll 

free: (866) SAFMC–10; fax: (843) 769– 

4520; email: Robert.mahood@safmc.net. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Committee will meet from 9 a.m. until 

5 p.m. on January 13–14, 2015 and from 

9 a.m. until 12 noon on January 15, 

2015. The items of discussion are as 

follows: 

The Committee will receive an update 

on the status of draft Amendment 35 to 

the Snapper Grouper Fishery 

Management Plan (FMP) for the South 

Atlantic that includes measures to 

remove black snapper, dog snapper, 

mahogany snapper, and schoolmaster 

from the FMP. The Committee will then 

review the Draft Joint Amendment to 

the FMP for the Reef Fish Resources of 

the Gulf of Mexico and the FMP for the 

Snapper Grouper Resources of the South 

Atlantic Region. The draft amendment 

is being developed by the Committee 

and includes actions to modify both the 

Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish FMP and the 

Snapper Grouper FMP for the South 

Atlantic. The draft amendment includes 

options to: delegate management of 

black grouper, mutton snapper and 

yellowtail snapper to the Florida Fish 

and Wildlife Conservation Commission 

(FWC); specify allocations of mutton 

snapper and black grouper to the State 

of Florida with bycatch allowances for 

other Gulf and South Atlantic states; 

modifications to the bag limit and 

commercial trip limits for mutton 

snapper in the Gulf of Mexico and 

South Atlantic; modify the black 

grouper bag limit and implement a 

recreational spawning season closure; 

specify accountability measures 

specifically for South Florida species 

(yellowtail snapper, mutton snapper 

and black grouper); modify the shallowwater grouper species compositions and 

seasonal closures in the Gulf of Mexico 

and South Atlantic; and options to 

modify the current circle hook 

requirements in the Gulf and South 

Atlantic. 

The Committee will continue to 

review and modify the draft 

amendment. Additional presentations 

will be provided relative to the 

management boundaries and 

responsibility for hogfish, a progress 

report on speckled hind and warsaw 

grouper management, and the status of 

the goliath grouper stock assessment. 

The Committee will discuss these issues 

and provide recommendations. 

Public comment will be accepted at 

the end of each meeting day. Written 

comments will be accepted prior the 

beginning of the Committee meeting and 

should be mailed to Robert Mahood, 

South Atlantic Fishery Management 

Council, 4055 Faber Place Drive, Suite 

201, N. Charleston, SC 29406 or emailed 

to mike.collins@safmc.net. Briefing 

materials will be posted on both the 

SAFMC Web site at www.safmc.net and 

the GMFMC Web site at 

www.gulfcouncil.org by January 7, 2015. 

Documents regarding these issues are 

available from the Council office (see 

ADDRESSES). 

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 Council’s intent to take 

final action to address the emergency. 

Special Accommodations 

These meetings are physically 

accessible to people with disabilities. 

Requests for auxiliary aids should be 

directed to the council office (see 

ADDRESSES) 3 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: December 22, 2014. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–30280 Filed 12–29–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XD613 

Marine Mammals; Issuance of Permits 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; issuance of permits. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

individuals and institutions have been 

issued Letters of Confirmation for 

activities conducted under the General 

Authorization for Scientific Research on 

marine mammals. See SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION for a list of names and 

addresses of recipients. 

ADDRESSES: The Letters of Confirmation 

and related documents are available for 

review upon written request or by 

appointment in the Permits and 

Conservation Division, Office of 

Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 EastWest Highway, Room 13705, Silver 

Spring, MD 20910; phone: (301) 427– 

8401; fax: (301) 713–0376. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Office of Protected Resources, Permits 

and Conservation Division; phone: (301) 

427–8401. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

requested Letters of Confirmation have 

been issued under the authority of the 

Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, 

as amended (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.), and 

the regulations governing the taking and 

importing of marine mammals (50 CFR 

part 216). The General Authorization 

allows for bona fide scientific research 

that may result only in taking by level 

B harassment of marine mammals. The 

following Letters of Confirmation (LOC) 

were issued in Fiscal Year 2014. 

File No. 13549: Issued to Moby A. 

Solangi, Ph.D., Institute for Marine 

Mammal Studies, P.O. Box 207, 

Gulfport, Mississippi 39502 on August 

20, 2008, for transect surveys, aerial 

surveys, photo-identification, and 

behavioral observations of bottlenose 

dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in 

estuaries of the Gulf of Mexico. The 

LOC was modified on October 31, 2013 

to extend the duration of the LOC until 

December 20, 2013. This LOC was 

terminated on November 20, 2013, 

when a new LOC (File No. 18185) was 

issued to Dr. Solangi. 

File No. 18185: Issued to Moby A. 

Solangi, Ph.D., Institute for Marine 

Mammal Studies, P.O. Box 207, 

Gulfport, Mississippi 39502 on 

November 20, 2013, for close approach 

via vessels during abundance surveys, 

photo-identification, behavioral 

observations, passive acoustics, and 

videography of bottlenose dolphins. The 

objectives of the research are to: (1) 

Ascertain population dynamics of 

bottlenose dolphins in the northern Gulf 

of Mexico, and (2) examine the 

dolphins’ usage of different habitats, 

including lakes, bays, and sounds. 

Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella 

frontalis), pantropical spotted dolphins 

(S. attenuata), spinner dolphins (S. 

longirostris), and pygmy sperm whales 

(Kogia breviceps) may also be studied if 

sighted opportunistically. Occasional 

aerial surveys flown at 750 ft are also 

authorized. Research may occur in 

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