[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 6 (Friday, January 9, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1395-1396]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-00147]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XD700


New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

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

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold 
a 3-day meeting on January 27-29, 2015 to consider actions affecting 
New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

DATES: The meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 27, 2015 through 
Thursday, January 29, 2015, starting at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, January 
27; and

[[Page 1396]]

8:30 a.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, January 28 and 29.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Sheraton Harborside Hotel, 
250 Market Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801; telephone: (603) 431-2300; 
fax: (603) 431-7805. For online information see 
www.sheratonportsmouth.com/.
    Council Address: New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water 
Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950; telephone: (978) 465-0492.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas A. Nies, Executive Director, 
New England Fishery Management Council; telephone: (978) 465-0492.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

    The Council meeting will begin with introductions and brief reports 
from the NEFMC Chairman and Executive Director (to include a review and 
approval of an updated version of the Council's Statement of 
Organization, Practices, and Procedures), the NOAA Fisheries Regional 
Administrator, the Northeast Fisheries Science Center and Mid-Atlantic 
Fishery Management Council liaisons, NOAA General Counsel and NOAA Law 
Enforcement, and representatives of the Atlantic States Marine 
Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), U.S. Coast Guard and the Northeast 
Regional Ocean Council. A brief closed session will follow during which 
the Council will approve Scientific and Statistical Committee 
appointments for 2015-17. The Council will then provide an opportunity 
for the public to provide brief comments on items that are relevant to 
Council business but otherwise not listed on the published agenda.
    During the afternoon session, the Council expects to discuss and 
determine an appropriate level of Council participation with ASFMC 
during the development of management measures for the Jonah Crab 
fishery in the EEZ. The Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program 
staff (ACCSP) will provide an overview of its integrated data 
collection and distribution systems that are conducted in partnership 
with NOAA Fisheries, including dealer data collection and vessel trip 
reporting. During the a discussion of measures that will address 
recreational groundfish fishery activities, the Council will discuss 
recommendations for proactive accountability measures for Gulf of Maine 
haddock and Gulf of Maine cod for fishing year 2015. The day will close 
with a report, the Performance of the Northeast Multispecies Groundfish 
Fishery, May 2013-April 2014 to be presented by Northeast Fisheries 
Science Center staff.

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

    The NEFMC Herring Committee will ask the Council to cover several 
issues that will continue until after the lunch break. They are as 
follows: (1) An update on the industry-based river herring bycatch 
avoidance program; (2) an update on the River Herring Technical Expert 
Working Group process, its timeline, and products; (3) a review of the 
NEFMC staff discussion document that addresses considerations related 
to adding river herring and shad as stocks in the Atlantic herring 
fishery; and (4) consideration and possible approval of related Herring 
Committee recommendations. The recommendations address cooperative 
research priorities for any research set-aside that may be allocated in 
2016-18 during the Atlantic herring fishery specifications process; and 
approval of a scoping document for an amendment to the Atlantic Herring 
Fishery Management Plan that will address control rules for the 
Atlantic herring fishery to account for herring's role as forage in the 
ecosystem. During the remainder of the afternoon the Council's Observer 
Policy Committee will request that the Council review and approve a 
Draft Environmental Assessment for an omnibus amendment that could 
establish provisions for industry-funded monitoring (IFM) across all 
federally-managed fisheries in the Northeast. Related recommendations 
provided by the both the Observer Policy and Herring Committees will be 
considered. It is also expected that the Council will select preferred 
alternatives as well as options proposed to address observer coverage 
requirements for Atlantic herring vessels.

Thursday, January 29, 2015

    During the final day of the meeting the Council will focus on three 
reports. During the first, there will be an overview of the 2014 
independent evaluation of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center's 
processes and modeling approaches used to develop stock assessments. 
This will be followed by a briefing on NOAA Fisheries Draft Climate 
Science Strategy. The last will be an update on the annual state of the 
Northeast Continental Shelf ecosystem.
    Although other non-emergency issues not contained in this agenda 
may come before this Council for discussion, those issues may not be 
the subjects of formal action during this meeting. Council action will 
be restricted to those issues specifically listed 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 that 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.

    Dated: January 6, 2015.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-00147 Filed 1-8-15; 8:45 am]
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