80 FR 55338 - New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 178 (September 15, 2015)

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council, NEFMC) will hold a three-day meeting to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 178 (Tuesday, September 15, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55338-55339]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-23107]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


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, NEFMC) 
will hold a three-day meeting to consider actions affecting New England 
fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

DATES: The meeting will be held on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 
September 29-October 1, 2015, starting at 8:30 a.m. on each of the 
meeting days.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Radisson Plymouth Harbor 
Hotel, 180 Water St, Plymouth, MA 02360; telephone: (508) 747-4900; 
fax: (508) 746-2609; or online at www.radisson.com/plymouth-hotel-ma-02360/maplyhar.
    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; phone: (978) 465-0492.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Agenda

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

    After introductions and any announcements, the Council meeting will 
open with the swearing-in of new and reappointed Council members by the 
Regional Administrator of NOAA's Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries 
Office (GARFO). The full Council will then elect its 2015-16 officers 
to be followed by brief reports from the NEFMC Chairman and Executive 
Director, the GARFO Regional Administrator, the Northeast Fisheries 
Science Center and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council liaisons, 
NOAA General Counsel and its Office of Law Enforcement, and 
representatives of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, and 
U.S Coast Guard. Next, the public will have an opportunity to make 
brief comments on items that are relevant to Council business but 
otherwise not listed on the published agenda.
    Following a break at 12 p.m., the NEFMC will receive reports from 
its oversight committees. The Atlantic

[[Page 55339]]

Herring Committee will provide recommendations and the Council will 
take final action on the fishery's 2016-18 specifications. These will 
include an overfishing level (OFL) and acceptable biological catch 
(ABC) based on Scientific and Statistical Committee advice, quotas for 
each of the four Atlantic herring management areas as well as monthly 
quota allocations, research set-asides, and annual gear/area-specific 
catch caps for river herring and shad. The day will conclude with the 
Council's Observer Committee report. This group will ask for approval 
of a Draft Environmental Assessment and draft omnibus amendment that 
would establish provisions for industry-funded monitoring (IFM) across 
all federally-managed fisheries in the Greater Atlantic region and 
address monitoring requirements on Atlantic herring vessels. 
Additionally, the discussion will include consideration of Observer 
Committee and Herring Committee recommendations regarding the inclusion 
of any additional management measures in the action, the selection of 
preferred alternatives, and approval of the Draft Omnibus IFM Amendment 
for public comment.

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

    Wednesday's session will begin with the receipt of recommendations 
from the Council's Scientific and Statistical Committee on a Georges 
Bank yellowtail flounder OFL and ABC for fishing years 2016-17; and an 
ABC recommendation for the species in the Northeast skate complex for 
fishing years 2016-18. Next, a summary of the 2015 Transboundary 
Resources Assessment Committee's recent stock assessments for Eastern 
Georges Bank cod, Eastern Georges Bank haddock, and Georges Bank 
yellowtail flounder will be presented. This will be followed by a 
discussion of and a decision on the Transboundary Management Guidance 
Committee's (TMGC) recommendations for the 2016 quotas for these same 
stocks. The Council may also discuss other TMGC issues. The Council's 
Groundfish Committee report will follow and will contain a number of 
elements: (1) Final Council action on Amendment 18 to the Northeast 
Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP), which focuses on 
accumulation limits and fleet diversity; (2) an update on the 
development of Framework Adjustment 55 to the Northeast Multispecies 
(Groundfish) Plan, which would set specifications for all groundfish 
stocks for fishing years 2016-18, and include the quotas for the three 
U.S./Canada stocks mentioned above for 2016 only; and (3) relative to 
Framework 55, consider including a proposal to establish a new sector 
in the groundfish fishery and possible changes that might streamline 
the current at-sea monitoring program.

Thursday, October 1, 2015

    The final meeting day will begin with a briefing by Dr. Jason Link 
of NOAA Fisheries on the agency's Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management 
Strategy. The Council's Habitat Committee will discuss the possibility 
of initiating a framework adjustment that would allow hydraulic clam 
dredging in some portions of the Great South Channel and the Georges 
Shoal Habitat Management Areas approved by the Council in Omnibus EFH 
Amendment 2 and review the status of and new information associated 
with the development of an Omnibus Deep-Sea Coral Amendment. A 
discussion of management priorities for 2016 will occur just prior to a 
lunch break.
    After the break, the Scallop Committee will ask the Council to 
identify preferred alternatives in Amendment 19 to the Sea Scallop FMP. 
The action is intended to expedite the implementation date of the sea 
scallop fishery specifications each year. An update on the development 
of fishing year 2016 specifications and default measures for fishing 
year 2017 is also scheduled. The Council will spend the remainder of 
the day on its Small Mesh Multispecies Program and the Northeast skate 
complex. During the Small Mesh Program agenda item the Council will: 
(1) Receive a summary of the annual monitoring report for the three 
species in this group, red, silver, and offshore hake, all of which are 
managed via the Groundfish Plan; (2) consider an interim adjustment to 
the fishery specifications for red hake; and (3) review and approve a 
draft scoping document for Amendment 22 to the Groundfish Plan, which 
would address limited access in this fishery. During the skate 
discussion, the Council will receive an update on the status of the 
seven skate species in the complex and recent catches. A decision may 
also be made about initiating a framework adjustment that would allow 
the Skate Committee to take the lead in developing specifications for 
fishing years 2016-17.
    Although other non-emergency issues not contained in this agenda 
may come before this Council for discussion, those issues may not be 
the subject 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: September 10, 2015.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-23107 Filed 9-14-15; 8:45 am]
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