81 FR 67296 - Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 190 (September 30, 2016)

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold a four-day meeting to consider actions affecting the Gulf of Mexico fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 190 (Friday, September 30, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67296-67297]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-23699]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XE921


Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

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

ACTION: Notice of a public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) will 
hold a four-day meeting to consider actions affecting the Gulf of 
Mexico fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

DATES: The meeting will take place on Monday, October 17 through 
Thursday, October 20, 2016.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the IP Casino hotel, located at 
850 Bayview Avenue, Biloxi, MS 39530; telephone: (228) 436-3000.
    Council address: Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, 2203 N. 
Lois Avenue, Suite 1100, Tampa, FL 33607; telephone: (813) 348-1630.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Douglas Gregory, Executive Director, 
Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council; telephone: (813) 348-1630.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Agenda

Monday, October 17, 2016; 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

    The Full Council will be convened to a review and adopt the 
proposed 2016-17 Council Committee Roster. The Data Collection 
Management Committee will receive a presentation on National Fish and 
Wildlife Foundation's (NFWF) For-Hire Pilot Program; and For-hire 
reporting Requirements; Cost analysis and Reporting Requirements of 
Commercial Electronic Reporting Program. After lunch, the Shrimp 
Management Committee will receive an update on NMFS Turtle Excluder 
Devise (TED) Rule; Risk Assessment for Threshold Permit Numbers 
Relative to Sea Turtle Incidental Take Constraints; and review of 
Revised Options paper for Shrimp Amendment 17B. The Administrative/
Budget Committee will review the State, Federal and Council Annual 
Leave Policies. The Mackerel Management Committee will review a Public 
Hearing Draft for CMP Amendment 29: Allocation Sharing and 
Accountability for Gulf King Mackerel; review Final Action--CMP 
Framework Amendment 5: Modifications to Pelagic Commercial Permit 
Restrictions in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic; and Final Action on 
CMP Amendment 30: Atlantic Cobia Recreational Fishing Year. The Full 
Council in a CLOSED SESSION (approximately 4:45 p.m.-5:45 p.m.) will 
review and select appointments for the Ad Hoc Private Recreational 
Advisory Panel (AP).

Tuesday, October 18, 2016; 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

    The Reef Fish Management Committee will review the proposed 
regulations on the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary; SEDAR 
47 Goliath Grouper Benchmark Assessment; Draft Framework Action on 
Mutton Snapper ACL and Management Measures and Gag Commercial Size 
Limit. Review Draft Amendment 42: Reef Fish Recreational Management for 
Headboat Survey Vessels; and, Final Action--Referendum Requirements for 
Amendment 42. Review the preliminary 2016 Red Snapper For-hire Landings 
Relative to Acceptable Catch Target (ACT); review Draft Amendment 46--
Gray Triggerfish Rebuilding Plan and Draft Amendment 41--Red Snapper 
Management for Federally Permitted Charter Vessels.

Wednesday, October 19, 2016; 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

    The Reef Fish Management Committee will review draft Amendment 
36A--Modifications to Commercial Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) 
programs; and receive a summary on the Standing and Special Reef Fish 
Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) and Reef Fish Advisory Panel 
meetings. The Joint Coral/Habitat Committee will review the Final Draft 
of 5-year EFH Review and scoping document for Coral Habitat Areas of 
Particular Concern (HAPCs). The Law Enforcement Committee will review 
and approve the Law Enforcement Operations and Strategic Plans; and 
receive a summary from the Law Enforcement Technical Committee meeting.
    The Full Council will convene after lunch (approximately 1 p.m.) 
with Call to Order, Announcements, and Introductions; and review of 
Exempt Fishing Permit (EFPs) Applications, if any. The Council will 
receive presentations on Draft Highly Migratory Species (HMS) 
Amendments 5b and 10; Climate Vulnerability Analysis for Gulf Managed 
Stocks; Mississippi Law Enforcement Efforts; and NMFS-SERO Landing 
Summaries. The Council will receive public testimony from 2:45 p.m. 
until 5:30 p.m. on Agenda Testimony items: Final Action on Framework 
Action 5: To Remove the Prohibition on Retaining the Recreational King 
Mackerel Bag Limit with Commercial King Mackerel Permit; Final Action 
on Referendum Requirements for Reef Fish Amendment 42--Reef Fish 
Management for Headboat Survey Vessels; on proposed fishing regulations 
on the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary; and Final Action 
on CMP Amendment 30: Atlantic Cobia Recreational Fishing Year; and, 
hold an open public testimony period regarding any other fishery issues 
or concern. Anyone wishing to speak during public comment should sign 
in at the registration station located at the entrance to the meeting 
room.

Thursday, October 20, 2016; 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

    The Full Council will receive committee reports from Data 
Collection, Mackerel, Shrimp and the Administrative/Budget Management 
Committees. The Full Council will receive the Closed Session Report on 
Ad Hoc Private Recreational Angler AP Membership and Discuss the Charge 
of the AP. The Council will continue to receive committee reports from 
Law Enforcement, Reef Fish and Joint Coral/Habitat Management 
Committees; and, vote on Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) applications, if 
any. The Council will receive updates from supporting agencies: South 
Atlantic Fishery Management Council; Gulf States

[[Page 67297]]

Marine Fisheries Commission; U.S. Coast Guard; U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service; and, the Department of State.
    Lastly, the Council will discuss any Other Business items.

--Meeting Adjourns--

    The timing and order in which agenda items are addressed may change 
as required to effectively address the issue. The latest version will 
be posted on the Council's file server, which can be accessed by going 
to the Council's Web site at http://www.gulfcouncil.org and clicking on 
FTP Server under Quick Links. For meeting materials, select the 
``Briefing Books/Briefing Book 2016-10'' folder on Gulf Council file 
server. The username and password are both ``gulfguest''. The meetings 
will be webcast over the internet. A link to the webcast will be 
available on the Council's Web site, http://www.gulfcouncil.org.
    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 Kathy Pereira (see ADDRESSES) at least 5 days 
prior to the meeting date.

    Dated: September 27, 2016.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-23699 Filed 9-29-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P