Notice2021-19485
New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
September 8, 2021
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
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). Due to ongoing public safety considerations related to COVID-19, this meeting will be conducted entirely by webinar.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 171 (Wednesday, September 8, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 171 (Wednesday, September 8, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50328-50330]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-19485]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XB408]
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). Due to ongoing public
safety considerations related to COVID-19, this meeting will be
conducted entirely by webinar.
DATES: The webinar meeting will be held on Tuesday, Wednesday, and
Thursday, September 28, 29, and 30, 2021, beginning at 9 a.m. each day.
ADDRESSES: All meeting participants and interested parties can register
to join the webinar at <a href="https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/6852048029928028172">https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/6852048029928028172</a>.
Council address: New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water
Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950; telephone (978) 465-0492;
<a href="http://www.nefmc.org">www.nefmc.org</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas A. Nies, Executive Director,
New England Fishery Management Council; telephone: (978) 465-0492, ext.
113.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Agenda
Tuesday, September 28, 2021
After introductions and brief announcements, NMFS's Regional
Administrator for the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office
(GARFO) will swear in new and reappointed Council members. The Council
then will conduct its 2021-22 election of officers.
[[Page 50329]]
Reports on recent activities will be next. The Council will hear from
its Chairman and Executive Director, GARFO's Regional Administrator,
the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) Director, the NOAA
Office of General Counsel, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council
liaison, staff from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
(ASMFC), and representatives from the U.S. Coast Guard, NOAA's Office
of Law Enforcement, the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, and
NMFS's Highly Migratory Species Advisory Panel. Next, the Council will
receive an overview of H.R 4690, ``Sustaining America's Fisheries for
the Future Act of 2021,'' which is a bill to reauthorize the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The Council will
discuss the bill and approve comments.
Following the lunch break, the Council will receive a presentation
from GARFO on two actions under the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction
Plan. These will cover: (1) The Phase 1 final rule for Northeast
lobster and Jonah crab trap/pot fisheries; and (2) Phase 2 scoping on
potential measures for U.S. gillnet and other trap/pot fisheries to
reduce entanglements of North Atlantic right whales, humpback whales,
and fin whales with commercial fishing gear. The Council will discuss
Phase 2 and provide input on scoping comments. Next, the Council will
discuss and take final action on Framework Adjustment 9 to the Atlantic
Herring Fishery Management Plan (FMP). This framework includes a
rebuilding plan to address the overfished status of Atlantic herring,
and it contains adjustments to herring accountability measures. As the
final order of business for the day, the Council will receive an
overview of NMFS's National Standard 1 Draft Technical Guidance Memo on
managing with annual catch limits (ACLs) for data-limited stocks in
federal fishery management plans. Following discussion, the Council
will approve comments on the draft memo.
Wednesday, September 29, 2021
The Council will start off the day with a report on the 43rd annual
meeting of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO). Then,
the Council will receive a presentation from the Scientific and
Statistical Committee's (SSC) Social Science Subpanel on its review of
socioeconomic information in Groundfish Framework Adjustment 59 and
Scallop Framework Adjustment 32. The Council will discuss the results
of this review. The Scallop Committee Report will be next. The Council
will receive a summary of 2021 scallop survey results and a progress
report on Framework Adjustment 34 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop FMP,
which includes 2022 fishery specifications, 2023 default
specifications, and measures that will be made available soon under
Amendment 21 to the FMP. Additionally, the Council will receive: (1) A
progress report on work being done to evaluate the scallop fishery's
rotational area management program; and (2) an update on the Scallop
Survey Working Group's activities. The Council then will transition
into groundfish issues, beginning with a report from the Transboundary
Resources Assessment Committee (TRAC) on the TRAC's 2021 assessment
results and updates for shared U.S./Canada resources, which include
Eastern Georges Bank cod, Eastern Georges Bank haddock, and Georges
Bank yellowtail flounder. The Council then will hear the SSC's
recommendations on overfishing limits (OFLs) and acceptable biological
catches (ABCs) for Georges Bank yellowtail flounder for fishing years
2022 and 2023. This will be followed by the Transboundary Management
Guidance Committee's recommendations for 2022 total allowable catches
(TACs) for shared U.S./Canada resources on Georges Bank. The Council
will review and approve the recommendations.
Following the lunch break, the Council will receive the Groundfish
Committee Report, which will cover two items. The first will be a
progress report on Framework Adjustment 63 to the Northeast
Multispecies (Groundfish) FMP, which includes (1) 2022 TACs for U.S./
Canada shared resources on Georges Bank; (2) 2022-23 specifications for
Georges Bank yellowtail flounder; (3) 2022-24 specifications for
Georges Bank cod and Gulf of Maine cod; (4) possible adjustment of 2022
specifications for Georges Bank and Gulf of Maine haddock; (5)
adjustment of 2022 specifications for white hake based on a rebuilding
plan; (6) additional measures to promote stock rebuilding; and (7)
alternatives for setting groundfish default specifications. The second
groundfish item pertains to the recent series of Atlantic Cod Stock
Structure Workshops. The Council will consider measures that can be
adopted regardless of outcomes from the next stock assessments for
Atlantic cod. Then, the Council will receive the Skate Committee
Report, starting with the SSC's overfishing limit and acceptable
biological catch recommendations for the 2022-23 fishing years. The
Council will take final action on 2022-23 skate specifications.
Following this discussion, the Council will receive an update on recent
meetings of the Northeast Trawl Advisory Panel (NTAP). The Council will
review and approve a revised NTAP charter. After that, the Council will
adjourn for the day.
Thursday, September 30, 2021
The Council will begin the third day of its meeting with a report
from its Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management (EBFM) Committee, which
will include updates on: (1) EBFM public information workshops; (2)
National Standard 1 issues related to potentially managing catches by
stock complex rather than as individual stocks; and (3) a potential
committee recommendation for an example EBFM Management Strategy
Evaluation exercise. The Habitat Committee Report will follow. The
Council will receive updates on: (1) Recent Council comments to federal
agencies on offshore wind projects and other issues; (2) upcoming
comment opportunities; and (3) other habitat-related work. The Monkfish
Committee then will report on its discussion of analyses of discard
estimation methods and potential next steps resulting from this work.
Next, the Northeast Fisheries Science Center will provide a
presentation on the peer review of the June 2021 Management Track Stock
Assessments for black sea bass, scup, Atlantic mackerel, and golden
tilefish. This will be followed by the Whiting Committee Report, which
will include an overview of the committee's discussion on the 2020
Annual Monitoring Report and follow-up on whether management
adjustments are needed.
After the lunch break, members of the public will have the
opportunity to speak during an open comment period on issues that
relate to Council business but are not included on the published agenda
for this meeting. The Council asks the public to limit remarks to 3-5
minutes. These comments will be received through the webinar. A guide
for how to publicly comment through the webinar is available on the
Council website at <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/nefmc.org/NEFMC-meeting-remote-participation_generic.pdf">https://s3.amazonaws.com/nefmc.org/NEFMC-meeting-remote-participation_generic.pdf</a>. Following the public comment period,
the Council will begin its initial discussion on 2022 Council
Priorities for all fishery management plans and other Council
responsibilities. Final action on 2022 priorities will take place
during the Council's December 2021 meeting. After this discussion, the
Council will close out the meeting with other business.
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Although non-emergency issues not contained on this agenda may come
before the 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 Fishery Conservation and
Management Act, provided the public has been notified of the Council's
intent to take final action to address the emergency. The public also
should be aware that the meeting will be recorded. Consistent with 16
U.S.C. 1852, a copy of the recording is available upon request.
Special Accommodations
This meeting is being conducted entirely by webinar. Requests for
auxiliary aids should be directed to Thomas A. Nies (see ADDRESSES) at
least 5 days prior to the meeting date.
Dated: September 3, 2021.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-19485 Filed 9-7-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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