Notice2022-19235
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 7, 2022
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
The New England Fishery Management Council (Council, NEFMC) will hold a four-day hybrid meeting with both in-person and remote participation to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The Council continues to follow all public safety measures related to COVID-19 and intends to do so for this meeting.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 172 (Wednesday, September 7, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 172 (Wednesday, September 7, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54675-54677]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-19235]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XC333]
New England 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 New England Fishery Management Council (Council, NEFMC)
will hold a four-day hybrid meeting with both in-person and remote
participation to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in
the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The Council continues to follow all
public safety measures related to COVID-19 and intends to do so for
this meeting.
[[Page 54676]]
DATES: The meeting will be held on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and
Thursday, September 26, 27, 28, and 29, 2022, beginning at 1 p.m. on
Monday, 9 a.m. on Tuesday, 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, and 9 a.m. on
Thursday.
ADDRESSES:
Meeting address: The meeting will be held at the Beauport Hotel, 55
Commercial Street, Gloucester, MA 01930; telephone (978) 282-0008;
online at <a href="https://www.beauporthotel.com">https://www.beauporthotel.com</a>. Join the webinar at <a href="https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7374448002191175695">https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7374448002191175695</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
Monday, September 26, 2022
After brief announcements, the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries
Office (GARFO) Regional Administrator will swear in new and reappointed
Council members. Then, the Council will hold its annual election of
officers before receiving reports on recent activities from its Chair
and Executive Director, the GARFO 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 Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO), the
NMFS Highly Migratory Species Advisory Panel, and the South Atlantic
Council's Dolphin/Wahoo Committee. Next, the Council will receive a
report on the Northeast Trawl Advisory Panel's (NTAP) recent meetings.
As the last item of business for the day, the Council will engage in a
discussion on East Coast Climate Change Scenario Planning. The Council
will examine the four scenarios developed during a June workshop and
two August deepening webinars before discussing next steps for
developing Council recommendations to inform the 2023 summit for this
initiative.
Tuesday, September 27, 2022
The Council will begin the second day of its meeting with a NOAA
presentation on the revised management plan for the Stellwagen Bank
National Marine Sanctuary. Next, the Council will receive information
on the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument
entailing a GARFO update and consult with the Council on: (1) the NOAA
Fisheries process for drafting regulatory actions to formally close
fishing within the boundaries of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts
Marine National Monument; and (2) the updated timeline for U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service/NMFS public scoping sessions for the draft
Monument Management Plan. The Council then will address the proposed
Hudson Canyon National Marine Sanctuary and discuss: (1) the NOAA
scoping process to consider designating a national marine sanctuary in
the Hudson Canyon area; (2) a NOAA letter seeking input on Council
involvement in preparing draft regulations for the proposed sanctuary;
and (3) next steps for developing a response. Following the conclusion
of these items, the Council will receive a presentation on the Scallop
Survey Working Group's final report.
After the lunch break, the Council will continue with the Scallop
Committee report and cover two items. First, the Council will receive
an update on Framework Adjustment 36 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop
Fishery Management Plan (FMP) entailing: (1) a preliminary overview of
2022 surveys; and (2) a progress report on work being done to develop
specifications for the 2023 fishing year, default specifications for
the 2024 fishing year, and other measures. The Council then will devote
the remainder of the day to discussing issues related to scallop
leasing. The Council first will receive a summary of all oral and
written comments collected during the scoping process for this issue
and then decide whether to take the next step and initiate an amendment
to the Scallop FMP to further consider leasing alternatives for the
limited access component of the fishery. At the conclusion of this
discussion, the Council will adjourn for the day.
Wednesday, September 28, 2022
The Council will lead off the third day of its meeting in closed
session to discuss internal administrative matters regarding policies
for preventing harassment of Council staff and all other Council
process participants. Once the Council enters into the open session of
the meeting, it first will receive a presentation from the Northeast
Fisheries Science Center on the peer reviewed results from the Atlantic
Herring and Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic Winter Flounder
Management Track Stock Assessments. This will be followed by another
NEFSC presentation on the peer reviewed results for the American Plaice
Research Track Assessment. Next, the Council will receive a
backgrounder by staff on the Transboundary Management Guidance
Committee (TMGC) and the process used for managing shared U.S./Canada
resources on Georges Bank. The U.S. Co-Chair of the Transboundary
Resources Assessment Committee (TRAC) will provide a presentation on
2022 assessments results and related updates for Eastern Georges Bank
cod, Eastern Georges Bank haddock, and Georges Bank yellowtail
flounder. The Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) Chair will
provide: (1) the SSC's recommendations on the overfishing limits (OFLs)
and acceptable biological catches (ABCs) for Georges Bank yellowtail
flounder for fishing years 2023 and 2024; (2) input on Gulf of Maine
cod rebuilding approaches; (3) recommendations on Georges Bank cod ABCs
for 2023 and 2024; and (4) OFLs and ABCs for Southern New England/Mid-
Atlantic winter flounder for 2023, 2024, and 2025. The Council then
will review and approve the TMGC's recommendations for 2023-24 total
allowable catches (TACs) for shared U.S./Canada resources on Georges
Bank.
Following the lunch break, the Council will take up the Groundfish
Committee report, which will cover progress on Framework Adjustment 65
to the Groundfish FMP. The framework includes: (1) 2023-24 TACs for
U.S./Canada shared resources on Georges Bank; (2) 2023-24
specifications for Georges Bank cod and Georges Bank yellowtail
flounder; (3) 2023-25 specifications for 14 additional groundfish
stocks; (4) revised rebuilding plans for Gulf of Maine cod and Southern
New England/Mid-Atlantic winter flounder; (5) additional measures to
promote stock rebuilding; and (6) groundfish ABC control rule
revisions. The Council then will hear the Atlantic Herring Committee
report. First, the Council will receive the SSC's recommendations for
OFLs and ABCs for Atlantic herring for fishing years 2023, 2024, and
2025 before taking final action on 2023-25 specifications for the
fishery. Second, the Council will discuss Framework Adjustment 7 to the
Atlantic Herring FMP, which was initiated to develop measures to
protect adult spawning herring on Georges
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Bank. The Council may consider a change in its herring priorities to
discontinue work on this action. Following herring, the Council will
take up the Habitat Committee report, which will cover four items: (1)
a discussion and possible initiation of a framework adjustment to
facilitate offshore Atlantic salmon aquaculture; (2) a GAFRO update on
the three-year review of the Dedicated Habitat Research Areas (DHRAs)
contained in the Council's Omnibus Essential Fish Habitat Amendment 2;
(3) a discussion of the utility of an exempted fishing permit study for
management of fishing gear impacts in the Great South Channel Habitat
Management Area; and (4) offshore energy and habitat-related work
updates, including a Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Gulf of Maine
wind update, as well as progress reports on other work. The Council
then will adjourn for the day.
Thursday, September 29, 2022
The Council will lead off the fourth day of its meeting with a
presentation from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center's Fishery
Monitoring and Research Division. The report will cover: (1) the status
of ongoing responsibilities within the division; (2) updates on at-sea
monitoring and observer program activities, funding status, and
coverage rates; and (3) a cooperative research update. The Council then
will cover two monkfish items. First, it will receive a presentation on
the final Monkfish Fishery Performance Report. This will be followed by
a progress report on Framework Adjustment 13 to the Monkfish FMP, which
contains 2023-25 fishery specifications and other measures. The Council
then will take up the Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management (EBFM)
Committee report, which will include updates on: (1) planning for EBFM
informational outreach workshops; (2) contractor work to develop and
conduct a prototype management strategy evaluation (MSE) for EBFM and
the Georges Bank example Fishery Ecosystem Plan (eFEP); and (3)
discussions with NOAA Fisheries on National Standard 1's application to
the Council's eFEP catch management framework. The Council then will
receive the 2022 Northeast Skate Complex Annual Monitoring Report
covering the 2021 skate fishing year, as well as an overview of the
Skate Plan Development Team's work to improve methods for catch
accounting, specification setting, and in-season quota monitoring.
Following 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 both in person and 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>. Next, NMFS will provide
a presentation on proposed regulatory changes to reduce vessel strikes
to North Atlantic right whales, and the Council will have an
opportunity to provide comments. The Northeast Fisheries Science Center
will provide a presentation on the ``Draft Ropeless Fishing Roadmap: A
Strategy to Develop On-Demand Fishing,'' which is intended to help
reduce the risk of right whale entanglements with fishing gear. The
Council will have an opportunity to provide feedback. The next
presentation will be on NOAA's National Saltwater Recreational
Fisheries Policy. The Council will consider whether to submit comments
on this updated policy. The Council then will hold its initial
discussion on 2023 Council Priorities before closing out the meeting
with other business.
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 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: August 31, 2022.
Rey Israel Marquez,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-19235 Filed 9-6-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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