Notice2023-12276
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
June 8, 2023
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
The New England Fishery Management Council (Council, NEFMC) will hold a 3-day in-person meeting with an option for 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 88 Issue 110 (Thursday, June 8, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 110 (Thursday, June 8, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37517-37518]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-12276]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XD077]
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 3-day in-person meeting with an option for 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.
DATES: The meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 27, 2023 through
Thursday, June 29, 2023, beginning at 9 a.m. each day.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn, 5 Park
Street, Freeport, ME 04032; telephone: (207) 865-1433; online at
<a href="https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/pwmfdgi-hilton-garden-inn-freeport-downtown/">https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/pwmfdgi-hilton-garden-inn-freeport-downtown/</a>. Join the webinar at <a href="https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2165734872346457438">https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2165734872346457438</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, June 27, 2023
The Council will begin this meeting with brief announcements,
followed by reports on recent activities from the Council's Chair and
Executive Director, the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office
(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 and NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement. Next, the Council
will receive a presentation on the final report of the Council
Coordination Committee's Subcommittee on Area-Based Management. The
Skate Committee report will follow with two items: (1) a progress
report on the development of 2024-2025 skate specifications and
potential initiation of a framework adjustment to include measures to
expand possession of smooth and barndoor skates; and (2) a presentation
on and Council discussion of a final white paper containing potential
approaches to support thorny skate rebuilding. Then, 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>.
After the lunch break, the Council will take up the Atlantic
Herring Committee report and approve a problem statement for action to
revisit the inshore midwater trawl exclusion zone contained in Herring
Amendment 8. The Council also will consider a potential change in
priorities to identify time/area closure options to reduce bycatch of
river herring and shad in midwater trawl and small-mesh bottom trawl
fisheries. Next on the agenda is a presentation on a NOAA Fisheries
comment opportunity under an advance notice of proposed rulemaking
(ANPR) for updating National Standard Guidelines 4, 8, and 9. The
Council will receive input on the draft guidelines from its Scientific
and Statistical Committee (SSC) and staff before formulating its own
comments. The Council then will receive a brief overview of NOAA's
Technical Guidance for National Standard 1 Reference Points and Status
Determinations. The Council will discuss which process it prefers to
use to develop comments on the technical guidance. The Council then
will adjourn for the day.
Wednesday, June 28, 2023
The Council will begin the second day of its meeting with a
presentation on the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office and
Northeast Fisheries Science Center draft strategic plan. The Groundfish
Committee report will come next. The Council will initiate Framework
Adjustment 66, which may include: (1) 2024-26 specifications for
redfish, northern windowpane flounder, and southern windowpane
flounder, (2) 2024-25 specifications for white hake and U.S./Canada
resources of Eastern Georges Bank cod, Eastern Georges Bank haddock,
and Georges Bank yellowtail flounder, (3) a revised white hake
rebuilding plan, and (4) Atlantic halibut management measures. The
Council also will consider a potential change in priorities to revise
Gulf of Maine haddock specifications for 2024 and 2025 in Framework 66.
The Council will initiate a separate framework adjustment to revise
acceptable biological catch (ABC) control rules for groundfish and
receive Scientific and Statistical Committee feedback on control rule
options. Finally, the Council will receive an update on its Atlantic
Cod Management Transition Plan. Next up will be the Monkfish Research
Set-Aside (RSA) Program Working Group, which will provide a progress
report on a Council work
[[Page 37518]]
priority to review and improve the Monkfish RSA program.
After the lunch break, the Council will receive an update on a
joint New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council action to
reduce Atlantic sturgeon bycatch in large-mesh monkfish and dogfish
gillnet fisheries. As part of this discussion, the Council will approve
the range of alternatives for Monkfish Framework Adjustment 15, which
will contain the proposed sturgeon measures. Next, the Council will
receive a presentation from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
(NFWF) on its competitive grant funding programs, including the
Electronic Monitoring and Reporting Program and the New England Gear
Innovation Fund, which is a new program that seeks to address issues
related to right whale fishing gear entanglements. The Council will
close out the day with a discussion on the East Coast Climate Change
Scenario Planning initiative. The Council will: (1) review findings
from the February 2023 East Coast Climate Change Scenario Planning
Summit; (2) receive Northeast Region Coordinating Council (NRCC)
feedback on the summit findings; and (3) discuss the findings and next
steps.
Thursday, June 29, 2023
The Council will begin the third day of its meeting by hearing from
the Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management (EBFM) Committee. The Council
will receive: (1) the final report on the prototype management strategy
evaluation (pMSE) for EBFM and the Georges Bank example Fishery
Ecosystem Plan (eFEP); and (2) suggestions from a subpanel of the SSC
intended to help improve the results of the pMSE's model scenarios. The
Council also will receive an update on planning for upcoming deep-dive
public information workshops on EBFM. The Scallop Committee then will
present three items related to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Research Set-
Aside (RSA) Program for Council consideration: (1) approval of longer-
term RSA survey awards; (2) adoption of survey guiding principles; and
(3) approval of 2024-2025 RSA priorities. The Council also will
initiate action for fishing year 2024 specifications, 2025 defaults,
and other measures. Another important scallop-related item will be
covered under the next agenda item, the Habitat Committee report.
After the lunch break, the first item under the Habitat Committee
report will focus on the Northern Edge of Georges Bank. The discussion
will include an update and proposed timeline for action to potentially
authorize scallop fishery access to the habitat management area at the
top of Closed Area II on Georges Bank. The habitat report also will
include a work plan update on the Essential Fish Habitat Review,
followed by a Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) update on the
Gulf of Maine offshore wind call area and other wind developments. The
Risk Policy Working Group will report next with an update on its
efforts to address the terms of reference for revising the Council's
Risk Policy. The Council then will receive a series of reports related
to Atlantic Highly Migratory Species, which will cover: (1) the NOAA
Fisheries HMS Management Division's presentation on (a) the proposed
rule for Amendment 15 to the 2006 Consolidated HMS Fishery Management
Plan; (b) the advance notice of proposed rulemaking on electronic
reporting; and (c) scoping for Amendment 16 shark issues; (2) the HMS
Advisory Panel report on the May 2023 meeting; and (3) the Advisory
Committee to the U.S. Section to the International Commission on the
Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) report on its April meeting.
Finally, the Council will close 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: June 5, 2023.
Rey Israel Marquez,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-12276 Filed 6-7-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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