2010-836. Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Advisory Panel

AGENCY:

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

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

NMFS solicits nominations for the Advisory Panel (AP) for Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Southeast Data, Assessment, and Review (SEDAR) Workshops (this AP is also called the “SEDAR Pool”). The SEDAR Pool is comprised of a group from which individuals will be selected to review and/or provide the data and analyses and advise NMFS regarding the scientific information, including but not limited to data, analyses, and models, used in stock assessments for sharks in the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea. Nominations are being sought for a three-year appointment. Individuals with definable interests in the recreational and commercial fishing and related industries, environmental community, academia, and non-governmental organizations will be considered for membership on the SEDAR Pool.

DATES:

Nominations must be received on or before February 18, 2010.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit nominations and request the SEDAR Pool Statement of Organization, Practices, and Procedures by any of the following methods:

• Email: [e-mail].
• Mail: Karyl Brewster-Geisz, Highly Migratory Species Management Division, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Include on the envelope the following identifier: “SEDAR Pool Nomination.”
• Fax: [phone].

Additional information on SEDAR and the SEDAR guidelines can be found at http://www.sefsc.noaa.gov/​sedar/​.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Karyl Brewster-Geisz, [phone], ext. 111.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Introduction

Section 302(g)(2) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq., states that each Council shall establish such advisory panels as are necessary or appropriate to assist it in carrying out its functions under the Act. For the purposes of this section, NMFS considers the above provisions to be applicable to the HMS Management Division. As such, NMFS is establishing the SEDAR Pool under this section. The SEDAR Pool will be a group from which individuals will be selected to review and/or provide the data and analyses and advise NMFS regarding the scientific information, including but not limited to data, analyses, and models, used in stock assessments for sharks in the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea. While the SEDAR Pool is being created specifically for Atlantic sharks, it may be expanded to include other HMS, as needed. Under section 302(i)(1), the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) shall not apply to advisory panels established under section 302(g).

The primary purpose of the individuals in the SEDAR Pool is to review and/or provide, at SEDAR workshops, the scientific information, including but not limited to data, analyses, and models, used in stock assessments that are used to advise NMFS, as a delegate to the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary), about the conservation and management of the Atlantic HMS, specifically but not limited to, Atlantic sharks. Individuals in the SEDAR Pool may be selected to participate in the various data, assessment, and review workshops during the SEDAR process of any HMS stock assessment. Individuals that participated in a data and/or assessment workshop for a particular stock assessment may also be asked to attend and/or provide information during the review workshop to ensure that any questions the reviewers may have can be answered quickly and accurately. To ensure that the peer review is unbiased, individuals who participate in a data and/or assessment workshop for a particular stock assessment will not be asked to participate in the review workshop.

Members of the SEDAR Pool may serve as members of other APs concurrent with or following their service on the SEDAR Pool, except that members of the SEDAR Pool that were invited to participate in the data and/or assessment workshops for any particular species during a specific stock assessment may not participate in the relevant review workshop for that stock assessment.

Procedures and Guidelines

A. Participants

The SEDAR Pool will be comprised of representatives of: commercial and recreational fisheries for Atlantic HMS, the environmental community active in the conservation and management of Atlantic HMS, and the academic community that have relevant research either with sharks or shark-like species and/or stock assessment methodologies for any marine fish species. Members of the SEDAR Pool must have demonstrated experience in the fisheries, related industries, research, teaching, writing, conservation, or management of marine organisms. The distribution of representation among the interested parties is not defined and the number of members in the SEDAR Pool is not limited.

Additional members of the SEDAR Pool may also include representatives from each of the five Atlantic Regional Fishery Management Councils, each of the 18 constituent states, both the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, and each of the constituent interstate commissions: the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission.

If NMFS requires additional members to ensure a diverse pool of individuals to draw from for data or assessment workshops, NMFS may request individuals to be members of the SEDAR Pool outside of the annual nomination period.

Panel members serve at the discretion of the Secretary. Not all members will attend each SEDAR workshop. Rather, NMFS will invite certain members to participate at specific stock assessment workshops dependent on their ability to participate, discuss, and recommend scientific decisions regarding the species being assessed. If an invited SEDAR Pool member is unable to attend the workshop, the member may send a designee who may represent them and participate in the activities of the workshop. In order to ensure the designee meets the requirements of participating in the data and/or assessment workshop, the designee must receive written approval of the Director of the Office of Sustainable Fisheries at least six weeks in advance of the beginning of the relevant data and/or assessment workshop. Written notification must include the name, address, telephone, e-mail, and position of the individual designated. A designee may not name another designee.

NMFS is not obligated to fulfill any requests (e.g., requests for an assessment of a certain species) that may be made by the SEDAR Pool or its individual members. Members of the SEDAR Pool who are invited to attend stock assessment workshops may be reimbursed for their travel-related expenses to attend such workshops.

B. Nomination Procedures for Appointments to the SEDAR Pool

Member tenure will be for three years. Nominations are sought for terms beginning February 2010 and expiring January 2013. Nomination packages should include:

1. The name, address, phone number, and e-mail of the applicant or nominee;

2. A description of his/her interest in Atlantic shark stock assessments or the Atlantic shark fishery;

3. A statement of background and/or qualifications; and

4. A written commitment that the applicant or nominee shall participate actively and in good faith in the tasks of the SEDAR Pool, as requested.

C. Meeting Schedule

Individual members of the SEDAR Pool meet to participate in stock assessments at the call of the Office of Sustainable Fisheries, NMFS. Stock assessment timing, frequency, and relevant species will vary depending on the need determined by NMFS and SEDAR staff. Meetings and meeting logistics will be determined according to the SEDAR Guidelines. All meetings are open for observation by the public.

Dated: January 12, 2010.

Emily Menashes,

Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.