2010-25524. New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

AGENCY:

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

ACTION:

Notice; public meeting.

SUMMARY:

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Habitat/MPA/Ecosystem Committee and Plan Development Team in October 2010 to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Recommendations from this group will be brought to the full Council for formal consideration and action, if appropriate.

DATES:

This meeting will be held on Thursday, October, 28, 2010 at 9:30 a.m.

ADDRESSES:

Meeting address: This meeting will be held at the Courtyard by Marriott, 32 Exchange Terrace, Providence, RI 02903; telephone: [phone]; fax: [phone].

Council address: New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Paul J. Howard, Executive Director, New England Fishery Management Council; telephone: [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Committee will meet jointly with the Habitat Plan Development Team to discuss management alternatives related to minimizing the adverse effects of fishing on Essential Fish Habitat (EFH), which are being developed for the Council's EFH Omnibus Amendment 2. The goal of the meeting is to craft a series of management alternatives and develop a plan for further analysis of those options. These alternatives may include spatially-specified gear restrictions and/or gear modifications, as well as effort reductions. The PDT will present any additional analyses completed since the September 27, 2010 Committee Meeting; these may include information summarizing habitat type and data support in previously identified vulnerable habitat areas, as well as information on the feasibility of gear modifications. Other topics may be discussed at the Chair's discretion.

Although non-emergency issues not contained in this agenda may come before this group for discussion, those issues may not be the subject of formal action during this meeting. 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 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 Paul J. Howard, Executive Director, at 978-465-0492, at least 5 days prior to the meeting date.

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

Dated: October 6, 2010.

Tracey L. Thompson,

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