2023-28409. 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.

SUMMARY:

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public hybrid meeting of its Risk Policy Working Group to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). This meeting will be held in-person with a webinar option. 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 Wednesday, January 10, 2024, at 9 a.m. Webinar registration URL information: https://zoom.us/​webinar/​register/​WN_​6ehbb-P8RgeAUDQjhvC_​Zg.

ADDRESSES:

This meeting will be held at the Fairfield Inn & Suites, 185 MacArthur Drive, New Bedford, MA 02740; telephone: [phone].

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

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Thomas A. Nies, Executive Director, New England Fishery Management Council; telephone: [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Agenda

The Risk Policy Working Group (RPWG) will address the terms of reference (TORs) approved by the New England Fishery Management Council (Council), including progress made in reviewing the Council's current Risk Policy, and Risk Policy Road Map (TOR 1). They will continue to consider possible changes to the risk policy (TOR 2), focusing on how to structure a revised risk policy, including discussions on a decision tree approach and a tiered approach. The RPWG will receive presentations on how other regional fishery management Councils approach risk in decision making. Other business will be discussed, if necessary.

Although non-emergency issues not contained on the agenda may come before this 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 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 Cate O'Keefe, Ph.D., Executive Director, at (978) 465–0492, at least 5 days prior to the meeting date.

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

Dated: December 20, 2023.

Alyssa Lynn Weigers,

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