00-4477. New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meetings

AGENCY:

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

ACTION:

Notice of public meetings.

SUMMARY:

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Capacity Committee (Committee) in March, 2000. Recommendations from the committee will be brought to the full Council for formal consideration and action, if appropriate.

DATES:

The meeting will be held on March 9, 2000, at 10:00 a.m.

ADDRESSES:

The meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn, One Newbury Street, Route 1, Peabody, MA 01960; telephone: [phone].

Council address: New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water Street, Newburyport, MA 01950; telephone: [phone].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Committee will continue its exploration of fishing capacity issues. The Committee will review available information that may indicate the status of capacity in New England fisheries. Committee members will prioritize the problems caused by excess capacity in New England fisheries, and will identify possible solutions to identified problems. The Committee will develop alternatives on how to address fishing capacity issues. These suggested alternatives will be referred to the Council and the appropriate species oversight committees for further development as appropriate.

Although non-emergency issues not contained in this agenda may come before this Council for discussion, those issues may not be the subject of formal Council 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.

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 (see ADDRESSES) at least 5 days prior to the meeting dates.

Dated: February 17, 2000.

Richard W. Surdi,

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