2016-04326. Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC); Public Meeting

AGENCY:

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

ACTION:

Notice; public meeting.

SUMMARY:

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's (MAFMC) Ecosystem and Ocean Planning Advisory Panel (AP) will hold a public meeting.

DATES:

The meeting will be held on Thursday, March 17, 2016, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. For agenda details, see SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

ADDRESSES:

The meeting will be held at the Double Tree by Hilton Baltimore-BWI Airport, 890 Elkridge Landing Road, Linthicum, Maryland, 21090; telephone: [phone].

Council address: Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, 800 N. State Street, Suite 201, Dover, DE 19901; telephone: [phone] or on their Web site at www.mafmc.org.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Christopher M. Moore, Ph.D., Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, telephone: [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The MAFMC's Ecosystem and Ocean Planning Advisory Panel (AP) will meet to provide input on the development of the Council's Unmanaged Forage Omnibus Amendment. This amendment will prohibit the development of new, or expansion of existing, directed fisheries on unmanaged forage species in Mid-Atlantic Federal waters until adequate scientific information is available to promote ecosystem sustainability. The AP meeting will include a discussion of development of the amendment to date. The AP will provide input on management alternatives and other aspects of the amendment. A more detailed agenda and any relevant background documents will be posted to the Council's Web site prior to the meeting: www.mafmc.org.

Special Accommodations

The meeting is physically accessible to people with disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aid should be directed to M. Jan Saunders, [phone], at least 5 days prior to the meeting date.

Dated: February 24, 2016.

Jeffrey N. Lonergan,

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