E6-3823. 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 meetings of its Standardized Bycatch Reporting Methodology (SBRM) Committee in April, 2006, 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:

The meeting will be held on Monday, April 3, 2006, at 1 p.m.

ADDRESSES:

Meeting address: The meeting will be held at the Hilton Mystic Hotel, 20 Coogan Boulevard, Mystic, CT 06355; telephone: [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 receive a report from the Fishery Management Action Team (FMAT) on the status of the Omnibus SBRM Amendment to the Council's FMPs. The Committee will review the background, purpose and need for the amendment. The Committee will also review the proposed structure for the amendment and discuss and review (as available) the information necessary to complete the amendment. The Committee will identify any additional issues to be addressed in the amendment and its recommendations will be reported to the Council at its April 4-5, 2006 meeting.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: March 13, 2006.

Tracey L. Thompson,

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