[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 55 (Monday, March 23, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13840-13842]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-7461]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 031698B]
Western Pacific Fishery Management Council; Public Meetings
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of public meetings.
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SUMMARY: The Western Pacific Fishery Council will hold its 95th meeting
in Pago Pago, American Samoa.
DATES: The Council's Standing Committees will meet on April 14, 1998.
The full Council will meet on April 15-16, 1998. See SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION for specific dates and times.
ADDRESSES: The 95th Council meeting will be held at the American Samoa
Legislature, Fono Guest House, Pago Pago, American Samoa; telephone:
(684) 633-4456.
Council address: Western Pacific Fishery Management Council, 1164
Bishop St., Suite 1400, Honolulu, HI 96813.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kitty M. Simonds, Executive Director;
telephone: 808-522-8220.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The meetings are as follows:
Tuesday, April 14, 1998
7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.--Enforcement;
8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.--Crustaceans;
9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.--Vessel Monitoring System (VMS);
10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.--Pelagics and Bottomfish;
1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.--Indigenous Fishing Rights and Ecosystem &
Habitat;
3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.--Precious Corals and Executive/Budget &
Programming.
The full Council will meet on April 15-16, 1998, from 9:00 a.m. to
5:00 p.m., each day.
The full Council will address the agenda items below. The order in
which agenda items will be addressed may change. The Council will meet
as late as necessary to complete its scheduled business.
Wednesday, April 15, 1998
A. Call to order, opening remarks, introductions
1. Approval of Agenda and 94th Council Minutes; and
2. Guest Speaker: Ueta Fasili, Assistant Director Dept. of
Agriculture, Forests & Fisheries, Samoa
[[Page 13841]]
B. Reports from the Islands, American Samoa, Guam, Hawaii, and
Northern Mariana Islands (NMI)
C. Enforcement
1. Reports from the U.S. Coast Guard, NMFS Office of Enforcement,
and NOAA General Counsel for Enforcement Southwest;
2. Report on Multilateral High Level Conference second
intersessional meeting on monitoring, control, & surveillance;
3. Draft cooperative agreement for Guam and NMI;
4. Standing Committee recommendations; and
5. Public comment
D. VMS
1. Status of NMFS Industry Advisory Panel and National VMS Policy;
2. Report on the Hawaii VMS program; and
3. Standing Committee recommendations
E. Pelagics
1. Fourth quarter report for longline fisheries in Hawaii &
American Samoa in 1997;
2. Draft amendment for new measure for an area closure for large
pelagic vessels in the American Samoa exclusive economic zone (EEZ)
(second meeting);
3. Reports on international workshops and meetings;
4. Protected species interactions: albatross, turtles, and sharks;
5. Western Pacific Shark Fishery project;
6. Fishing activity and data issues in the Council EEZ;
7. Status of fishing activities at Midway and Palmyra;
8. Recreational fishing initiatives;
9. Socio-cultural study of pelagic fishing in American Samoa;
10. Scientific and Statistical Committee and Standing Committee
recommendations; and
11. Public comment/hearing
F. Crustaceans
1. Lobster annual report (1997 summary);
2. Status of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) lobster
stocks and research;
3. 1998 NWHI lobster harvest guideline determination, consideration
of establishment of separate area or bank quotas under the framework
procedure, Plan for data collection program;
4. Framework amendment for regulatory changes to the Fishery
Management Plan (FMP);
5. Addition of new areas (Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
Islands (CNMI) and U.S. Possessions) to Permit Area 3; Marine
Conservation Plans (by island area);
6. Consideration of regulatory measures for the lobster fishing
around American Samoa under the FMPs framework procedure;
7. Plan Team/Advisory Panel, SSC, and Standing Committee
recommendations; and
8. Public comment/hearing
G. Fishermen's Forum
Thursday, April 16, 1998
A. Guest Speaker: Paul Dalzell, Western Pacific Fishery Council:
Unconventional data sources for fisheries management in the Pacific
Islands; and
B. Reports from Fishery Agencies and Organizations, including:
Department of Commerce NMFS Southwest Region, Southwest Fisheries
Science Center, and NOAA Southwest Regional Counsel; Department of the
Interior Fish and Wildlife Service;
C. Precious Corals
1. Status of the fishery;
2. Status of amendment to add a framework process to the FMP;
3. Consistency between state and federal regulations;
4. SSC and Standing Committee recommendations; and
5. Public hearing
D. Bottomfish
1. 1997 draft annual report modules from American Samoa, Guam,
Hawaii and NMI, including improvement to the modules and region-wide
recommendations;
2. ``Overfished'' Main Hawaiian Islands onaga and ehu (&
``stressed'' hauupuu), including, research activities, status of
Department of Land and Natural Resources' draft management plan and
Federal management plan including alternatives (draft amendment);
3. Draft amendment for Mau Zone limited access program and report
from the Bottomfish Task Force;
4. Plan Team, SSC and Standing Committee recommendations; and
5. Public comment
E. Native Rights and Indigenous Fishing Issues
1. Review of Marine Conservation Plans from American Samoa, Guam,
and NMI;
2. Western Pacific Sustainable Fisheries Fund;
3. Community Development Program Eligibility Criteria;
4. Report on NMFS Vessel Buy-Back Program;
5. Advisory Panel Appointments;
6. Standing Committee recommendations and;
7. Public hearing
F. Ecosystems and Habitat
1. Draft outline and concept for Coral Reef Ecosystem FMP;
2. EIS on Farallon de Mendinilla bombing issue (if available);
3. Advisory Panel, SSC and Standing Committee recommendations; and
4. Public comment
G. Program Planning
1. Review of draft comprehensive Sustainable Fisheries Act
Amendment (SFA) (Magnuson-Stevens Act requirement);
2. SFA definitions, provisions, and possible management actions,
including, bycatch, fishing sectors, fishing communities, overfishing;
3. Draft Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) amendment, including,
description of habitat by Management Unit Species life stage (by FMP),
identification and distribution of EFH/Geographic Information System
maps (by FMP), review of existing management measures, environmental
impacts of fishing and non-fishing activities/National Environmental
Policy Act, identification of possible future habitat conservation and
enhancement measures, social/economic impacts of management actions,
data and research needs for habitat information;
4. National Vessel Registration and Fisheries Information System;
5. Report on Western Pacific Fisheries Information Network;
6. Revision of Council milestones;
7. Advisory Panel, Plan Teams, SSC and Standing Committee
recommendations; and
8. Public comment/hearing
H. Administrative Matters
1. Statement of Organization, Practices, and Procedures revision;
2. Administrative reports;
3. Appointments to the Coral Reef Ecosystem Plan Team and Precious
Corals Plan Team;
4. Reports on meetings, workshops, and proposed 96th Council
meeting on July 27-29, 1998, in Kailua-Kona;
5. Standing Committees recommendations; and
6. Public comment; and
I. Other Business
Although other issues not contained in this agenda may come before
this Council for discussion, in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management Act, those issues may not be the
subject of formal Council action during this meeting. Council action
will be restricted to those issues specifically identified in the
agenda listed in this notice.
Special Accommodations
These meetings are physically accessible to people with
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other
auxiliary aids
[[Page 13842]]
should be directed to Kitty M. Simonds, 808-522-8220 (voice) or 808-
522-8226 (fax), at least 5 days prior to meeting date.
Dated: March 17, 1998.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 98-7461 Filed 3-20-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F
