E6-4982. Western Pacific Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

AGENCY:

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

ACTION:

Notice of public meetings

SUMMARY:

The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold meetings of its Pelagics Plan Team (PPT) in Honolulu, HI, to discuss fishery issues and develop recommendations for future management.

DATES:

The meeting of the PPT will be held on May 2-4, 2006, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., each day.

ADDRESSES:

The meeting will be held at the Council Office Conference Room, Western Pacific Fishery Management Council, 1164 Bishop St., Suite 1400, Honolulu, HI 96813; telephone: [phone].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kitty M. Simonds, Executive Director; telephone: [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The PPT will meet on May 2-4, 2006, at the Council Conference Room to discuss the following agenda items:

Tuesday May 2, 2006, 8:30 a.m.

1. Introduction

2. Annual Report review

a. Review 2005 Annual Report modules and recommendations

b. 2005 Annual Report region-wide recommendations

Wednesday & Thursday, May 4-5, 2005, 8:30 a.m.

3. Modifications to the pelagic annual report

4. Recreational fisheries

5. International fisheries issues

a. Report on the second meeting of the Western & central Pacific Fishery Commission

b. Report on the International Scientific Committee for tuna and tuna like species in the North Pacific, including stock assessments for North Pacific albacore tuna, northern bluefin tuna and striped marlin

6. Management options for bigeye tuna catches by the Hawaii tuna longline fishery

7. Management options for the Hawaii swordfish longline fishery

8. Fishing effort increase in the Hawaii longline fishery

9. Hawaii offshore mixed line fisheries for tunas

10. South Pacific albacore fisheries

11. Other business

The order in which the agenda items are addressed may change. The PPT will meet as late as necessary to complete scheduled business.

Although non-emergency issues not contained in this agenda may come before the PPT for discussion, those issues may not be the subject of formal action during these meetings. Plan Team action will be restricted to those issues specifically listed in this document and any issue arising after publication of this document that requires 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

These meetings are physically accessible to people with disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids should be directed to Kitty M. Simonds, [phone] (voice) or [phone] (fax), at least 5 days prior to the meeting date.

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

Dated: April 3, 2006.

Tracey L. Thompson,

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