2016-13893. 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 (Council) Ecosystem and Ocean Planning Advisory Panel (AP) will hold a public meeting.

DATES:

The meeting will be held on Wednesday, July 6, 2016, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. For agenda details, see SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

ADDRESSES:

The meeting will be held at the BWI Airport Marriott, 1743 West Nursery Road, Linthicum, MD 21090; telephone: [phone]. A webinar connection will also be available. Information on how to connect via webinar will be posted to www.mafmc.org.

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 develop recommendations for final action on the Council's Unmanaged Forage Omnibus Amendment. This amendment will prohibit the development of new and expansion of existing directed commercial fisheries on unmanaged forage species in Mid-Atlantic Federal waters until the Council has had an adequate opportunity to both assess the scientific information relating to any new or expanded directed fisheries and consider potential impacts to existing fisheries, fishing communities, and the marine ecosystem. At this meeting, the AP will consider comments received during public hearings and will develop recommendations to the Council's Ecosystem and Ocean Planning Committee and to the full Council for final action on the amendment. An EOP Committee meeting on the same topic will be held on July 7, 2016. The Council plans to take final action on the amendment at their meeting in Virginia Beach on August 8-11, 2016. More information on the EOP AP meeting, the EOP Committee meeting, and the August Council meeting, including agendas and background materials, will be posted to 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: June 8, 2016.

Tracey L. Thompson,

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