[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 127 (Friday, July 2, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 35984-35985]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-16915]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[I.D. 062199A]
New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Public meeting.
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SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold
a 3-day public meeting on July 13-15, 1999, to consider actions
affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
DATES: The meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 13, 1999, at 9:30 a.m.
and on Wednesday and Thursday, July 14-15, 1999, at 9 a.m.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn by the Bay, 88
Spring Street, Portland, ME 04101; telephone (207) 775-2331. Requests
for special accommodations should be addressed to the New England
Fishery Management Council, 5 Broadway, Saugus, MA 01906-1036;
telephone: (781) 231-0422.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul J. Howard, Executive Director,
New England Fishery Management Council (781) 231-0422.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Tuesday, July 13, 1999
At the start of the meeting the Council Chairman and Executive
Director will ask The Council for approval to form a Research Steering
and Experimental Fisheries Committee. This group would identify and
prioritize fishery management research needs in the Northeast region,
including the one-percent TAC set-aside earmarked for sea scallop
fishery research. A presentation of the Interspecies Committee Report
will follow and will review discussions about: Managing fishing harvest
capacity, including NMFS initiatives; strawman proposals for
controlling latent effort; possible changes to the fishing year for
Council fishery management plans; and outstanding issues for small
vessel upgrading provisions. The morning session will conclude with a
presentation of the annual Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation
Report for the herring fishery.
In the afternoon, the Council will discuss Atlantic herring
management and will consider the following actions: Approval of
specifications for the 2000 fishing year, approval of an adjustment to
the U.S. at-sea processing specification for the 1999 fishing year, and
approval to develop a framework adjustment to the proposed Herring
Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the 2000 fishing year. The framework
adjustment would change the FMP to include a possible adjustment to the
timing of the fishing year, changes to reporting requirements for large
domestic at-sea processing vessels, a modification to allow the
specification of U.S. at-sea processing allocation by management area,
and possible changes to other measures contained in the FMP. The
Council will also discuss and may approve a control date for the
herring fishery and development of a controlled access system.
Wednesday, July 14, 1999
The Council will continue to discuss herring agenda items until
noon. An update on whiting management will
[[Page 35985]]
follow. This update will include review, and possible approval, of
written comments concerning NMFS' proposed disapproval of the limited
access program submitted in Amendment 12 to the Northeast Multispecies
FMP (whiting management program). The Council will also consider the
following actions relating to small-mesh fisheries: Development of a
New England Council Small Mesh Species FMP to include the management of
whiting, red hake, and offshore hake; inclusion of a proposed whiting
framework adjustment to modify the mesh size/possession limit program
and to allow the use of net strengtheners in this FMP; and inclusion of
northern shrimp management in the EEZ in the Small Mesh Species FMP.
The Council will conclude the July 14 meeting with the Habitat
Committee Report. The committee chairman will discuss the committee's
recommendations concerning the designation of additional habitat areas
of particular concern, measures to protect essential fish habitat
(EFH), and modifications to existing EFH designations.
Thursday, July 15, 1999
The meeting will begin with reports from the Council Chairman;
Executive Director; the Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS;
Northeast Fisheries Science Center and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management
Council liaisons; and representatives of the U.S. Coast Guard, the
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, and the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service. Next, the Groundfish Committee will review the
development of Framework Adjustment 31 to the Northeast Multispecies
FMP. Although the Council will not take final action on the framework
adjustment, they will discuss incorporating the Framework 31 proposals
into the annual adjustment to the Northeast Multispecies FMP, an action
that would not be formally considered by the Council until late fall
1999. The measures proposed for Framework 31 would have replaced the
Georges Bank cod trip limit that would take effect on August 15 under
Framework Adjustment 30 once it is implemented. Measures in Framework
31 would require vessels fishing in the Gulf of Maine (GOM) Trip Limit
Exemption Program to stop fishing for a 30-day block of time each
quarter, reduce the amount of gear fished by hook and gillnet vessels,
and eliminate the ``running clock'' feature of the GOM cod trip limit.
The ``running clock'' is a mechanism in the regulations that was
developed to reduce discards by allowing vessels to land their GOM cod
trip limit overages. Under the running clock provision, vessels with
landings that exceed the trip limit must remain at the dock until the
days-at-sea for that trip equate to the amount of cod landed. The
Council will also consider development of a framework adjustment to the
Northeast Multispecies FMP that would implement mid-season changes to
the GOM cod fishery management program. Formal action on this issue
would be scheduled for the August and September 1999 Council meetings.
During the afternoon portion of the meeting, the Mid-Atlantic
Plans Committee will ask the Council to consider forwarding written
comments to the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council on the
following issues: Proposals for the Tilefish FMP, mackerel fishery
limited entry measures, coordinating the Atlantic Herring and Mackerel
FMPs, and the status of the summer flounder rebuilding program. The
Enforcement Committee will review progress on the development of
enforcement guidelines for Council use during the development of
management measures. The meeting will adjourn after the Council
addresses any outstanding business.
Although other issues not contained in the agenda may come before
the Council, the Council may not take final action on them without
public notice or within 14 days prior to the meeting date, unless the
purpose of taking final action on an issue not contained in the agenda
is to address an emergency under section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management Act. In that case, public notice
will be deemed to have been met by announcing the emergency action to
the public in attendance at the Council meeting.
Special Accommodations
This meeting is accessible to people with physical disabilities.
Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids
should be directed to Paul J. Howard (see ADDRESSES) at least 5 days
prior to the meeting date.
Dated: June 29, 1999.
George H. Darcy,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 99-16915 Filed 7-1-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F
