2011-22453. 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's (Council) Herring Advisory Panel will hold a meeting to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

DATES:

The meeting will be held on Thursday, September 22, 2011 at 9:30 a.m.

ADDRESSES:

The meeting will be held at the Crowne Plaza Boston North Shore, 50 Ferncroft Road, Danvers, MA 01923; telephone: [phone]; fax: [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 items of discussion in the panel's agenda are as follows:

1. The Advisory Panel will review the Management Alternatives Under Consideration and the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for Amendment 5 to the Atlantic Herring FMP and develop comments/recommendations for the Council to consider at its September 26-29, 2011 Meeting;

2. Review and provide feedback regarding the Draft Terms of Reference (TOR) for the upcoming benchmark stock assessment for Atlantic herring (54th Stock Assessment Workshop (SAW) scheduled for spring 2012).

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 identified in this notice and any issues arising after publication of this notice that require 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

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 (see ADDRESSES) at least 5 days prior to the meeting date.

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

Dated: August 29, 2011.

Tracey L. Thompson,

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