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New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

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 [Federal Register: May 31, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 105)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 34633-34635]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr31my00-18]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[I.D. 052300A]


New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

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

ACTION: Notification of public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold
a 2-day public meeting on June 14 and 15, 2000, to consider actions
affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

DATES: The meeting will be held on Wednesday, June 14, 2000, beginning
at

[[Page 34634]]

9:30 a.m. and Thursday, June 15, beginning at 8:30 a.m.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Sheraton Harborside Hotel,
250 Market Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801; telephone (603) 431-2300.
Requests for special accommodations should be addressed to the New
England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water Street, Mill 2,
Newburyport, MA 01950; telephone (978) 465-0492.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul J. Howard, Executive Director,
New England Fishery Management Council (978) 465-0492.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Wednesday, June 14, 2000

    After introductions, the meeting will begin with a report from the
Chairman of the Council's Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) Committee (committee). The
committee will seek Council guidance on issues to be considered for the
development of comments during the Magnuson-Stevens Act reauthorization
process and may ask for approval of preliminary draft comments. This
agenda item will be followed by two presentations to be discussed by
NMFS staff: An overview of the Vessel Monitoring System Program in the
Northeast; and Applications of Vessel Monitoring Systems for Improved
Fisheries Science and Management. Amendment 10 to the Atlantic Sea
Scallop Fishery Management Plan (FMP) and related topics will be
discussed during the second half of the day. The Scallop Committee will
present proposed Amendment 10 management alternatives. Alternatives
selected for further development will be analyzed in terms of their
scallop, habitat, bycatch, gear conflict, enforcement, and social and
economic impacts in a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement. Under consideration are proposals for: Rotational area
management (which would also require a re-estimation of the overfishing
definition reference points, consistent with the expected change in
size selection and other factors); a requirement for scallop nets to be
modified to achieve the same selectivity and/or equivalent fishing
mortality as dredges; a change in the fishing year and the annual
review process; and possibly adjusting the present crew size limits.
The Scallop Committee also will provide an update on the development of
the annual adjustment to management measures for the FMP (Framework
Adjustment 14) scheduled to take effect in March 2001.

Thursday, June 15, 2000

    The second day of the meeting will begin with reports on recent
activities from the Council Chairman, Executive Director, the Regional
Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS (Regional Administrator),
Northeast Fisheries Science Center and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management
Council liaisons, and representatives of the Coast Guard, NMFS
Enforcement, and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

Announcement of Experimental Fishery Application

    The Regional Administrator will discuss, during the reports portion
of the agenda, the receipt of an experimental fishing proposal
submitted by the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (MADMF) for
which the issuance of Exempted Fishing Permits (EFPs) is required. The
Regional Administrator has made a preliminary determination that the
application is complete and warrants further consideration. The public
may comment during the discussion at the Council meeting, or may submit
comments in writing. Written comments must be received by June 15,
2000, and should be submitted to: Patricia Kurkul, Regional
Administrator, NMFS, Northeast Regional Office, 1 Blackburn Drive,
Gloucester, MA 01930. Written comments may be submitted by facsimile
(fax) to (978) 281-9135, but may not be submitted via e-mail or the
Internet. The proposal is summarized here.
    The MADMF proposes to continue the work they conducted beginning in
1997 to show that small-mesh whiting fishing with a raised footrope
trawl configuration can effectively target whiting in areas east of
Cape Cod. The experimental area, formerly referred to as Area 3 during
the 1999 experiment, is proposed to be modified this year by shifting
the western boundary farther west to the port of Chatham, MA (see
coordinates below).

------------------------------------------------------------------------
           Point Number                  Latitude          Longitude
------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.................................      42 deg.14.05'      70 deg.08.80'
7.................................      42 deg.09.20'      69 deg.47.80'
8.................................      41 deg.54.85'      69 deg.35.20'
9.................................      41 deg.41.50'      69 deg.32.85'
10................................      41 deg.39.00'      69 deg.44.30'
11................................      41 deg.45.60'      69 deg.51.80'
12................................      41 deg.52.30'      69 deg.52.55'
13................................      41 deg.55.50'      69 deg.53.45'
4.................................      42 deg.14.05'      70 deg.08.80'
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    This change in area would likely expand the participating fleet and
improve our understanding of bycatch levels in the area through
increased data collection and gear experimentation. The industry
cooperative experiment is proposed to take place from September 1 to
December 30, 2000. The experiment is likely to involve approximately 20
vessels; 5 vessels in the early part of the season (September through
November) and an additional 15 beginning in late November through to
December 2000. Enrollment would be established by the MADMF similar to
last year, when historical participation and previous experience with
the raised footope trawl gear operation played a role in the selection
process conducted by the MADMF. It is expected that 100 percent of the
participants would be vessels from Chatham, MA, during the early part
of the season beginning in September through to October. In November
and December, it is expected that approximately 50 percent of the
participants would be from the ports of Gloucester and Provincetown,
MA, with the remaining vessels continuing to be from Chatham. The
purpose of the experimental fishery is to document bycatch levels in
this area. If they are below the 5-percent regulated multispecies
bycatch standard, the fishery could be found to be an exempted fishery.

[[Page 34635]]

    The Council approved an exemption request for an area comprising
the experimental Areas 2B and 4 under Framework 35 to the Northeast
Fishery Management Plan (Framework 35). The MADMF did not request that
Area 3 be included in the exemption due to the low sample size and
inconclusive data results from previous year's experiments. Therefore,
this year's experiment proposes to increase the sampling size (fleet
size expansion) and improve the confidence level of data on bycatch of
regulated multispecies, overall effort, species composition and gear
performance.
    The MADMF has stated that the gear specifications would be
identical to those approved under Framework 35, including the minimum
mesh size requirement of 2.5 inches (6.35 cm), the headrope, ground
gear, footrope and drop chains settings and configurations, option to
use the sweepless trawl, and a prohibition on use of net strengtheners.
Also, net possession restrictions would be amended to allow fishermen
to leave their large-mesh groundfish net aboard the vessel (in addition
to the small mesh raised footrope trawl) when enrolled in the fishery.
    The area defined by the MADMF for the experiment overlaps a portion
of the Gulf of Maine Rolling Closure Area V (Rolling Closure Area) from
October 1--November 30, 2000. NMFS is also requesting comments on
MADMF's request that participants in the experimental fishery be
allowed to fish in the Rolling Closure Area. The MADMF hopes that this
overlap would help define a continuous exemption area including the
area proposed in Framework 35 and the area proposed in this experiment.
    The MADMF personnel would sea sample approximately 10-20 percent of
the total trips during the course of the experimental fishery season;
September through December of 2000. In addition, participants would be
required to record catch information on a tow-by-tow basis on MADMF-
supplied logs and submit all logs weekly to MADMF. If bycatch problems
should develop, MADMF would take the appropriate remedial actions to
amend the problem, as they have in past years.
    EFPs would be issued to participating federally permitted whiting
vessels to exempt them from DAS, mesh size and other gear restrictions
required as part of the Northeast Multispecies FMP during the specified
season.
    Following reports and consideration of the experimental fishery
proposal, the Groundfish Committee will report on the development of
Amendment 13 to the Northeast Multispecies FMP. The Habitat Committee
will report during the afternoon session. Included will be a
presentation on the 2000 Habitat Annual Review Report, discussion and
possible approval of recommendations concerning the establishment of
one or more dedicated habitat research areas, and review and possible
approval of a letter to the Minerals Management Service about proposed
sand mining off the New Jersey coast.
    Prior to addressing any other outstanding business, the Capacity
and Herring Committees will update the Council on their most recent
activities.
    Although other non-emergency issues not contained in this agenda
may come before this Council for discussion, those issues may not be
the subject of formal action during this meeting. Council action will
be restricted to those issues specifically listed in this notice and
any issues arising after publication of this notice that require
emergency action under section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act,
provided the public has been notified of the Council's intent to take
final action to address the emergency.
    The New England Council will consider public comments at a minimum
of two Council meetings before making recommendations to the Regional
Administrator on any framework adjustment to a fishery management plan.
If she concurs with the adjustment proposed by the Council, the
Regional Administrator has the discretion to publish the action either
as proposed or final regulations in the Federal Register. Documents
pertaining to framework adjustments are available for public review 7
days prior to a final vote by the Council.

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.

    Dated: May 24, 2000.
Richard W. Surdi,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 00-13569 Filed 5-30-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F

 
 

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