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 (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Scallop Committee to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Recommendations from this group will be brought to the full Council for formal consideration and action, if appropriate.

DATES:

This meeting will be held on Thursday, October 24, 2019 at 8:30 a.m.

ADDRESSES:

The meeting will be held at the New Bedford Harbor Hotel, 222 Union Street, New Bedford, MA 02740; phone: (508) 999-1292.

Council address: New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Thomas A. Nies, Executive Director, New England Fishery Management Council; telephone: (978) 465-0492.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Agenda

The Scallop Committee will review Framework (FW) 32 alternatives and analyses. The primary focus of this meeting will be to provide input on the range of specification alternatives. FW 32 will set specifications including ABC/ACLs, days-at-sea, access area allocations, total allowable catch for the Northern Gulf of Maine (NGOM) management area, targets for General Category incidental catch, and set-asides for the observer and research programs for fishing year 2019 and default specifications for fishing year 2020. Management measures in FW 32 include: Measures to mitigate impacts on Georges Bank yellowtail flounder. The group will also review the progress toward 2019 work items, make recommendations on 2020 scallop work priorities, and consider approaches for moving priorities forward. If time allows, review progress on Amendment 21 to the Scallop FMP. Other business may be discussed as necessary.

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 these meetings. 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.

Special Accommodations

This meeting is physically accessible to people with disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids should be directed to Thomas A. Nies, Executive Director, at (978) 465-0492, at least 5 days prior to the meeting date. This meeting will be recorded. Consistent with 16 U.S.C. 1852, a copy of the recording is available upon request.

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