SAW-SARC 63 Public Meeting, 95965-95966 [2016-31087]
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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 250 / Thursday, December 29, 2016 / Notices
The meeting will be held at
the Courtyard Marriott, Boston Logan,
225 McClellan Highway, Boston, MA
02128; phone: (617) 561–0971.
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:
notified of the Council’s intent to take
final action to address the emergency.
Agenda
The SSC Committee will review
information provided by the Council’s
Groundfish Plan Development Team
(PDT) and recommend the overfishing
levels (OFLs) and acceptable biological
catches (ABCs) for witch flounder for
fishing years 2017 and 2018. They will
receive a presentation on the revisions
to the Magnuson Stevens Fishery
Management and Conservation Act
(MSA) National Standard 1 guidelines.
Also on the agenda will be an update
from the Council staff on the Council’s
efforts to develop a worked example of
an Ecosystem-Based Fishery
Management approach to fisheries
management for Georges Bank. Other
business will be discussed as needed.
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
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
Dated: December 23, 2016.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
ADDRESSES:
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.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
[FR Doc. 2016–31612 Filed 12–28–16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration.
RIN 0648–XE477
SAW–SARC 63 Public Meeting
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting.
AGENCY:
NMFS and the Northeast
Regional Stock Assessment Workshop
(SAW) will convene the 63rd SAW
Stock Assessment Review Committee
for the purpose of reviewing the stock
assessment of Ocean Quahog. The
Northeast Regional SAW is a formal
scientific peer-review process for
evaluating and presenting stock
SUMMARY:
95965
assessment results to managers for fish
stocks in the offshore U.S. waters of the
northwest Atlantic. Assessments are
prepared by SAW working groups and
reviewed by an independent panel of
stock assessment experts called the
Stock Assessment Review Committee, or
SARC. The public is invited to attend
the presentations and discussions
between the review panel and the
scientists who have participated in the
stock assessment process.
The public portion of the Stock
Assessment Review Committee Meeting
will be held from February 21, 2017–
February 23, 2017. The meeting will
commence on February 21, 2017 at 10
a.m. Eastern Standard Time. Please see
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for the
daily meeting agenda.
DATES:
The meeting will be held in
the S.H. Clark Conference Room in the
Aquarium Building of the National
Marine Fisheries Service, Northeast
Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC), 166
Water Street, Woods Hole, MA 02543.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Sheena Steiner, 508–495–2177; email:
sheena.steiner@noaa.gov; or, James
Weinberg, 508–495–2352; email:
james.weinberg@noaa.gov.
ADDRESSES:
For
further information, please visit the
NEFSC Web site at https://
www.nefsc.noaa.gov. For additional
information about the SARC meeting
and the stock assessment review of
Ocean Quahog, please visit the NMFS/
NEFSC SAW Web page at https://
www.nefsc.noaa.gov/saw/.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
DAILY MEETING AGENDA—SAW/SARC 63 BENCHMARK STOCK ASSESSMENT FOR OCEAN QUAHOG
[Subject to change; all times are approximate and may be changed at the discretion of the SARC Chair]
asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Tuesday, February 21, 2017:
10 a.m.–10:30 a.m ....................................................
10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m ...............................................
12:30 p.m.–1:30 p.m .................................................
1:30 p.m.–3:30 p.m ...................................................
3:30 p.m.–3:45 p.m ...................................................
3:45 p.m.–5:45 p.m ...................................................
5:45 p.m.–6 p.m ........................................................
Wednesday, February 22, 2017:
9:00 a.m.–10:45 a.m .................................................
10:45 a.m.–11:00 a.m ...............................................
11:00 a.m.–11:45 a.m ...............................................
11:45 a.m.–12:00 p.m ...............................................
12:00–1:15 p.m .........................................................
1:15–4:00 p.m ...........................................................
4:00 p.m.–4:15 p.m ...................................................
4:15 p.m.–5:00 p.m. ..................................................
Thursday, February 23, 2017:
9 a.m.–5 p.m .............................................................
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Welcome Introductions ....................................................
Ocean Quahog (OQ) Assessment Presentation .............
Lunch.
OQ Presentation (cont.) ...................................................
Break.
OQ SARC Discussion ......................................................
Public Comment Period.
Revisit with OQ presenters ..............................................
Break.
OQ presentation (cont.) ...................................................
Public Comment.
Lunch.
Review/Edit Assessment Summary Report .....................
Break.
SARC Report Writing.
SARC Report Writing.
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James Weinberg, SAW
Chair.
Dan Hennen.
Dan Hennen.
Ed Houde, SARC Chair.
Ed Houde.
Ed Houde.
Ed Houde.
95966
Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 250 / Thursday, December 29, 2016 / Notices
The meeting is open to the public;
however, during the ‘‘SARC Report
Writing’’ sessions on February 22nd and
23rd, the public should not engage in
discussion with the SARC.
Special Accommodations
This meeting is physically accessible
to people with disabilities. Special
requests should be directed to Sheena
Steiner at the NEFSC, 508–495–2177, at
least 5 days prior to the meeting date.
Dated: December 20, 2016.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2016–31087 Filed 12–28–16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
RIN 0648–XF120
Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions;
Fisheries Off West Coast States;
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery;
Trawl Rationalization Program; 2017
Cost Recovery
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; 2017 cost recovery fee
percentages and mothership (MS)
pricing.
AGENCY:
This action provides
participants in the Pacific coast
groundfish trawl rationalization
program with the 2017 fee percentages
and ‘‘MS pricing’’ needed to calculate
the required payments for trawl
rationalization program cost recovery
fees due in 2017. It also provides a
redetermination of previous years’ fees.
For calendar year 2017, NMFS
announces the following fee percentages
by sector: 3.0 percent for the Shorebased
Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) Program,
0 percent for the MS Coop Program, 0
percent for the Catcher/Processer (C/P)
Coop Program. For 2017, the MS pricing
to be used as a proxy by the C/P Coop
Program is: $0.08/lb for Pacific whiting.
DATES: Effective January 1, 2017.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Christopher Biegel, Cost Recovery
Program Coordinator, (503) 231–6291,
fax (503) 872–2737, email
Christopher.Biegel@NOAA.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act
(MSA) requires NMFS to collect fees to
asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:41 Dec 28, 2016
Jkt 241001
recover the costs directly related to the
management, data collection, and
enforcement of a limited access
privilege program (LAPP) (16 U.S.C.
1854(d)(2)), also called ‘‘cost recovery.’’
The Pacific coast groundfish trawl
rationalization program is a LAPP,
implemented in 2011, and consists of
three sectors: The Shorebased IFQ
Program, the MS Coop Program, and the
C/P Coop Program. In accordance with
the MSA, and based on a recommended
structure and methodology developed in
coordination with the Pacific Fishery
Management Council, NMFS began
collecting mandatory fees of up to three
percent of the ex-vessel value of
groundfish from each sector
(Shorebased IFQ Program, MS Coop
Program, and C/P Coop Program) in
2014. NMFS collects the fees to recover
the incremental costs of management,
data collection, and enforcement of the
trawl rationalization program.
Additional background can be found in
the cost recovery proposed and final
rules, 78 FR 7371 (February 1, 2013) and
78 FR 75268 (December 11, 2013),
respectively. The details of cost
recovery for the groundfish trawl
rationalization program are in regulation
at 50 CFR 660.115 (trawl fishery cost
recovery program), § 660.140
(Shorebased IFQ Program), § 660.150
(MS Coop Program), and § 660.160 (C/P
Coop Program).
By December 31 of each year, NMFS
must announce the next year’s fee
percentages, and the applicable MS
pricing for the C/P Coop Program.
NMFS calculated the 2017 fee
percentages by sector using the best
available information. In addition,
NMFS revisited the methodology used
to determine the direct program costs
(DPC) attributable to each sector for
fiscal years 2013, 2014, and 2015.
NMFS’ redetermination of the DPCs for
those fiscal years resulted in a decrease
in the DPCs used to determine the fee
percentages for calendar years 2014,
2015, and 2016. For 2017, the fee
percentages by sector, taking into
account the redetermined DPCs and any
adjustments, are:
• 3.0 percent for the Shorebased IFQ
Program,
• 0 percent for the MS Coop Program,
• 0 percent for the C/P Coop Program.
To calculate the fee percentages,
NMFS used the formula specified in
regulation at § 660.115(b)(1), where the
fee percentage by sector equals the
lower of three percent or DPC for that
sector divided by total ex-vessel value
(V) for that sector multiplied by 100
(Fee percentage = the lower of 3 percent
or (DPC/V) × 100).
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‘‘DPC,’’ as defined in the regulations
at § 660.115(b)(1)(i), are the actual
incremental costs for the previous fiscal
year directly related to the management,
data collection, and enforcement of each
sector (Shorebased IFQ Program, MS
Coop Program, and C/P Coop Program).
Actual incremental costs means those
net costs that would not have been
incurred but for the implementation of
the trawl rationalization program,
including both increased costs for new
requirements of the program and
reduced costs resulting from any
program efficiencies. NMFS only
included the cost of employees’ time
(salary and benefits) spent working on
the program in calculating DPC rather
than all incremental costs of
management, data collection, and
enforcement. NMFS is still evaluating
how to incorporate additional costs and
may, in coordination with the Pacific
Fishery Management Council, do so in
the future.
‘‘V’’, as specified at § 660.115(b)(1)(ii),
is the total ex-vessel value, as defined at
§ 660.111, for each sector from the
previous calendar year. To calculate
‘‘V’’ for use in determining 2017 fee
percentages, NMFS used the ex-vessel
value for 2015 as reported in Pacific
Fisheries Information Network (PacFIN)
from electronic fish tickets. The
electronic fish ticket data in PacFIN is
for the Shorebased IFQ Program.
Therefore, the ex-vessel value for both
the MS Coop Program and the C/P Coop
Program is a proxy based on the
Shorebased IFQ Program ex-vessel price
and on the retained catch estimates
(weight) from the observer data for the
MS and C/P Coop Programs.
Ex-vessel values and amounts landed
each year fluctuate, and the amount
NMFS collects each year in cost
recovery fees also fluctuate accordingly.
When the cost recovery fees collected by
NMFS are greater or less than the actual
net incremental costs incurred for a
given year, the fee percentage for the
following year will be adjusted as
specified at § 660.115(b)(1)(i).
Redetermination of Past DPCs
On August 10, 2016, the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued its
opinion in Glacier Fish Co. LLC v.
Pritzker, 832 F.3d 1113 (9th Cir. 2016),
a case involving a challenge to NMFS’
authority to recover cost recovery fees
from members of the C/P Coop Program
and the reasonableness of NMFS’
calculation of the C/P Coop Program’s
2014 fee percentage. The court upheld
NMFS’ authority to recover cost
recovery fees from members of the C/P
Coop Program because the C/P coop
permit is a limited access privilege and
E:\FR\FM\29DEN1.SGM
29DEN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 250 (Thursday, December 29, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 95965-95966]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-31087]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
RIN 0648-XE477
SAW-SARC 63 Public Meeting
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NMFS and the Northeast Regional Stock Assessment Workshop
(SAW) will convene the 63rd SAW Stock Assessment Review Committee for
the purpose of reviewing the stock assessment of Ocean Quahog. The
Northeast Regional SAW is a formal scientific peer-review process for
evaluating and presenting stock assessment results to managers for fish
stocks in the offshore U.S. waters of the northwest Atlantic.
Assessments are prepared by SAW working groups and reviewed by an
independent panel of stock assessment experts called the Stock
Assessment Review Committee, or SARC. The public is invited to attend
the presentations and discussions between the review panel and the
scientists who have participated in the stock assessment process.
DATES: The public portion of the Stock Assessment Review Committee
Meeting will be held from February 21, 2017-February 23, 2017. The
meeting will commence on February 21, 2017 at 10 a.m. Eastern Standard
Time. Please see SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for the daily meeting
agenda.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held in the S.H. Clark Conference Room
in the Aquarium Building of the National Marine Fisheries Service,
Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC), 166 Water Street, Woods
Hole, MA 02543. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sheena Steiner, 508-
495-2177; email: sheena.steiner@noaa.gov; or, James Weinberg, 508-495-
2352; email: james.weinberg@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: For further information, please visit the
NEFSC Web site at https://www.nefsc.noaa.gov. For additional information
about the SARC meeting and the stock assessment review of Ocean Quahog,
please visit the NMFS/NEFSC SAW Web page at https://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/saw/.
Daily Meeting Agenda--SAW/SARC 63 Benchmark Stock Assessment for Ocean Quahog
[Subject to change; all times are approximate and may be changed at the discretion of the SARC Chair]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, February 21, 2017:
10 a.m.-10:30 a.m.................. Welcome Introductions..... James Weinberg, SAW Chair.
10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m............... Ocean Quahog (OQ) Dan Hennen.
Assessment Presentation.
12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m................ Lunch.
1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m................. OQ Presentation (cont.)... Dan Hennen.
3:30 p.m.-3:45 p.m................. Break.
3:45 p.m.-5:45 p.m................. OQ SARC Discussion........ Ed Houde, SARC Chair.
5:45 p.m.-6 p.m.................... Public Comment Period.....
Wednesday, February 22, 2017:
9:00 a.m.-10:45 a.m................ Revisit with OQ presenters Ed Houde.
10:45 a.m.-11:00 a.m............... Break.
11:00 a.m.-11:45 a.m............... OQ presentation (cont.)... Ed Houde.
11:45 a.m.-12:00 p.m............... Public Comment.
12:00-1:15 p.m..................... Lunch.
1:15-4:00 p.m...................... Review/Edit Assessment Ed Houde.
Summary Report.
4:00 p.m.-4:15 p.m................. Break.
4:15 p.m.-5:00 p.m................. SARC Report Writing.
Thursday, February 23, 2017:
9 a.m.-5 p.m....................... SARC Report Writing.
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[[Page 95966]]
The meeting is open to the public; however, during the ``SARC
Report Writing'' sessions on February 22nd and 23rd, the public should
not engage in discussion with the SARC.
Special Accommodations
This meeting is physically accessible to people with disabilities.
Special requests should be directed to Sheena Steiner at the NEFSC,
508-495-2177, at least 5 days prior to the meeting date.
Dated: December 20, 2016.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-31087 Filed 12-28-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
