Fisheries of the Gulf of Mexico; Southeast Data, Assessment, and Review (SEDAR); Public Meeting, 42830-42831 [2020-15216]
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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Notices
Workshop is a data report which
compiles and evaluates potential
datasets and recommends which
datasets are appropriate for assessment
analyses. The product of the Assessment
Process is a stock assessment report
which describes the fisheries, evaluates
the status of the stock, estimates
biological benchmarks, projects future
population conditions, and recommends
research and monitoring needs. The
assessment is independently peer
reviewed at the Review Workshop. The
product of the Review Workshop is a
Summary documenting panel opinions
regarding the strengths and weaknesses
of the stock assessment and input data.
Participants for SEDAR Workshops are
appointed by the Gulf of Mexico, South
Atlantic, and Caribbean Fishery
Management Councils and NOAA
Fisheries Southeast Regional Office,
Highly Migratory Species Management
Division, and Southeast Fisheries
Science Center. Participants include:
Data collectors and database managers;
stock assessment scientists, biologists,
and researchers; constituency
representatives including fishermen,
environmentalists, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs);
international experts; and staff of
Councils, Commissions, and state and
federal agencies.
The items of discussion at the
Assessment webinar VI are as follows:
• Review projection results for
finalized reference case model run(s)
and finalize any changes to the
projections.
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 intent to take final action
to address the emergency.
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Special Accommodations
This meeting is accessible to people
with disabilities. Requests for auxiliary
aids should be directed to the South
Atlantic Fishery Management Council
office (see ADDRESSES) at least 5
business days prior to the meeting.
Note: The times and sequence specified in
this agenda are subject to change.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:59 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
Dated: July 9, 2020.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2020–15217 Filed 7–14–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
[RTID 0648–XA245]
Fisheries of the Gulf of Mexico;
Southeast Data, Assessment, and
Review (SEDAR); Public Meeting
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of SEDAR 70 Assessment
Webinar II for Gulf of Mexico greater
amberjack.
AGENCY:
The SEDAR 70 stock
assessment process for Gulf of Mexico
greater amberjack will consist of a series
of data and assessment webinars. See
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
DATES: The SEDAR 70 Assessment
Webinar II will be held Thursday, July
30, 2020, from 1 p.m. until 3 p.m.
Eastern Time.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held
via webinar. The webinar is open to
members of the public. Those interested
in participating should contact Julie A.
Neer at SEDAR (see FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT) to request an
invitation providing webinar access
information. Please request webinar
invitations at least 24 hours in advance
of each webinar.
SEDAR address: 4055 Faber Place
Drive, Suite 201, North Charleston, SC
29405.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julie
A. Neer, SEDAR Coordinator; (843) 571–
4366; email: Julie.neer@safmc.net.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Gulf
of Mexico, South Atlantic, and
Caribbean Fishery Management
Councils, in conjunction with NOAA
Fisheries and the Atlantic and Gulf
States Marine Fisheries Commissions
have implemented the Southeast Data,
Assessment and Review (SEDAR)
process, a multi-step method for
determining the status of fish stocks in
the Southeast Region. SEDAR is a multistep process including: (1) Data
Workshop, (2) a series of assessment
webinars, and (3) A Review Workshop.
The product of the Data Workshop is a
report that compiles and evaluates
potential datasets and recommends
SUMMARY:
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
which datasets are appropriate for
assessment analyses. The assessment
webinars produce a report that describes
the fisheries, evaluates the status of the
stock, estimates biological benchmarks,
projects future population conditions,
and recommends research and
monitoring needs. The product of the
Review Workshop is an Assessment
Summary documenting panel opinions
regarding the strengths and weaknesses
of the stock assessment and input data.
Participants for SEDAR Workshops are
appointed by the Gulf of Mexico, South
Atlantic, and Caribbean Fishery
Management Councils and NOAA
Fisheries Southeast Regional Office,
HMS Management Division, and
Southeast Fisheries Science Center.
Participants include data collectors and
database managers; stock assessment
scientists, biologists, and researchers;
constituency representatives including
fishermen, environmentalists, and
NGO’s; International experts; and staff
of Councils, Commissions, and state and
federal agencies.
The items of discussion during the
Assessment Webinar are as follows:
1. Using datasets and initial
assessment analysis recommended from
the data webinars, panelists will employ
assessment models to evaluate stock
status, estimate population benchmarks
and management criteria, and project
future conditions.
2. Participants will recommend the
most appropriate methods and
configurations for determining stock
status and estimating population
parameters.
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 intent to take final action
to address the emergency.
Special Accommodations
The meeting is physically accessible
to people with disabilities. Requests for
sign language interpretation or other
auxiliary aids should be directed to the
Council office (see ADDRESSES) at least 5
business days prior to each workshop.
Note: The times and sequence specified in
this agenda are subject to change.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
E:\FR\FM\15JYN1.SGM
15JYN1
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Notices
Dated: July 9, 2020.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2020–15216 Filed 7–14–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
[RTID 0648–XS033]
Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of
Mexico, and South Atlantic; Exempted
Fishing Permits
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of receipt of an
application for exempted fishing permit;
request for comments.
AGENCY:
NMFS announces the receipt
of an application for an exempted
fishing permit (EFP) from the University
of Georgia Marine Extension and
Georgia Sea Grant. If granted, the EFP
would authorize the applicant to deploy
modified black sea bass pots with
Acoustic Subsea Buoy Retrieval Systems
(ASBRS) in Federal waters off Georgia.
The project would examine the
potential usefulness of the ASBRSs for
use in the black sea bass pot component
for the commercial sector of the
snapper-grouper fishery while
minimizing impacts to protected
species.
SUMMARY:
Written comments must be
received on or before August 14, 2020.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
on the application, identified by
‘‘NOAA–NMFS–2020–0090’’ by any of
the following methods:
• Electronic Submission: Submit all
electronic public comments via the
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to
www.regulations.gov/
#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-20200090, click the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon,
complete the required fields, and enter
or attach your comments.
• Mail: Frank Helies, Southeast
Regional Office, NMFS, 263 13th
Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.
Instructions: Comments sent by any
other method, to any other address or
individual, or received after the end of
the comment period, may not be
considered by NMFS. All comments
received are a part of the public record
and will generally be posted for public
viewing on www.regulations.gov
without change. All personal identifying
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DATES:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:59 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
information (e.g., name, address),
confidential business information, or
otherwise sensitive information
submitted voluntarily by the sender will
be publicly accessible. NMFS will
accept anonymous comments (enter ‘‘N/
A’’ in the required fields if you wish to
remain anonymous).
Electronic copies of the application
and may be obtained from the Southeast
Regional Office website at https://
www.fisheries.noaa.gov/southeast/
black-sea-bass-pot-pilot-projectexempted-fishing-permit-application/.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Frank Helies, 727–824–5305; email:
frank.helies@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The EFP is
requested under the authority of the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act
(Magnuson-Stevens Act; 16 U.S.C 1801
et seq.), and regulations at 50 CFR
600.745(b) concerning exempted
fishing.
Currently, vertical end lines and
buoys, such as those utilized with black
sea bass pots in the South Atlantic,
present an entanglement risk to the
North Atlantic right whale, a species
that is listed as endangered under the
Endangered Species Act (ESA) and that
annually migrates and in the winter
calves off the coast of Georgia in Federal
and state waters. ASBRSs are a type of
fishing gear that allows fish traps,
including black sea bass pots, buoys,
and their retrieval devices to be stored
at depth until triggered for retrieval at
the surface. These gear systems allow
for trap and pot buoys and vertical lines
to exist in the water column for minutes
instead of hours or days, as they are
activated via acoustic release only when
fishers are present. As described in the
application, the applicant believes that
adaptation of ASBRSs or ‘‘ropeless’’
systems for black sea bass pot fishing in
the South Atlantic could reduce the risk
to these whales and other marine
animals that are subject to
entanglements from vertical lines and
buoys.
If granted, the EFP would exempt
limited fishing gear testing activities
from certain regulations for the black
sea bass pot component for the
commercial sector of the South Atlantic
snapper-grouper fishery, specifically
gear identification at 50 CFR
622.177(a)(4), the sea bass pot
configuration restriction at 50 CFR
622.189(b), and restrictions and
requirements for sea bass pot buoy line
marking at 50 CFR 622.189(g).
The applicant seeks an EFP to
determine the following: If the ASBRS
gear will show a greater than 99 percent
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
42831
successful deployment and retrieval
rate; if ASBRS gear significantly
increases the time and/or expense for
gear retrieval and recovery versus the
current fishing method such that it
might affect profitability; if ASBRS gear
significantly increases time and/or
expense for the repacking of gear for
redeployment versus the current fishing
method such that it might affect
profitability; and if bycatch rates for the
modified black sea bass pot fishing
configuration described below are
greater than those for the traditional
single pots.
Under the EFP, the applicant would
collect data through an ongoing
collaborative effort among different
ASBRS manufacturers and fishery
industry partners. In addition to this
EFP request for exemption from
Magnuson-Stevens Act regulations, the
applicant would consult with NMFS to
ensure the EFP would be consistent
with North Atlantic right whale
conservation measures currently in
place through the ESA and Marine
Mammal Protection Act. Fishers
participating in this project would selffund the trial and would keep and sell
all catch lawfully harvested by black sea
bass pots. The proposed testing area has
an approximate perimeter of 87 nm and
an area of 501 nm in Federal waters 10
to 32 nm off Townsend, Georgia. Testing
would occur in Federal waters in depths
between 10 and 30 m. The proposed
testing area is outside the November 1
through April 30 area prohibition on the
use of black sea bass pots. The testing
would not occur in special management
zones listed in 50 CFR 622.182((a)(l)(i)
and (ii)) or the North Atlantic Right
Whale Critical Habitat Area.
Black sea bass pots would be fished
as singles with a traditional
configuration (control pots) during
August and September 2020. The
control pots would yield data relative to
the time used to retrieve and rebait
traditional black seas bass pots that are
fished per current regulations.
Experimental configurations of black sea
bass pots (described below) would be
fished without vertical buoy lines on
live bottom in the vicinity with the
control pots. Using the ASBRS, the
applicant would utilize virtual gear
marking of the pots (marking of gear
deployment location with chartplotters,
GPS, and manufacturer-provided
software). The applicant would also
evaluate the feasibility of use of various
virtual gear marking systems and share
the results with fishery management
partners.
Each pot deployment (ASBRS and
control combined) under the EFP would
be limited to 35 total pots with up to
E:\FR\FM\15JYN1.SGM
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 136 (Wednesday, July 15, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42830-42831]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-15216]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XA245]
Fisheries of the Gulf of Mexico; Southeast Data, Assessment, and
Review (SEDAR); Public Meeting
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of SEDAR 70 Assessment Webinar II for Gulf of Mexico
greater amberjack.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The SEDAR 70 stock assessment process for Gulf of Mexico
greater amberjack will consist of a series of data and assessment
webinars. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
DATES: The SEDAR 70 Assessment Webinar II will be held Thursday, July
30, 2020, from 1 p.m. until 3 p.m. Eastern Time.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held via webinar. The webinar is open to
members of the public. Those interested in participating should contact
Julie A. Neer at SEDAR (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT) to request
an invitation providing webinar access information. Please request
webinar invitations at least 24 hours in advance of each webinar.
SEDAR address: 4055 Faber Place Drive, Suite 201, North Charleston,
SC 29405.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julie A. Neer, SEDAR Coordinator;
(843) 571-4366; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Gulf of Mexico, South Atlantic, and
Caribbean Fishery Management Councils, in conjunction with NOAA
Fisheries and the Atlantic and Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commissions
have implemented the Southeast Data, Assessment and Review (SEDAR)
process, a multi-step method for determining the status of fish stocks
in the Southeast Region. SEDAR is a multi-step process including: (1)
Data Workshop, (2) a series of assessment webinars, and (3) A Review
Workshop. The product of the Data Workshop is a report that compiles
and evaluates potential datasets and recommends which datasets are
appropriate for assessment analyses. The assessment webinars produce a
report that describes the fisheries, evaluates the status of the stock,
estimates biological benchmarks, projects future population conditions,
and recommends research and monitoring needs. The product of the Review
Workshop is an Assessment Summary documenting panel opinions regarding
the strengths and weaknesses of the stock assessment and input data.
Participants for SEDAR Workshops are appointed by the Gulf of Mexico,
South Atlantic, and Caribbean Fishery Management Councils and NOAA
Fisheries Southeast Regional Office, HMS Management Division, and
Southeast Fisheries Science Center. Participants include data
collectors and database managers; stock assessment scientists,
biologists, and researchers; constituency representatives including
fishermen, environmentalists, and NGO's; International experts; and
staff of Councils, Commissions, and state and federal agencies.
The items of discussion during the Assessment Webinar are as
follows:
1. Using datasets and initial assessment analysis recommended from
the data webinars, panelists will employ assessment models to evaluate
stock status, estimate population benchmarks and management criteria,
and project future conditions.
2. Participants will recommend the most appropriate methods and
configurations for determining stock status and estimating population
parameters.
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 intent to
take final action to address the emergency.
Special Accommodations
The meeting is physically accessible to people with disabilities.
Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids
should be directed to the Council office (see ADDRESSES) at least 5
business days prior to each workshop.
Note: The times and sequence specified in this agenda are
subject to change.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
[[Page 42831]]
Dated: July 9, 2020.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-15216 Filed 7-14-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
