Advisory Committee to the U.S. Section of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT); Fall Meeting

AGENCY:

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

ACTION:

Notice of public meeting.

SUMMARY:

In preparation for the 2002 ICCAT meeting, the Advisory Committee to the U.S. Section to ICCAT will hold its annual fall meeting in October 2002.

DATES:

The open session will be held on October 14, 2002, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Closed sessions will be held on October 14, 2002, from 3:00 p.m. to 6:15 p.m., October 15, 2002, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and October 16, 2002, from 8:45 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Written comments should be received no later than October 7, 2002.

ADDRESSES:

The meeting will be held at the Hilton Hotel, 8727 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Written comments should be sent to Erika Carlsen at NOAA Fisheries/SF4, Room 13137, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Erika Carlsen, 301-713-2276.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Advisory Committee to the U.S. Section to ICCAT will meet in two open sessions to consider information on stock status of highly migratory species and 2002 management recommendations of ICCAT's Standing Committee on Research and Statistics (SCRS). Also in the open sessions, the Advisory Committee will review the results of recent meetings, including the Advisory Committee summer workshop on improving Atlantic bigeye, albacore, yellowfin and skipjack (BAYS) tunas data monitoring and reporting and the Atlantic white marlin ESA status review, ICCAT's working group meeting on integrated monitoring measures, and ICCAT's working group meeting on measures to combat IUU fishing. The Committee will also discuss other ICCAT-related activities. Further, in open session, the Committee will review the implementation of 2001 and prior ICCAT recommendations and resolutions and will receive an overview of implementation of recommendations for research and management resulting from its Spring 2002 Species Working Group meeting. The only opportunity for public comment will be during the October 14, 2002, open session. Written comments are encouraged and, if mailed, should be received by October 7, 2002 (see ADDRESSES). Written comments can also be submitted during the open sessions of the Advisory Committee meeting.

The Advisory Committee will go into executive session on October 14, 2002, after the adjournment of the open session, on October 15, 2002, and on the morning of October 16, 2002, to discuss sensitive information relating to upcoming international negotiations. These sessions are not open to the public.

Please be reminded that NMFS expects members of the public to conduct themselves appropriately for the duration of the meeting. At the beginning of the public comment session, an explanation of the ground rules will be provided (e.g., alcohol in the meeting room is prohibited, speakers will be called to give their comments in the order in which they registered to speak, each speaker will have an equal amount of time to speak, and speakers should not interrupt one another). The session will be structured so that all attending members of the public are able to comment, if they so choose, regardless of the degree of controversy of the subject(s). Those not respecting the ground rules will be asked to leave the meeting.

Special Accommodations

The meeting locations are physically accessible to people with disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids should be directed to Erika Carlsen at (301) 713-2276 at least 5 days prior to the meeting date.