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 via webinar 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 Friday, September 25, 2020 at 8:30 a.m. via webinar.

ADDRESSES:

All meeting participants and interested parties can register to join the webinar at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3170442187257265423.

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 discuss Amendment 21, specifically, review of public comments and select final preferred alternatives. Amendment 21 includes measures related to: (1) Management of the Northern Gulf of Maine (NGOM) Management Area, (2) Limited Access General Category (LAGC) individual fishing quota (IFQ) possession limits, and (3) ability of Limited Access vessels with LAGC IFQ to transfer quota to LAGC IFQ only vessels. The committee will also discuss 2021/22 Specifications: Discuss the timing and outlook for 2020 surveys and 2021/22 specifications process. They also plan to review 2021 Priorities: Discuss and rank potential 2021 scallop work priorities.

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. Consistent with 16 U.S.C. 1852, a copy of the recording is available upon request.

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