Agenda and Links to Discussion Documents
Printable Version of Agenda
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
9 :00 a.m. Introductions and Announcements (Council Chairman Rip Cunningham)
9:05 Reports on Recent Activities,
Council Chairman,* Executive Director, NMFS Regional Administrator, NOAA General Counsel, Northeast Fisheries
Science Center and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council liaisons, and representatives of the U.S. Coast Guard,
NOAA Enforcement/VMS and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
*Status, Assessment and Management Information for NEFMC Managed Fisheries - November 2011
*Preliminary Catch and Landings Information for NEFMC FMPs
10:45 Implementation of the Coast Guard Authorization Act (Coast Guard Headquarters representative)
11:15 Experimental Fishery Permit (EFP) Applications (Chris Kellogg, NEFMC staff)
Review and approve any comments on pending experimental fishery permits received since the last meeting
11:20 Amendment 5 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan (FMP) - Draft Environmental Impact Statement
(Doug Grout)
Consider a request from the Mid-Atlantic Council to include an option in the Amendment 5 Draft EIS to establish a river
herring catch cap, to be consistent with the options in the Mid-Atlantic Council's Draft Amendment 14 to the
Squid/Mackerel/Butterfish FMP during the public review process
Noon Open Period for Public Comment (Rip Cunningham)
The public will have an opportunity to briefly comment on items relevant to Council business but not otherwise listed
on this agenda
12:30 p.m. Lunch Break
1:45 Northeast Regional Ocean Council (NROC) Report (John Weber, NROC)
Update on NROC's Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning activities
2:30 Update Council and NMFS Regional Office Responses to the Touchstone Report on the Fisheries
Management Process in New England (Council Chairman Rip Cunningham; NMFS Regional Administrator Pat Kurkul)
Public and Council discussion concerning the development of a shared vision and strategy to guide the management
process and an overview and discussion about the draft Operating Agreement under discussion between the Council,
NOAA Fisheries Service Northeast Regional Office, NOAA Fisheries Service Northeast Fisheries Science Center, and
NOAA General Counsel, Northeast; update on the recent Sector Workshop discussions
4:30 Essential Fish Habitat Omnibus Amendment 2 Update (David Preble) Progress on amendment development focusing on alternatives to minimize the adverse effects of fishing on essential fish
habitat (EFH) and protect deep sea corals
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
8:30 a.m. Discuss and Approve 2012 Council Management Priorities (Council Executive Director Paul Howard) Review and approve management priorities for the upcoming year10:30 Framework Adjustment 23 to the Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan Scallop (Mary Beth Tooley) Potential opportunity to review the draft regulatory text associated with Framework Adjustment 23, if it becomes available, and deem whether it is consistent with the action and the Council's intent
11:00 Standard Bycatch Reporting Methodology (SBRM) Summary and Discussion (Dr. Paul Rago, Northeast Fisheries
Science Center) Review and comment on the SBRM summary report and recommendations for observer sea-day allocations for next year
Noon Lunch Break
1:15 p.m. Stock Assessment Update (Dr. Jim Weinberg, Northeast Fisheries Science Center) Briefing about the transition to a new stock assessment process for the New England and Mid-Atlantic regions
1:40 Groundfish Committee Report (Terry Stockwell) Review of and final Council action on Framework Adjustment 47 to the Northeast Multispecies FMP; the discussion will include recommendations for recreational accountability measures for Gulf of Maine haddock
4:30 Whiting Committee Report (David Goethel) Update on the development of Amendment 19 to the Northeast Multispecies FMP to address the small mesh fishery which includes stocks of red hake, silver hake and offshore hake
Thursday, November 17, 2011
8:30 a.m. Monkfish Committee Report (Mark Alexander) Possible Council approval of recommendations for goals and objectives for Amendment 6 to the Monkfish FMP, an action that includes the consideration of catch shares management approaches for the monkfish fishery; discussion of a postponed motion requesting that NMFS calculate individual contribution factors (allocation shares or sector contribution) for three historical periods and forward that information to permit holders
10:30 Dogfish Committee Report (Frank Blount)
Council approval of the spiny dogfish annual catch limit for 2012 at 44.868 million pounds, the annual catch target at 44.737
million pounds, the total allowable landings at 35.740 million pounds, and the commercial quota at 35.694 million pounds;
and to set the trip limit at 4,000 pounds; these specifications already have been approved by the Mid-Atlantic Council
11:00 Enforcement Committee Report (Frank Blount)
Discuss recommendations for changes to gear stowage requirements, a letter supporting vessel and gear marking,
recommendations for hake incidental catch limits and skate identification at the dock; discuss and comment on the recently
published advanced notice of proposed rulemaking titled Changes to Vessel Replacement and Upgrade Provisions for
Fishing Vessels Issued Limited Access Federal Fishery Permits
11:45 Overview of an Ecosystem-based Fisheries Management (EBFM) Research Project (Ingrid Biedron)
Brief description of a Cornell University project involving the development of EBFM and Council member, staff and
independent views about the subject
Noon Scoping for a new amendment to the Consolidated Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Fishery Management
Plan (Jacqueline Wilson, HMS Division, NMFS Silver Spring)
Identification of issues relevant to the management of sandbar, dusky and blacknose shark, and on a new status
determination for scalloped hammerhead based on recent stock assessments for these species
12:30 p.m. Other Business
1:00 Adjourn