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Monday, September 26, 2011

         9:00 a.m .    Introductions and Announcements (Acting Council Chairman Rip Cunningham)

9:05             Swearing in of Reappointed Council Members and Election of 2011-2012 Council Officers (Pat Kurkul, NMFS Regional                     Administrator)

10:30           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
                    Preliminary Catch and Landings Data for NEFMC FMPs and Status, Assessment and Management Information for NEFMC                      Managed Fisheries September 21, 2011

12:00           Experimental Fishery Permit (EFP) Applications (Chris Kellogg, NEFMC staff)
                    Review and approve any comments on pending experimental fishery permits received since the last meeting

12:10           Open Period for Public Comments
                    The public may provide brief comments on items relevant to Council business but not otherwise listed on the agenda

1:30             NOAA and Council Response to the Touchstone Fisheries Management Process Report
                    Pat Kurkul (NOAA/NMFS Regional Administrator) and Frank Almeida (NEFSC Acting Science and Research Director) on                     Regional office and Science Center initiatives; Patricia Fiorelli (Council staff) about improving communications                     with stakeholders; and Rip Cunnigham concerning the development of a shared vision and strategy to guide the                     management process

4:00             Initial Discussion of 2012 Council Management Priorities (Executive Director Paul J. Howard)
                    Preliminary review of management priorities for the upcoming year

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

           8:00 a.m.    Monkfish Committee Report (Council member Terry Stockwell)
                              Review and consider approval of goals and objectives for Amendment 6 as recommended by the Monkfish Committee; the action                               was initiated to consider catch shares management for this fishery

           9:30           Skate Committee Report (Council member David Goethel)
                              Approve final 2012-2013 specifications for the skate complex; possible changes to management measures include annual                               catch limits, total allowable landings for the wing and bait fisheries and skate wing and bait possession limits; a monitoring                               adjustment to count transfers-at-sea reported on Vessel Trip Reports against the skate bait total allowable landings.

          10:30          Summary of the June 2011 Stock Assessment Workshop/Stock Assessmenet Review Committee Meetings (SAW/SARC 52)                              (Dr. Jim Weinberg, NEFSC)
                             Review of the benchmark assessments for the three winter flounder stocks in the Northeast

11:15           Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) (Maureen Bornholdt, BOEMRE)
                    General update and a review of two BOEMRE proposals: 1) Call for Information and Nominations for Commercial                     Leasing for Wind Power on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Offshore Rhode Island and Massachusetts; and 2) A Notice                     of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Assessment for Commercial Wind Lease Issuance and Site Characterization                     Activities on the Atlantic OCS Offshore Rhode Island and Massachusetts

1:15             Scientific and Statistical Committee Report (Dr. Chris Legault, NEFSC)
                    Review of the SSC’s recommendations concerning ABC's for a number of groundfish stocks in the Northeast multispecies                     complex  and the whiting and hake stocks that are regulated under the Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP).

2:15             Scallop Committee Report (Dr. David Pierce)
                    Approve final action on Framework 23 to the Scallop FMP; the Framework 23 alternatives relate to four specific issues that                     may: 1) potentially require a turtle deflector dredge for scallop dredge vessels; 2) revise the yellowtail flounder accountability                     measures (AMs) proposed in Amendment 15; 3) possibly modify how catch in state waters is accounted for in the limited                     access general category management program for the Northern Gulf of Maine area; and 4) modify when a scallop vessel                     declares into the scallop fishery to improve scallop fleet operations

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

          8:00 a.m.    Groundfish Oversight Committee Report (Rip Cunningham)
                             Issues to be discussed include: 1) Approval of a scoping document for an amendment to consider accumulation limits and
                             fleet diversity; 2) Update on the upcoming sector workshop scheduled for October; 3) Update on Framework Adjustment 47
                             to the Northeast Multispecies FMP, including recommendations that address accountability measures for ocean pout,
                             windowpane flounder, Atlantic halibut, and Atlantic wolffish, and alternative Georges Bank yellowtail flounder rebuilding
                             strategies and ABCs for fishing year 2012 -2014; 4) A report on the 2011 Transboundary Resources Assessment
                             Committee's review of the status of Eastern Georges Bank cod and haddock, and Georges Bank yellowtail flounder; and 5)
                             Consider and possibly approve the Transboundary Management Guidance Committee's recommendations for fishing year
                             2012 quotas for Eastern Georges Bank cod and haddock, and Georges Bank yellowtail flounder

1:00            Overview of the report At-sea and Dockside Monitoring Programs in the Northeast(Marcus Hartley)

1:45            Update to the NEFSC Report Performance of the Northeast Groundfish Fishery Interim Report for Fishing Year 2010
                   (May 2010 – January 2011) (Drew Kitts, NEFSC)

2:45            Whiting Committee Report(David Goethel)
                   Approve management alternatives for inclusion in a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Multispecies FMP
                   Amendment 19 (to address the small mesh fishery which includes stocks of red hake, silver hake, offshore hake);
                   alternatives may include annual catch limits (ex. allocations, buffers for management uncertainty, landings limits), as well                    as accountability measures and possibly other mechanisms to regulate the fishery

Thursday, September 29, 2011

          8:00 a.m.    Herring Amendment 5 Draft EIS Review/Approval (Council member Doug Grout)
                             Review and approve Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for Amendment 5 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management                              Plan (FMP) for the purposes of public hearings and further comment; address outstanding/unresolved issues regarding the                              management alternatives under consideration; review Herring Advisory Panel comments regarding Amendment 5; review/discuss                              Amendment 5 impact analyses; possible selection of the Council’s preferred alternatives for public hearings; Amendment 5                              alternatives may contain: adjustments to the fishery management program, adjustments to reporting requirements for vessels and                              dealers, and measures to address trip notification requirements, carrier vessels, and transfers of herring at-sea; a catch                              monitoring program that includes measures to maximize sampling and address net slippage, and alternatives to allocate observer                              coverage on limited access herring vessels; measures to address river herring bycatch; and criteria for midwater trawl vessel                              access to year-round groundfish closed areas

 1:00         Herring agenda items - continued    

 4:30       Other Business
               Motions from the June 21-23, 2011 Council Meeting
              NOAA memo Agreement between NOAA and National Marine Sancturaties re: fishing regulations
              Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Proposed Sanctuary Ecological Research Area