New England Fishery Management Council; Meeting

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[I.D. 090396C]

New England Fishery Management Council; Meeting

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold

a special 1-day meeting to consider actions affecting New England

fisheries in the exclusive economic zone.

DATES: The meeting is scheduled for Monday, September 9, 1996, at 9

a.m.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn, One Newbury

Street, Peabody, MA; telephone (508) 535-4600. Requests for special

accommodations should be addressed to the New England Fishery

Management Council, 5 Broadway, Saugus, MA 01906-1097; telephone: (617)

231-0422.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christopher B. Kellogg, Acting

Executive Director, New England Fishery Management Council (617) 231-

0422.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The September 9, 1996, meeting is being

convened specifically to consider final action on several pending

framework adjustments to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management

Plan (FMP).

The Council will consider final action on Framework Adjustments 18

and 19 to the FMP under the framework for abbreviated rulemaking

procedure contained in 50 CFR 648.90. If approved, Framework Adjustment

18 would allow herring and mackerel fishing with pelagic mid-water

trawls in areas of Georges Bank now closed to all gear capable of

catching groundfish. Framework Adjustment 19, would replace the Gulf of

Maine area closures now in place to enhance groundfish conservation

with alternatives that may alleviate some of the economic burden to

fishermen without compromising the objectives of the FMP.

The Council considers public comments at a minimum of two Council

meetings prior to making final recommendations to the Director,

Northeast Region, NMFS, (Regional Director) under the provisions for

abbreviated rulemaking, cited above. If the Regional Director concurs

with the measures proposed by the Council, he will publish them as a

final rule in the Federal Register.

There will be a discussion of an experimental fishery to assess the

selectivity of longline gear. The Regional Director is considering an

experimental fishery for a vessel involved in a Saltonstall/Kennedy

Grant awarded to the New England Aquarium and entitled ``Selectivity

and Survival of Atlantic Cod (Gadus morhua) and Haddock (Melanogrammus

aeglefinus) in a Northwest Atlantic Longline Fishery.'' The

Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (MADMF) is assisting in the

project and would assist in the completion of the experimental fishery.

The objective of the project is to assess

the selectivity of bottom longlines currently in use in the fishing

industry and to attempt to improve the selectivity of longline gear.

The experimental fishery would involve the use of longline gear

equivalent to current commercial longline gear as well as experimental

hooks, bait, and other control gears to compare results. The New

England Aquarium and the MADMF have received funding for and conducted

similar selectivity and survival experimental fisheries in the past.

Special Accommodations

This meeting is physically accessible to people with disabilities.

Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids

should be directed to Christopher B. Kellogg at the Council (see

ADDRESSES).

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

Dated: September 4, 1996.

Gary Matlock,

Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries

Service.

[FR Doc. 96-22957 Filed 9-4-96; 3:10 pm]

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