[Federal Register: September 15, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 179)]
[Notices]
[Page 53194-53195]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15se08-39]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XK50
Fisheries of the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico; SEDAR; Public
Meetings
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of Southeastern Data, Assessment, and Review (SEDAR)
Procedural Workshop on Indices Development and Selection Criteria.
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SUMMARY: Measures of population abundance are critical to developing
adequate and reliable quantitative stock assessments. Given the
complexity of developing indices of abundance and determining which
indices may be useful for use in stock assessments, a 4 day workshop
will be convened to gather key members of the SEDAR assessment
community to prepare a guide to index development and evaluation.
Topics of discussion will include: methods for indices development,
review of criteria used in determining usefulness of indices in past
SEDARs, meta-analysis of indices presented in past SEDARs (examining
factors such as duration, coefficients of variation, and spatial
coverage), and possible criteria for indices selection. Participants
will produce summaries and/or documents of various issues to be
discussed prior to the workshop and participant in the development of
the final report during and after the meeting.
DATES: The SEDAR Indices Procedural Workshop will take place October
14-17, 2008; SEDAR - Indices Procedural Workshop Schedule: October 14,
2008: 1 p.m. - 8 p.m.; October 15-16, 2008: 8 a.m. - 8 p.m.; October
17, 2008: 8 a.m. - 1 p.m.
ADDRESSES: The SEDAR Indices Procedural Workshop will be held at the
NOAA Fisheries, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, 75 Virginia Beach
Drive, Miami, FL 33149; telephone: (305) 361-4200.
Council address: South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, 4055
Faber Place Drive, Suite 201, North Charleston, SC 29405.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julie Neer, SEDAR Coordinator, 4055
Faber Place Drive, Suite 201, North Charleston, SC 29405; telephone:
(843) 571-4366.
[[Page 53195]]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Gulf of Mexico, South Atlantic, and
Caribbean Fishery Management Councils, in conjunction with NOAA
Fisheries and the Atlantic and Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commissions
have implemented the Southeast Data, Assessment and Review (SEDAR)
process, a multi-step method for determining the status of fish stocks
in the Southeast Region. SEDAR includes three workshops: (1) Data
Workshop, (2) Stock Assessment Workshop and (3) Review Workshop. The
product of the Data Workshop is a data report which compiles and
evaluates potential datasets and recommends which datasets are
appropriate for assessment analyses. The product of the Stock
Assessment Workshop is a stock assessment report which describes the
fisheries, evaluates the status of the stock, estimates biological
benchmarks, projects future population conditions, and recommends
research and monitoring needs. The assessment is independently peer
reviewed at the Review Workshop. The product of the Review Workshop is
a Consensus Summary documenting Panel opinions regarding the strengths
and weaknesses of the stock assessment and input data. Participants for
SEDAR Workshops are appointed by the Gulf of Mexico, South Atlantic,
and Caribbean Fishery Management Councils and NOAA Fisheries Southeast
Regional Office and Southeast Fisheries Science Center. Participants
include data collectors and database managers; stock assessment
scientists, biologists, and researchers; constituency representatives
including fishermen, environmentalists, and NGO's; International
experts; and staff of Councils, Commissions, and state and federal
agencies.
Each SEDAR workshop panel is asked to provide research and
monitoring recommendations to improve future assessments and feedback
on the process to help improve SEDAR itself. Over time, certain key
topics emerge that reveal a research need or procedural suggestion that
is common to multiple assessments. The SEDAR Steering Committee
endorses procedural workshops such as that noticed here to address
those issues that affect multiple assessments and require more time and
resources to resolve than are typically available during the normal
assessment development process. The goal of these workshops is to
develop guidelines and practices that will increase the efficiency of
subsequent SEDAR assessments.
Although non-emergency issues not contained in this agenda may come
before these groups for discussion, in accordance with the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act),
those issues may not be the subject of formal action during these
meetings. Actions will be restricted to those issues specifically
identified 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
These meetings are physically accessible to people with
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other
auxiliary aids should be directed to the Council office (see ADDRESSES)
at least 10 business days prior to each workshop.
Dated: September 10, 2008.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E8-21469 Filed 9-12-08; 8:45 am]
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