[Federal Register: March 10, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 47)]
[Notices]
[Page 12708-12709]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr10mr08-33]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN: 0648-XG14
Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council; Public Meetings
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of a public meeting.
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SUMMARY: The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council to convene its
Socioeconomic Panel (SEP) via conference call.
DATES: The conference call will be held March 25, 2008, at 1 p.m. EDT.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held via conference call and listening
stations will be available. For specific locations see SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION.
Council address: Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, 2203
North Lois Avenue, Suite 1100, Tampa, FL 33607.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Assane Diagne, Economist, Gulf of
Mexico Fishery Management Council; telephone: (813) 348-1630.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The conference call will begin at 1 p.m. EDT
and conclude no later than 3 p.m. EDT. Listening stations are available
at the following locations:
[[Page 12709]]
The Gulf Council office (see ADDRESSES), and the National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS) offices as follows:
St. Petersburg, FL
263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, Contact: Stephen
Holiman, telephone: (727) 551-5719;
Galveston, TX
4700 Ave U, Conference room - Bldg 305, Galveston, TX 77551, Contact:
Ronnie O'Toole, telephone: (409) 766-3500;
Miami, FL
75 Virginia Beach Drive, Miami, FL 33149, Contact: Sophia Howard,
telephone: (305) 361-4259; and
Panama City, FL
3500 Delwood Beach Road, Panama City, FL 32408, Contact: Janice Hamm,
telephone: (850) 234-6541.
The SEP will hold a conference call to discuss Reef Fish Amendment
30-B. Amendment 30B contains potential management measures to define
overfishing and overfished thresholds and an optimum yield (OY) target
for gag; end overfishing of gag; increase the total allowable catch
(TAC) of the red grouper stock to its OY level; establish recreational
and commercial allocations for gag and red grouper; establish
accountability measures for gag to assure compliance with ending
overfishing; adjust commercial grouper quotas and recreational grouper
bag limits; closed seasons; and/or size limits; reduce discards and
discard mortality of groupers; establish a new reef fish marine reserve
and/or extend the duration of the existing Madison-Swanson and
Steamboat Lumps marine reserves; and require that federally permitted
reef fish vessels comply with the more restrictive of federal or state
reef fish regulations when fishing in state waters.
Although other non-emergency issues not on the agenda may come
before the SEP for discussion, in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnsuon-Stevens Act), those
issues may not be the subject of formal action during the meeting.
Actions will be restricted to the issue specifically identified in the
agenda 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 SEP's intent to take
action to address the emergency.
Special Accommodations
The listening stations are physically accessible to people with
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other
auxiliary aids should be directed to Tina Trezza at the Council (see
ADDRESSES) at least 5 working days prior to the meeting.
Dated: March 5, 2008.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E8-4613 Filed 3-7-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S