NOAA Fisheries
Reschedules the NJ Scoping Meeting for Rulemaking for Pelagic Longline Bluefin Tuna
Area-Based and Weak Hook Management and Amendment 11 to the 2006 Consolidated Highly Migratory
Species Fishery Management Plan
On March 2,
2018, NOAA Fisheries published a Notice of Intent (83 FR 8969) with scoping meeting dates
for upcoming rulemaking for pelagic longline bluefin tuna area-based and weak hook management. The notice announced a public process for
determining the scope of issues to be addressed and for identifying the
significant issues relating to the management of Atlantic HMS, with a focus on
area-based management measures and weak hook management measures that were
implemented to reduce dead discards of bluefin tuna in the pelagic longline
fishery. On March 5, 2018, NOAA Fisheries published a Notice of Intent (83 FR 9255) with scoping meeting dates for
Amendment 11 to the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP.
This notice announced consideration of potential new management measures
for shortfin mako sharks that would be implemented through rulemaking to
address overfishing and to implement, as necessary and appropriate, measures
adopted by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas
(ICCAT) (ICCAT Recommendation 17-08) in response to the 2017 shortfin mako shark stock assessment.
Due
to a request to reschedule the meeting due to a conflict with another meeting
for local constituents, NMFS is
rescheduling the New Jersey scoping meeting for April 11, 2018, in Little Egg
Harbor, NJ.
 As
a reminder, because the rulemakings overlap for some gear types, the public
scoping meeting being held in New Jersey will address the issues from the
scoping documents for both the for pelagic longline bluefin tuna area-based and
weak hook management and Amendment 11 to the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP. The shortfin mako shark management measure
presentation will likely be given first unless polling of the audience
indicates another approach is appropriate. After each presentation, public
comment for that issue will be received. Meeting attendees interested in this
issue are encouraged to show up at the beginning of the meeting to help
determine the order of the presentations. The second presentation will not
start any later than 6 pm.
Pelagic Longline Blue
Tuna Rulemaking: Submit Comments by May 1, 2018
Written comments, identified by “NOAA-NMFS-2018-0035”, may be submitted electronically via the Federal eRulemaking Portal, or mail to the contact information included below. All comments received are a part of the public record and will generally be posted to Federal eRulemaking Portal without change. All Personal Identifying Information (for example, name, address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly accessible. Do not submit Confidential Business Information or otherwise sensitive or protected information. NOAA Fisheries will accept anonymous comments (enter N/A in the required fields, if you wish to remain anonymous). You may submit attachments to electronic comments in Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file formats only.
Amendment 11: Submit
Comments by May 7, 2018
Written comments, identified by “NOAA-NMFS-2018-0011”, may be submitted electronically via the Federal eRulemaking Portal, or mail to the contact information included below. All comments received are a part of the public record and will generally be posted to Federal eRulemaking Portal without change. All Personal Identifying Information (for example, name, address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly accessible. Do not submit Confidential Business Information or otherwise sensitive or protected information. NOAA Fisheries will accept anonymous comments (enter N/A in the required fields, if you wish to remain anonymous). You may submit attachments to electronic comments in Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file formats only.
This notice is
a courtesy to Atlantic HMS fishery participants to help keep you informed about
the fisheries. For further information
on these emergency measures, contact the HMS Management Division at (301)
427-8503 or visit the HMS website.
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