Next Council Meeting: April 8 - 10, 2014

April 8 - 10, 2014 - Montauk, New York

Montauk Yacht Club
32 Star Island Road
Montauk, NY 11954
Telephone 631-668-3100

Agenda (pdf)
Briefing Materials

Meeting Agenda

Tuesday, April 8

8:30am - 12:15pm      Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Offshore Wind Leasing Workshop
Location: Vanderbilt Room

  • A Workshop to Discuss the Offshore Wind Energy Leasing Process and Best Management Practices.
  • Note: This workshop is sponsored by BOEM and is not a part of the official Council meeting agenda. Council members and all other interested stakeholders are encouraged to attend. For more information, contact Brian Hooker at brian.hooker@boem.gov.

1:00 p.m. -2:00 p.m.      River Herring & Shad Committee

  • Review and approve terms of reference and scope of work for Committee

2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.      Executive Committee

  • Develop Council position on MSA Reauthorization issues

Wednesday, April 9

9:00 a.m.      Council Convenes

9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.     SAW/SARC Presentation - Jim Weinberg, NEFSC

  • Summary of SAW/SARC 58 (butterfish, tilefish, northern shrimp)

10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.     Tilefish Management Measures for 2015 - 2017

  • Review SSC and Tilefish Monitoring Committee's recommendations for 2015 - 2017 harvest levels and management measures
  • Adopt recommendations for 2015 - 2017 harvest levels and management measures

12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.     Lunch

1:00 p.m.     Council Convenes

1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.     Update on Scup GRA Framework (8)

  • Review and discuss comments received from Advisors on modifications to Scup GRAs

2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.     Update on Deep Sea Coral Amendment

  • Review progress update on initial analysis of current alternatives

3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.     MRIP Presentation - Gordon Colvin, NMFS

  • Update on overall implementation
  • Review results of for-hire reporting pilot projects
  • Discuss possible changes to for-hire reporting

4:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.     Who Fishes There? Establishing a baseline of spatial fishing revenue along the Atlantic coast - A. Justin Kirkpatrick - NEFSC

  • A GIS application that will identify areas important to specific fishing communities, species, gears, and seasons to establish a baseline of commercial fishing effort for BOEM.

5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.     Listening Session - Tom Watson, UK Fishery Liaison Officer

  • Managing navigational hazards for fishermen during wind farm construction
  • Data collection by fishing vessels concerning commercial species behavior in and around wind farms

Thursday, April 10

8:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.     Standardized Bycatch Reporting Methodology Amendment - Doug Potts, GARFO

  • Amendment review and approval

9:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.     Costs Associated with Current Observer Program

10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.     Business Session

  • Approve December 2013 and February 2014 minutes
  • Organizational Reports
    • NMFS Regional Administrator
    • NMFS NEFSC Director
    • NOAA Office of General Counsel
    • Federal Enforcement Officials (NMFS and USCG)
    • ASMFC Executive Director
  • Liaison Reports
    • New England Council (February 25-26, 2014)
    • South Atlantic Council (March 3-7, 2014)
  • Executive Director's Report - Chris Moore
    • Discuss RSA permitting cycle
    • Surfclam/Ocean Quahog industry concerns regarding NEFMC Habitat Amendment
    • Discuss planning for Summer Flounder Amendment
  • Science Report - Rich Seagraves
  • Committee Reports
    • River Herring & Shad Committee
    • Executive Committee
    • Spiny Dogfish Committee
  • Continuing and New Business

The above agenda items may not be taken in the order in which they appear and are subject to change as necessary.Other items may be added, but the Council cannot take action on such items even if the item requires emergency action without additional public notice.Non-emergency matters not contained in this agenda may come before the Council and / or its Committees for discussion, but these matters may not be the subject of formal Council or Committee action during this meeting.Council and Committee actions will be restricted to the issues specifically listed in this agenda.Any issues requiring emergency action under section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act that arise after publication of the Federal Register Notice for this meeting may be acted upon provided that the public has been notified of the Council’s intent to take final action to address the emergency.The meeting may be closed to discuss employment or other internal administrative matters.