The public is invited to attend the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's October 2015 meeting on October 6 – 8, 2015 in Philadelphia, PA. The meeting will be held at the Doubletree Philadelphia Center City, 237 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107, Telephone 215-893-1600. Additional details and briefing materials will be posted on the October 2015 Council Meeting page.
For online access to the meeting, enter as a guest at:
http://mafmc.adobeconnect.com/october2015/
Agenda
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
9:00 a.m. Council Convenes
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Habitat Workshop
- A workshop to discuss potential strategies to more fully integrate habitat into the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management process
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. Lunch
1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Habitat Workshop (Continued)
2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Blueline Tilefish
- Approve range of alternatives for blueline tilefish amendment
3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Spiny Dogfish Specifications (Spiny Dogfish Committee of the Whole)
- Review SSC ABC, Monitoring Committee and AP recommendations
- Recommend 2016 – 2018 spiny dogfish specifications and associated management measures
4:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management - Brian Hooker
- Update on recent activities
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Executive Committee
- Review 2015 Implementation Plan
- Discuss and review 2016 Implementation Plan
10:00 a.m. Council Convenes
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Comprehensive Research Plan
- Review and approve Council’s 2016-2020 Five-Year Research Priority Plan
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Council Cooperative Research Plan
- Identify research priorities for near-term cooperative research projects
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. Lunch
1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. Black Sea Bass Acceptable Biological Catch 2016/2017
- Review SSC report regarding data limited methods for recommending black sea bass Acceptable Biological Catch
- Revise 2016-2017 black sea bass catch limit recommendations if appropriate
2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. NEFMC Framework for Surfclams and Ocean Quahogs - Michelle Bachman
- Clam dredge exemption areas on Georges Bank and Nantucket shoals areas
3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Unmanaged Forage Scoping Results
- Summary of scoping comments
- Identify next steps
5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Sex-Specific Model for Summer Flounder - Pat Sullivan
- Update on progress
Thursday, October 8, 2015
9:00 a.m. Council Convenes
9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Industry Funded Observer Amendment - GARFO
- Identify preferred alternatives for public hearings
11:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management Policy - Heather Sager
- Review NOAA Draft Policy Statement on Ecosystem Based Fishery Management
11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Business Session
- Organization Reports
- NMFS Greater Atlantic Regional Office
- NMFS Northeast Fisheries Science Center
- NOAA Office of General Counsel
- NOAA Office of Law Enforcement
- U.S. Coast Guard
- Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
- Liaison Reports
- New England Council
- South Atlantic Council
- Executive Director's Report - Chris Moore
- Science Report - Rich Seagraves
- Committee Reports
- Executive Committee
- SSC
- Continuing and New Business