October 18, 2022 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
The New England Fishery Management Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) will meet to discuss issues related to monkfish and groundfish. The public is invited to listen live. Here are the details.
START TIME: 9:00 a.m. both days
LOCATION: Hilton Garden Inn, Boston Logan Airport
WEBINAR REGISTRATION: Online access to the meeting is available at Listen Live. There is no charge to join the meeting through this webinar. The Remote Participation Guide is posted here.
CALL-IN OPTION: To listen by telephone, dial +1 (415) 930-5321. The access code is 557-716-863. Your regular phone charges will apply.
AGENDA: The SSC will meet to:
- Review information provided by the Council’s Groundfish Plan Development Team, as well as results from the recent peer-reviewed management track stock assessments for several groundfish stocks;
- Using the Council’s acceptable biological catch (ABC) control rule, recommend the overfishing limits (OFLs) and acceptable biological catches (ABCs) for fishing years 2023, 2024, and 2025 for Georges Bank haddock, Gulf of Maine haddock, Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic yellowtail flounder, Cape Cod/Gulf of Maine yellowtail flounder, Georges Bank winter flounder, Gulf of Maine winter flounder, American plaice, white hake, pollock, and Atlantic halibut;
- Receive an update on the development of ABC control rule alternatives under consideration for the Northeast Multispecies (Groundfish) Fishery Management Plan;
- Review information provided by the Council’s Monkfish Plan Development Team, as well as results from the recent Monkfish Management Track Stock Assessment and peer review;
- Recommend the OFLs and ABCs for the Northern and Southern Monkfish Fishery Management Areas for fishing years 2023, 2024, and 2025;
- Recommend an approach for determining the discard deduction from the annual catch target for setting specifications for the monkfish fishery for fishing years 2023-2025; and
- Discuss other business if necessary.
COMMENTS: The deadline for submitting written comments for consideration at this meeting is 8:00 a.m. on Monday, October 24, 2022. Address comments to Council Chair Eric Reid or Executive Director Tom Nies and email them to comments@nefmc.org. Additional information is available in the meeting notice.
MATERIALS: All documents for this meeting will be posted on the SSC October 26-27, 2022 meeting webpage.
QUESTIONS: Contact Joan O’Leary at (978) 465-0492, ext. 101, joleary@nefmc.org or Janice Plante at (607) 592-4817, jplante@nefmc.org.