October 6-8 Council Meeting in Philadelphia, PA

Council Meeting in Philadelphia, PA: October 6-8 

Tuesday, October 6, 2015 – Thursday, October 8, 2015

Doubletree Philadelphia Center City

237 S. Broad Street

Philadelphia, PA 19107

Telephone 215-893-1600

The public is invited to attend the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s October 2015 meeting to be held in Philadelphia, PA. Briefing materials for the meeting will be posted on the October 2015 Council Meeting Page. 

For online access to the meeting, go to http://mafmc.adobeconnect.com/october2015/ and select “enter as guest.”

Meeting Agenda

View as PDF

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 Allowable 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.  Summer Flounder Model – 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