April 5, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA:
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) intends to hold a meeting of the Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Advisory Panel (AP) on May 9-11, 2017, at the Sheraton Silver Spring Hotel, 8777 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910. The AP meeting and webinar will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 9, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 10, and from 9:00 a.m. to 12 noon on Thursday, May 11. A new member orientation session will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, May 9.
The meeting on Tuesday, May 9, Wednesday, May 10, and Thursday, May 11, 2017, will also be accessible via conference call and webinar.
Participants are strongly encouraged to log/dial in 15 minutes prior to the meeting. NMFS will show the presentations via webinar and allow public comment during identified times on the agenda.
The intent of this meeting is to consider alternatives for the conservation and management of all Atlantic tunas, swordfish, billfish, and shark fisheries. We anticipate discussing Amendment 5b on dusky sharks; Draft Amendment 10 on Essential Fish Habitat; implementation of Final Amendment 7 on bluefin tuna management, including the upcoming three-year review; and progress updates on various other rulemakings, including individual bluefin quota transfer criteria effective dates, requests for regulatory changes received to date; domestic implementation of recommendations from the 2016 meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas and issues for 2017; progress updates regarding the exempted fishing permit request to conduct research in pelagic longline closed areas and white shark research; and updates on shark stock assessments. We also anticipate discussing recreational and commercial fishing topics in specific breakout group sessions, including a detailed discuss of permitting, reporting, and compliance with recreational and commercial vessel requirements in response to several requests. Finally, we intend to invite other NMFS offices and the United States Coast Guard to provide updates on their activities relevant to HMS fisheries.
Additional information on the meeting and a copy of the draft agenda will be posted prior to the meeting at: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/advisory_panels/hms_ap/meetings/ap_meetings.html.
This email notice is a courtesy to Atlantic HMS fisheries interests to keep you informed about the fisheries. Official notice of Federal fishery actions is made through filing such notice with the Office of the Federal Register. For further information related to Atlantic HMS Management, please call (301) 427-8503 or see the HMS web page at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/.