April 15, 2015 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
The New England Fishery Management Council has begun work on Amendment 8 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan. This last scoping hearing on the amendment will be held on Monday, April 20, 2015, at the same venue as the NEFMC’s April Council meeting, the Hilton Hotel, 20 Coogan Boulevard, in Mystic, CT 06355. The public will be able to provide comments from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
The purpose of the action is to establish a control rule for acceptable biological catch and one of first steps in the federal fishery management process is to initiate “scoping.” A user-friendly scoping document is located on the Council’s website at http://www.nefmc.org/calendar/mar.-6-2015-scoping-hearing-herring-amendment-8. It discusses the intent of scoping and provides further details about why the Council is proposing this action. Written and electronic comments must be received on or before 5 p.m., EST, April 30, 2015.