The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold a 3-day meeting to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 18 through Thursday, June 20, 2013. The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, and at 8:30 a.m. on both Wednesday and Thursday.

The meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn by the Bay, 88 Spring Street, Portland, ME 04101; telephone: (207) 775.2311; fax: (207) 761.8224; or online at www.innbythebay.com/contact.

For agenda please click below

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Monkfish Committee on May 29, 2013 and May 30, 2013 to consider action affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Recommendations from this group will be brought to the full Council for formal consideration and action, if appropriate.

This meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 29, 2013 at 10 a.m. and Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 8:30 a.m.

The National Marine Fisheries Service is adjusting the General category Atlantic bluefin tuna daily retention limit to three large medium or giant (73" or greater curved fork length) bluefin tuna effective June 1-August 31, 2013.  This limit applies to vessels permitted in the Atlantic tunas General category (a commercial handgear category), and to vessels permitted in the HMS Charter/Headboat category while fishing commercially.

NMFS will hold a public conference call to discuss progress on current goals and objectives in the 2011 Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Recreational Fishing Action Agenda and potential updates to the Agenda. The 2011 Atlantic HMS Recreational Fishing Action Agenda was developed as part of a national effort to provide a comprehensive perspective of our efforts relating to recreational fisheries.

An operator-assisted, public conference call and webinar will be held on May 15, 2013, from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., EDT.

Recreational Management Measures for the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fisheries; Fishing Year 2013NMFS proposes management measures for the 2013 summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass recreational fisheries. This rule also proposes to implement an increase in the 2013 and 2014 black sea bass specifications, consistent with a new acceptable biological catch recommendation. The implementing regulations for these fisheries require NMFS to publish recreational measures for the fishing year and to provide an opportunity for public comment. The intent of these measures is to prevent overfishing of the summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass resources. For species specific measures please scroll down. 

Comments must be received by 5 p.m. local time, on May 14, 2013.

  Proposed 2013 Recreational Management Measures

The New England Fishery Management Council is scheduling a public meeting of its Scientific and Statistical Committee on May 16, 2013 to review the Monkfish Operational Stock Assessment Update. Recommendations from this group will be brought to the full Council for formal consideration and action, if appropriate.

This meeting will be held on Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 9:30 a.m.

We, NMFS, announce a 90-day finding on two petitions to list the great hammerhead shark range-wide or, in the alternative, the Northwest Atlantic distinct population segment (DPS) or any other identified DPSs as threatened or endangered under the endangered Species Act (ESA), and to designate critical habitat. We find that the petitions and information in our files present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted. We will conduct a status review of the species to determine if the petitioned action is warranted. To ensure that the status review is comprehensive, we are soliciting scientific and commercial information pertaining to this species from any interested party.

Information and comments on the subject action must be received by June 25, 2013.

Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS); request for comments

On October 7, 2011, we published an NOI to prepare an EIS for Amendment 5 to the 2006 Consolidated Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP) to address the results of recent shark stock assessments for several shark species, including dusky sharks. In that notice, based on the 2010/2011 Southeast Data, Assessment and Review (SEDAR) assessments for sandbar, dusky, and blacknose sharks, we declared that the status of the dusky shark stock is still overfished and still experiencing overfishing (i.e., their stock status has not changed). On November 26, 2012, we published a proposed rule for draft Amendment 5 to the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP. After fully considering the public comments received on draft Amendment 5 and its proposed rule, we decided that further analysis and consideration of management approaches, data sources, and available information are needed for dusky sharks beyond those considered in the proposed rule. Thus, we announce our intent to prepare a separate EIS under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to conduct further analyses and explore management options specific to rebuilding and ending overfishing of dusky sharks. This EIS would assess the potential effects on the human environment of action to rebuild and end overfishing of the dusky shark stock, consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). Through the rulemaking process, we would amend the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP and examine management alternatives available to rebuild dusky sharks and end overfishing, as necessary.

Comments must be received no later than 5 p.m., local time, on May 24, 2013.

Based on preliminary data available as of February 26, 2013, BFT landings in 2012 totaled 713.2 mt. Adding the 145.2-mt estimate of dead discards results in a preliminary 2012 total catch of 858.4 mt, which is 185.2 mt less than the amount of quota (inclusive of dead discards) allowed under ICCAT Recommendation 10-03, which applied in 2012 (i.e., 948.7 mt plus 94.9 mt of 2011 underharvest carried forward to 2012, totaling 1,043.6 mt). ICCAT limits the amount of underharvest that may be carried forward from one year to the next to no more than 10 percent of a country's quota, which limits the amount of 2012 U.S. underharvest that may be carried forward to 2013 to 94.9 mt.

NMFS proposes 2013 quota specifications for the Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) fishery, and seeks comments from the public on the allocation of available underharvest among the fishery categories under certain circumstances. This action is necessary to implement binding recommendations of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), as required by the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act (ATCA), and to achieve domestic management objectives under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).

Written comments must be received on or before May 13, 2013. 

Public hearings will be held on April 29, 2013, from 2 to 4 p.m., and on May 3, 2013, from 1 to 3 p.m. Click below for further details.

NMFS issues this advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) to provide background information and request public comment on potential issues related to the implementation of the Billfish Conservation Act of 2012.

NMFS is considering issuing regulations to implement the BCA. Rulemaking is needed to provide notice to the regulated community, increase public understanding of the elements of the billfish prohibitions, facilitate enforcement, and ensure consistent implementation of the BCA nationally. Through this ANPR, NMFS seeks the public's views on the potential scope of any future regulations to implement the BCA, including the scope of the exemption in section 4(c) of the BCA and the possible use of a modified version of the current billfish COE to document that billfish offered for sale qualifies for exemption from the general prohibition on sale. Also, what, if any, restrictions can NMFS impose on the transportation and sale of billfish caught by U.S. vessels and landed in Hawaii or the Pacific Insular Areas?

Written comments regarding the issues in this ANPR must be received by 5 p.m., local time, on July 3, 2013.