News Release – Mid Atlantic Council Meeting in Raleigh

Hilton Garden Inn Raleigh/Crabtree Valley 
3912 Arrow Drive
Raleigh, NC 27612
Telephone 919-703-2525

The public is invited to attend the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s February 2018 meeting to be held February 13-15, 2018 in Raleigh, NC. The meeting will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn Raleigh/Crabtree Valley, 3912 Arrow Drive, Raleigh, NC 27612, Telephone 919-703-2525.

Meeting Materials: Briefing documents will be posted at http://ww.mafmc.org/briefing/february-2018 as they become available.

Public Comments: Written comments must be received by Wednesday, January 31, 2018 to be included in the Council meeting briefing book. Comments received after this deadline but before Thursday, February 8, 2018 will be posted as “supplemental materials” on the Council meeting web page. After that date, all comments must be submitted using an online comment form available at available at http://www.mafmc.org/public-comment.

Webinar: For online access to the meeting, enter as a guest at: http://mafmc.adobeconnect.com/february2018.

Agenda

PDF Agenda

Tuesday, February 13th

1:00 p.m. Council Convenes

1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Risk Policy Framework and MSE
John Wiedenmann and Doug Lipton

• Council discussion on integration of more comprehensive social and economic analyses into MAFMC MSE model developed to evaluate Council risk policy and ABC Framework

Council Staff

• Risk policy and butterfish specifications

3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Climate Change and Fisheries
Bradford Dubik/Elizabeth Clark (Duke University)

• Trends in average commercial fishing locations over time in response to shifts in species distribution

Jim Morely (Rutgers)

• Discuss future direction of Rutgers/MAFMC Climate Velocity COCA project

Wednesday, February 14th

9:00 a.m. Council Convenes

9:00 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. Ricks E Savage Award

9:15 a.m. Demersal Committee Meeting as a Committee of the Whole

9:15 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Black Sea Bass Recreational Management Measures

• Adopt 2018 Federal waters management measures (tabled motion from December 2017 meeting)
• Review state proposals for 2018 February fishery
• Discuss progress on LOA Framework

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Commercial Accountability Measures Framework – Meeting 2

• Review and approve preferred alternatives

12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Lunch

1:30 p.m. Council Convenes

1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Council Habitat Update

• Progress towards a Regional Fish Habitat Assessment
• Council engagement on Offshore Wind Energy Planning
• Habitat projects of interest (GARFO/Habitat Conservation update)

3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. North Atlantic Right Whale 5-Year Review and Reinitiation of Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 7 Fishery Biological Opinions
Michael Asaro (NMFA PRD)

• Update on the status of right whales and a summary of recent research
• Overview of consultation on commercial fisheries under Section 7 of the ESA
• Update on planned activities of the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team under the Marine Mammal Protection Act in 2018

Thursday, February 15th

9:00 a.m. Council Convenes

9:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Business Session

• Committee Reports
• Executive Director’s Report, Chris Moore
• Science Report, Rich Seagraves
  • Review final draft of EAFM Risk Assessment
• Law Enforcement Reports
  • NOAA Office of Law Enforcement
  • U.S. Coast Guard
• Organization Reports
  • NMFS Greater Atlantic Regional Office
  • NMFS Northeast Fisheries Science Center
  • NOAA Office of General Counsel
  • Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
• Liaison Reports
  • New England Council
  • South Atlantic Council
  • Regional Planning Body
• Continuing and New Business