It is said that the Council Committees will convene Monday afternoon after a series of closed sessions. Committees will meet through mid morning Wednesday, with the full Council convening Wednesday morning through Thursday. The Data Collection Committee will review a report of the Logbook Workshop, and the Shrimp Management Committee will review the following:
• “Status and Health of the Shrimp Stocks for 2008”
• “Stock Assessment Report 2008 – Gulf of Mexico Shrimp Fishery”
• “A Biological Review of the Tortugas Pink Shrimp Fishery Through December 2008”
• Preliminary Report of Shrimp Effort in 2009
It is told that on Monday the meeting will conclude with discussions by the Sustainable Fisheries/Ecosystem Committee on a report from the ABC Control workgroup meeting and scoping hearing summaries from the generic ACL/AM Amendment, and the five-year research plan.
On Tuesday the Reef Fish Management Committee will meet to discuss the gag/red grouper amendment scoping document (Reef Fish Amendment 32) and select scoping hearing locations. Finally, the Committee will develop a charge for the Limited Access Privilege Program (LAPP) Advisory Panel and discuss the issue of sector separation.
On Wednesday the Coastal Migratory Pelagics (CMP) (Mackerel) Management Committee will review of the CMP scoping meeting summaries and options for the CMP Amendment 18/20. The full Council will convene at 10:30 a.m., and from 11:00 a.m. – noon, will receive a presentation regarding the Catch Shares Task Force.
The full Council will convene again at 8:30 a.m. Thursday to deliberate and take action on committee recommendations made earlier in the week. The meeting is expected to conclude by 1:00 p.m. Although other non-emergency issues not on the agenda may come before the Council and Committees for discussion, in accordance with the M-SFCMA, those issues may not be the subject of formal action during these meetings.
