P U B L I C N O T I C E S
Regional Ocean Planning Public Meetings Scheduled
The Northeast Regional Planning Body which is gathering information that will become a part of Northeast’s Regional Ocean Policy within a National Ocean Policy. Meetings to engage the public in the process are being held at the locations below. Fishermen are encouraged to bring their interests, concerns, thoughts and ideas to these public events. The end of 2015 is when a completed policy is expected. There may not be another opportunity for fishermen to engage in the development of a process that could change the environment in which and the means by which they make their living.
(Live links to more NRPB information can be found at neoceanplanning.org)
In advance of the upcoming Northeast Regional Planning Body (RPB) meeting on November 13-14 at Marriott Wentworth, Portsmouth, NH, the following public events will be held. These meetings will include updates on the regional ocean planning effort and a discussion of two topics the RPB will focus on at its November meeting: options under the Effective Decision Making goal and the Healthy Ocean and Coastal Ecosystems goal. See neoceanplanning.org for the Framework for Ocean Planning in the Northeast, which describes these goals and the options.
Please mark your calendars for the following meetings:
October 6, 2014 – Portsmouth, New Hampshire; 5:00-7:30pm, NH Department of Environmental Services, 222 International Dr., Suite 175, Room A, Portsmouth, NH
October 8, 2014 – Belfast, Maine; 1:00-4:00pm, Hutchinson Center, 80 Belmont Avenue, Belfast, ME
October 15, 2014 – Narragansett, Rhode Island; 5:00-7:30pm, Coastal Institute, 215 South Ferry Road, Hazards Room A and B, Narragansett, RI
October 20, 2014 – New Haven, Connecticut; 6:00-9:00pm, Regional Water Authority,
90 Sargent Drive, Welch Room M, New Haven, CT
October 27, 2014 – Boston, Massachusetts; 3:00-5:00pm, 100 Cambridge Street, Second Floor Conference Room C+D, Boston, MA
Additionally, a day-long regional forum will be held on October 21, 2014 at the University of New Hampshire, Holloway Commons, 75 Main Street, Durham, NH, in the Squamscott Room. The forum will focus on the topics leading into the November RPB meeting.
In advance of these meetings, discussion material have been posted online. Please see http://neoceanplanning.org/events/fall-2014-public-meetings/.
In addition to public comments and discussion on these topics at the upcoming public meetings, we also welcome comments online through this web page: http://neoceanplanning.org/public-comment/.
NEFMC Meeting
Tues.–Thurs., Sept. 30–Oct. 2, 2014
Cape Codder Resort, 1225 Iyannough Road, Hyannis, MA 02601
tel 855.861.4370, fax 508.771.6564
www.capecodderresort.com
If you plan to submit written comments for consideration at this meeting, they must be received at the NEFMC office by noon EST on Thurs., Sept. 25, 2014.
If using email, please send them to comments@nefmc.org.
See full agenda at www.nefmc.org/calendar/september-council-meeting
Notice of Agency Rule-Making Adoption
AGENCY: Department of Marine Resources
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE:
Ch. 25.04(B)(3) Lobster Trawl Limits Off Hancock County
EMERGENCY REGULATION – CONCISE SUMMARY: This emergency rulemaking adoption, as authorized by 12 M.R.S. §6171-A, is necessary to avoid anticipated gear conflicts involving lobster trawl traps and herring purse seines and mid-water trawlers in a specific area off Mount Desert Island. Under DMR Regulation Chapter 25.04(B), it is unlawful to have on any trawl more than three lobster traps in designated areas including an area off Hancock County. The Department and Maine Marine Patrol have received recent indications that the herring fishery will be in this area shortly and are concerned with lobster trap gear conflict.
This emergency rulemaking would create a temporary exception to this three lobster trap trawl limit in a designated area as outlined in Chapter 25.04(B)(3) in order to minimize gear conflicts that could arise between the herring fishery and the high concentration of lobster gear in this area. Given the historic high concentration of herring at this time of the year in this area, minimizing gear conflicts is critical to the success of both fisheries.
Specifically, in all waters within the described area that lies due south and seaward of a line drawn between latitude 44' 1.335 N and longitude 68' 13.845 W and latitude 44' 9.481 N and longitude 67' 57.56 W, it shall be lawful to have more than three traps on a trawl line. All areas north of this six nautical mile line within the Hancock County Trawl Limit Area as described by DMR Regulation Chapter 25.04(B)(3) will be limited to three traps per trawl per current rule. This emergency rule would expire on December 10, 2014.
As authorized by 12 M.R.S §6171-A(4-A), the Department of Marine Resources adopts this emergency regulation because “immediate action is necessary to prevent gear conflict and promote the optimum development of marine organisms as outlined in 12 M.R.S. 6171-A(1)(D).
EFFECTIVE DATE: Sept. 12, 2014.