Pacific Island Fisheries; Western Pacific Stock Assessment Review; Public Meeting

Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [RTID 0648-XF747] AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce. ACTION: Notice; public meeting. SUMMARY: The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) and NMFS will convene a Western Pacific Stock Assessment Review (WPSAR) of the stock assessment update for American Samoa bottomfish management unit species (BMUS). The review will be conducted virtually. DATES: The WSPAR meeting will be held May 18-19, 2026, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time. ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held by web conference via WebEx. Audio and visual portions for all web conferences can be accessed at https://www.wpcouncil.org . Web conference access information and instructions for providing public comments will be posted on the Council website at https://www.wpcouncil.org . For assistance with the web conference connection, contact the Council office at (808) 552-8220. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sarah Malloy, (808) 725-5000, or sarah.malloy@noaa.gov . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NMFS Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) developed a benchmark stock assessment for the American Samoa BMUS in 2023. PIFSC developed an update to this assessment, and the purpose of this WPSAR meeting is to convene an expert panel to conduct a peer review of the updated assessment. The 2026 assessment update uses the same modeling methodology as t…