NOAA Fisheries Service (NMFS) has added two meetings to the list of outreach and education meetings scheduled related to the Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Plan (HPTRP). As a reminder, these meetings will be provided by NMFS Northeast Region Protected Resources Division staff to review current HPTRP requirements, provide an update on the status of the HPTRP, provide pinger certification training or a pinger training refresher course, and distribute new outreach materials.

The HPTRP outreach meetings will take place at the following dates, locations, and times. Those meetings with a * indicate an additional meeting.

Tuesday, October 3, 2006 – 6 P.M.
Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries
Annisquam River Marine Fisheries Field Station
30 Emerson Avenue
Gloucester, MA 01930

Thursday, October 5, 2006 – 6 P.M.
Urban Forestry Center
45 Elwyn Road
Portsmouth, NH 03801

Wednesday, October 25, 2006 – 6 P.M.*
Casco Bay Lines
56 Commercial Street
Portland, ME 04112

Wednesday, November 1, 2006 – 6 P.M.
Corliss Auditorium
University of Rhode Island Narragansett Bay Campus
South Ferry Road
Narragansett, RI 02882

Thursday, November 2, 2006 – 6 P.M.
Hampton Inn New Bedford/Fairhaven
Paul J. Diodati
Director
1 Hampton Way
Fairhaven, MA 02719

Tuesday, November 7, 2006 – 6 P.M.*
Duxbury Free Library
77 Alden Street
Duxbury, MA 02332

Thursday, November 9, 2006 – 6 P.M.
Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen’s Association
210-E Orleans Road
North Chatham, MA 02650

Wednesday, November 15, 2006 - 5:30 P.M.
(Following adjournment of the New England Fishery Management Council meeting)
Tavern on the Harbor
30 Western Avenue
Gloucester, MA 01930

Tuesday, January 30, 2007 – 6 P.M.
Ferrara’s Restaurant
518 Arnold Avenue
Point Pleasant Beach, NJ 08742

For more information about the Gulf of Maine and Mid-Atlantic HPTRP outreach meetings, including directions and topics to be covered, please visit the HPTRP web site at http://www.nero.noaa.gov/prot_res/porptrp and click on the link under “What’s New” or contact one of the NMFS Northeast Region’s Protected Resources staff members: Amanda Johnson at (978) 281-9300 extension 6513, John Higgins (Northeast liaison) at (207) 677-2316, or Glenn Salvador (Mid-Atlantic liaison) at (757) 414-0128.