[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 14 (Monday, January 23, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3470-3471]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-670]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; American 
Fisheries Act: Recordkeeping and Reporting

AGENCY: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort 
to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public 
and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on 
proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before March 24, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Diana Hynek, Departmental 
Paperwork Clearance Officer, Department of Commerce, Room 6625, 14th 
and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230 (or via the Internet 
at [email protected]).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the information collection instrument and instructions should 
be directed to Patsy A. Bearden, 907-586-7008 or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    The American Fisheries Act (AFA) was signed into law in October of 
1998. The AFA established an allocation program for the pollock fishery 
of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (BSAI). The 
purposes of the AFA were to tighten U.S. ownership standards that had 
been exploited under the Anti-reflagging Act, to provide Alaska's BSAI 
pollock fleet the opportunity to conduct their fishery in a more 
rational manner, and to protect non-AFA participants in other 
fisheries.
    Reduced bycatch, higher utilization rates, increased economic 
returns, and improved safety are among the direct benefits of the AFA. 
The flexibility provided by cooperatives and by individual vessel 
allocations of pollock and other species has allowed the BSAI pollock 
fleet to spread their fishing effort in time and space, thus somewhat 
mitigating the negative impacts of the Steller sea lion (SSL) 
conservation and protection measures. The BSAI pollock quota is 
suballocated to groups of vessel owners who form fishing vessel 
cooperatives. The cooperative management structure has shifted more of 
the monitoring and enforcement burden to the cooperatives and their 
members, allowing NMFS to manage the fishery more precisely.
    In order to make timely management decisions on closures, NMFS 
requires shoreside processors and stationary floating processors to use 
shoreside processor electronic logbook report (SPELR) to provide 
catcher vessel delivery information describing daily harvests of 
pollock and sideboard species on a vessel-by-vessel basis. The SPELR 
software provided by NMFS has automatic features that allow the users 
to effect file transfer by computer modem to the NMFS communication 
server, or file transfer can occur as an attachment to an e-mail 
message.

II. Method of Collection

    Electronic files, paper reports, and paper applications are 
required from participants. Methods of submittal include transfer by 
computer modem, transfer by e-mail attachment, and facsimile 
transmission.

III. Data

    OMB Number: 0648-0401.
    Form Number: None.
    Type of Review: Regular submission.
    Affected Public: Individuals or household; business or other for-
profits organizations.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 26.

[[Page 3471]]

    Estimated Time per Response: 20 hours for Annual preliminary 
report; 8 hours for Annual final report; 30 minutes for Non-member 
vessel contract fishing application; 30 minutes to complete and print 
shoreside processor electronic logbook report (SPELR); 5 minutes to 
electronically submit SPELR report; 5 minutes for Inshore catcher 
vessel cooperative pollock catch report; and 5 minutes for Agent for 
service of process.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 1,024.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $635.

IV. Request for Comments

    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden 
(including hours and cost) of the proposed collection of information; 
(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the 
collection of information on respondents, including through the use of 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of this information 
collection; they also will become a matter of public record.

    Dated: January 17, 2006.
Gwellnar Banks,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. E6-670 Filed 1-20-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P