[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 107 (Friday, June 3, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Page 32141]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-13810]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    The Department of Commerce will submit to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for clearance the following proposal for collection of 
information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 
U.S.C. chapter 35).
    Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
    Title: Alaska Pacific Halibut Fisheries: Charter Recordkeeping.
    OMB Control Number: 0648-0575.
    Form Number(s): NA.
    Type of Request: Regular submission (extension of a current 
information collection).
    Number of Respondents: 1,909.
    Average Hours per Response: 4 minutes.
    Burden Hours: 2,415.
    Needs and Uses: This request is for an extension of a currently 
approved information collection.
    Pacific halibut is an unusual resource in that halibut management 
in both state and federal waters is an international and federal 
responsibility under the North Pacific Halibut Act of 1982. Annual 
catch quotas are determined by the International Pacific Halibut 
Commission (IPHC), and federal responsibility for halibut management 
extends to halibut stocks and fishing activity within State of Alaska 
waters. In order to manage halibut effectively, international and 
federal managers need information on halibut fishing effort and harvest 
by all user groups, including the guided sport charter sector of the 
fishery.
    In order to minimize the recordkeeping and reporting burden on 
guided charter operations, federal and international managers depend on 
fishing activity and harvest information collected by the State of 
Alaska through its charter logbook program. Federal regulations at 50 
CFR 300.65 require charter vessel operators fishing in IPHC Areas 2C 
and 3A to comply with the State of Alaska logbook reporting 
requirements.
    The State of Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) Division of 
Sport Fish initiated a mandatory logbook program for charter vessels in 
1998 requiring annual registration of sport fishing guides and 
businesses and logbook reporting. The logbook and registration program 
was intended to provide information on actual participation and harvest 
by individual charter vessels and businesses in various regions of the 
state.
    ADF&G issues charter logbooks to licensed businesses only and also 
provides operators with registration stickers and statistical area 
maps. A schedule of logbook due dates is printed inside the front cover 
of each logbook.
    NMFS and ADF&G coordinated closely in the development of this 
information collection to use the existing ADF&G logbook to record 
information necessary for the monitoring and enforcement of the charter 
vessel angler daily catch limit of halibut, so that a separate federal 
logbook system would not be necessary. This approach reduces burden to 
both the charter vessel industry, and federal and state management 
agencies.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    OMB Desk Officer: [email protected].
    Copies of the above information collection proposal can be obtained 
by calling or writing Diana Hynek, Departmental Paperwork Clearance 
Officer, (202) 482-0266, Department of Commerce, Room 6616, 14th and 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230 (or via the Internet at 
[email protected]).
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice 
to [email protected].

    Dated: May 31, 2011.
Gwellnar Banks,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2011-13810 Filed 6-2-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P