[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 220 (Wednesday, November 14, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67792-67793]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-27596]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Northeast 
Region Permit Family of Forms

AGENCY: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 
Commerce.

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 January 14, 
2013.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Jennifer Jessup, Departmental 
Paperwork Clearance Officer, Department of Commerce, Room 6616, 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 Lindsey Feldman, (978) 675-2179 or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract

    This request is for revision and extension of a current information 
collection. Under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act, the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) has the 
responsibility for the conservation and management of marine fishery 
resources. Much of this responsibility has been delegated to the 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/National Marine 
Fisheries Service (NMFS). Under this stewardship role, the Secretary 
was given certain regulatory authorities to ensure the most beneficial 
uses of these resources. One of the regulatory steps taken to carry out 
the conservation and management objectives is to collect information 
from users of the resource.
    As regional Fishery Management Councils develop specific Fishery 
Management Plans (FMP), the Secretary has promulgated rules for the 
issuance of permits to individuals and organizations participating in 
Federally controlled fisheries in order to: (1) Register fishermen, 
fishing vessels, fish dealers and processors, (2) List the 
characteristics of fishing vessels and/or dealer/processor operations, 
(3) Exercise influence over compliance (e.g. withhold issuance pending 
collection of unpaid penalties), (4) Provide a mailing list and email 
list for the dissemination of important information to the industry, 
(5) Register participants to be considered for limited entry, and (6) 
Provide a universe for data collection samples. Identification of the 
participants, their gear types, vessels, and expected activity levels 
is an effective tool in the enforcement of fishery regulations.
    Limited access fishing permits, where entry is reviewed during a 
one-time application period, place size, tonnage, and horsepower 
restrictions on the ability of a vessel owner to upgrade or replace 
their vessel. If a vessel owner wishes to upgrade any of the 
specifications of his/her vessel such as length overall, net tonnage, 
gross tonnage, horsepower, or vessel fish hold capacity, he/she must 
submit, in writing, a request for a vessel upgrade. A request, in 
writing, also must be made in order to replace one limited access 
permitted vessel with another as vessel size restrictions are limited 
to 10-percent above the baseline length overall, gross, and net 
tonnage, 20-percent above the baseline horsepower, and 10-percent above 
the vessel hold capacity measurement for limited access vessels with 
Tier 1 or 2 Atlantic mackerel permits.
    Vessels with particular permits are also required to use an 
electronic vessel monitoring system (VMS) to declare their intent to 
fish before starting a particular trip, change their intent to fish 
during a trip, and to report real-time catch and discard information. 
While vessels are also required to report catch information weekly or 
monthly depending on their permit through vessel trip reports 
(VTRs)(VTR collection approved in OMB Control No. 0648-0212), it is 
often necessary to have daily catch reporting in order to have a real-
time understanding of the operation of the fishery. Real-time catch 
reporting is especially important for high volume fisheries, where 
large amounts of fish are landed in short periods of time, so that the 
fishery can be shut down when approaching the annual, regional, or 
seasonal quota.
    This collection also includes the requirement of participants in 
certain fisheries to notify NMFS before fishing trips for the purpose 
of observer placement. The placement of fisheries observers is critical 
to accurately monitoring and collecting information on fish catch, 
discards, gear performance, socio-economic information about vessel 
crew and operations, etc. Vessels are also required to request, in 
writing, participation in any of the various exemption programs offered 
in the Northeast region. Exemption programs may allow a vessel to fish 
in an area that is limited to vessels of a particular size, using a 
certain gear type, or fishing for a particular species. Vessels are 
also required to request gillnet and lobster tags through the Northeast 
region permit office when using gillnet gear or lobster traps. Lastly, 
vessel owners that own multiple vessels, but would like to request 
communication from NMFS be consolidated into one mailing (and not 
separate mailings for each vessel), may request the single letter 
vessel owner option to improve efficiency of their business practice.

[[Page 67793]]

    This revision/extension removes the expedited submission of 
proposed special access programs (SAPs), days-at-sea (DAS) transfer 
program requirements, and Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization 
(NAFO) reporting requirements to avoid duplication, as this information 
has been moved to another collection (OMB Control No. 0648-0605).

II. Method of Collection

Vessel Permits

    All vessel permit applications including initial permit 
applications for vessels and dealers, vessel and dealer renewal 
applications, vessel operator permit applications, gillnet and lobster 
trap tag purchase are submitted by signed paper form sent in the mail.

VMS Requirements

    Vessels with VMS requirements are required to declare their intent 
to fish (i.e. declare into the fishery) and submit daily catch reports 
using electronic VMS units on board the vessel. VMS power down 
exemption requests are submitted by signed paper form.

Observer Program Call-In Requirements

    Vessels issued certain permits such as NE multispecies, monkfish, 
scallop, and Atlantic herring permits are required to give advance 
notification to the Northeast Fisheries Observer Program (NEFOP) before 
the start of a trip in order to receive a fisheries observer or a 
waiver. Vessels use an online pre-trip notification system, email, 
toll-free call in number, or a local phone number to comply with this 
requirement.

Exempted Fisheries Programs

    Vessels that would like to request participation in one or more of 
the NE fisheries exemption programs must either submit a request 
electronically using their VMS unit, by declaring into an exempted 
fishery prior to the start of a trip, or by mailing in a written 
request to participate in the program(s) of interest.

Vessel Owner Single Letter Option

    Vessel owners that own multiple vessels, but would like to receive 
only a single NE Fisheries Bulletin or small entity compliance guide 
instead of one for each vessel permit, must submit a request, in 
writing, to NMFS to participate in this program.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0648-0202.
    Form Number: None.
    Type of Review: Regular submission (revision and extension of a 
current information collection).
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit organizations; 
Individuals or households, state, local or tribal government, and 
Federal Government.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 62,295.
    Estimated Time Per Response:

Vessel Permits

    Vessel permit application: 45 minutes; Vessel permit renewal forms: 
30 minutes; Initial dealer permit applications: 15 minutes; Dealer 
permit renewal forms: 5 minutes; Initial and renewal vessel operator 
permit applications: 1 hour; Obtaining and submitting a dealer or 
vessel owner email address: 5 minutes; Limited access vessel upgrade or 
replacement applications: 3 hours; and Applications for retention of 
limited access permit history: 30 minutes.

VMS Requirements

    Installing a VMS unit: 1 hour; Confirming VMS connectivity: 5 
minutes; VMS certification form: 5 minutes; VMS installation for 
Canadian herring transport vessels: 1 hour and 20 minutes; Email to 
declare their entrance and departure from U.S. waters: 15 minutes; 
Automatic polling of vessel position using the VMS unit: 0 minutes; 
Area and DAS declarations: 5 minutes; Declaration of days-out of the 
gillnet fishery for monkfish and NE multispecies vessels: 3 minutes; 
Departure and landing notification for monkfish and occasional sea 
scallop vessels using the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system: 2 
minutes; Good Samaritan DAS credit request: 30 minutes; Entangled whale 
DAS credit request: 30 minutes; DAS credit for a canceled trip due to 
unforeseen circumstances, but have not yet begun fishing: 5 minutes to 
request via the VMS unit and 10 minutes to request via the paper form; 
VMS catch reports for trips in NE multispecies broad stock areas: 15 
minutes; All other NE multispecies VMS reporting requirements, such as 
U.S. Canada Area, Closed Area II Special Access Programs, etc: 15 
minutes; VMS catch reports by Atlantic herring vessels: 7 minutes, VMS 
power down exemption: 30 minutes.

Observer Program Call-In Requirements

    Requests for observer coverage are estimated to require either 2 or 
10 minutes per request, depending on the program for which observers 
are requested.

Exempted Fisheries Programs

    Letter of Authorization (LOA) to participate in any of the 
exemption programs: 5 minutes; Charter/Party Exemption Certificate for 
GOM Closed Areas: 2 minutes; Limited access sea scallop vessels state 
waters DAS exemption program or state waters gear exemption program: 2 
minutes; Withdraw from either state waters exemption program prior to 
the end of the 7-day designated exemption period requirement: 2 
minutes; Request for change in permit category designation: 5 minutes; 
Request for transit to another port by a vessel required to remain 
within the GOM cod trip limit: 2 minutes; Gillnet category designation, 
including initial requests for gillnet tags: 10 minutes; Requests for 
additional tags: 2 minutes; Notification of lost tags and requests for 
replacement tag numbers: 2 minutes; Attachment of gillnet tags: 1 
minute; Initial lobster area designations: 5 minutes; Requests for 
additional tags: 2 minutes; and notification of lost tags: 3 minutes; 
Requests for state quota transfers in the bluefish, summer flounder and 
scup fisheries: 1 hour; GOM cod trip limit exemption: 5 minutes; Vessel 
owner single letter option: 5 minutes.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 28,748.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $5,828,067 in recordkeeping/
reporting costs.

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: November 8, 2012.
Gwellnar Banks,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2012-27596 Filed 11-13-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P