[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 18 (Tuesday, January 28, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4450-4451]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-01482]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Alaska Region 
Crab Permits

AGENCY: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 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 March 31, 2014.

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 Patsy A. Bearden, (907) 586-7008 or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    This request is for extension of a currently approved information 
collection.
    The king and Tanner crab fisheries in the exclusive economic zone 
of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands, Alaska, are managed under the 
Fishery Management Plan for Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands King and 
Tanner Crabs (FMP). The North Pacific Fishery Management Council 
prepared the FMP under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act as amended in 2006. National Marine Fisheries Service 
(NMFS) manages the crab fisheries in the waters off the coast of Alaska 
under the FMP. Regulations implementing the FMP and all amendments to 
the Crab Rationalization Program (CR Program) appear at 50 CFR part 
680. Program details are found at: http://www.alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/regs/680/default.htm.
    The CR Program balances the interests of several groups who depend 
on the crab fisheries. The CR Program addresses conservation and 
management issues associated with the previous derby fishery, reduces 
bycatch and associated discard mortality, and increases the safety of 
crab fishermen by ending the race for fish. Share allocations to 
harvesters and processors, together with incentives to participate in 
fishery cooperatives, increases efficiencies, provides economic 
stability, and facilitates compensated reduction of excess capacities 
in the harvesting and processing sectors. Community interests are 
protected by Western Alaska Community Development Quota allocations and 
regional landing and processing requirements, as well as by several 
community protection measures.
    The NMFS established the CR Program as a catch share program for 
nine crab fisheries in the BSAI, and assigned quota share (QS) to 
persons and processor quota share (PQS) to processors based on their 
historic participation in one or more of these nine crab fisheries 
during a specific period. The CR Program components include QS 
allocation, PQS allocation, individual fishing quota (IFQ) issuance, 
and individual processing quota (IPQ) issuance, quota transfers, use 
caps, crab harvesting cooperatives, protections for Gulf of Alaska 
groundfish fisheries, arbitration system, monitoring, economic data 
collection, and cost recovery fee collection.

II. Method of Collection

    Respondents have a choice of either electronic or paper forms. 
Methods of submittal include online, email of electronic forms, mail, 
and facsimile transmission of paper forms.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0648-0514.
    Form Number: None.
    Type of Review: Regular submission (extension of a currently 
approved collection).
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; business or other for-
profit organizations.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,988.
    Estimated Time per Response: Annual application for crab IFQ 
permit, application for Crab IPQ permit, application to become an 
eligible crab community organization (ECCO), 150 minutes each; 
application for an Annual Crab Harvesting Cooperative IFQ Permit, Right 
of first refusal (ROFR) contracts and waivers, 1 hour each; annual 
application for Crab Converted CPO QS and CPO IFQ and application for 
Registered Crab Receiver (RCR) Permit, BSAI Crab Rationalization 
Program Quota Share Beneficiary Designation Form, 30 minutes; 
application for Crab IFQ Hired Master Permit and application for 
Federal crab vessel permit (FCVP) 21 minutes each; application for 
eligibility to receive crab QS/IFQ or PQS/IPQ by transfer, application 
for transfer of crab IFQ, application for transfer of crab QS/IFQ to or 
from an ECCO, Application to transfer crab QS or PQS, application for 
Annual Exemption from Western Aleutian Islands Golden King Crab West 
Region Delivery Requirements, Community Impact Report or IPQ Holder 
Report (North or South Response Report), 2 hours each; ECCO Annual

[[Page 4451]]

report and appeal of denial to NMFS decisions, 4 hours each; 
application for transfer of IFQ between crab harvesting cooperatives, 
electronic, 5 minutes, non-electronic, 2 hours; application to Transfer 
Crab IPQ, electronic, 1 hour; non-electronic, 2 hours; CDQ notification 
of community representative, 5 hours; application for exemption from CR 
Crab North or South Region Delivery Requirements and North or South 
Region Delivery Exemption Report, 20 hours each.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 2,257.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $4,920 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: January 22, 2014.
Gwellnar Banks,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2014-01482 Filed 1-27-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P