[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 37 (Tuesday, February 25, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10471-10472]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-04025]


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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).

[[Page 10472]]

    Title: Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) Requirement in the Pacific 
Coast Groundfish Fishery.
    OMB Control Number: 0648-0573.
    Form Number(s): NA.
    Type of Request: Regular submission (extension of a current 
information collection).
    Number of Respondents: 1,000.
    Average Hours Per Response: VMS installation and activation 
reports, and exemption reports, 5 minutes; gear declaration reports, 4 
minutes.
    Burden Hours: 771.
    Needs and Uses: This request is for extension of a currently 
approved information collection.
    NOAA has established large-scale depth-based management areas, 
referred to as Groundfish Conservation Areas (GCAs), where groundfish 
fishing is prohibited or restricted. These areas were specifically 
designed to reduce the catch of species while allowing healthy 
fisheries to continue in areas and with gears where little incidental 
catch of overfished species is likely to occur. Because NOAA needs 
methods to effectively enforce area restrictions, certain commercial 
fishing vessels are required to install and use a vessel monitoring 
system (VMS) that automatically sends hourly position reports. 
Exemptions from the reporting requirement are available for inactive 
vessels or vessels fishing outside the monitored area. The vessels are 
also required to declare what gear will be used.
    To ensure the integrity of the GCAs and Rockfish Conservation Areas 
(RCA), a pilot VMS program was implemented on January 1, 2004. The 
pilot program required vessels registered to Pacific Coast groundfish 
fishery limited entry permits to carry and use VMS transceiver units 
while fishing off the coasts of Washington, Oregon and California. On 
January 1, 2007, the VMS program coverage was expanded on to include 
all open access fisheries in addition to the limited entry fisheries.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.
    Frequency: Every four years, annually and on occasion.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    This information collection can be viewed at http://www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to review Department of 
Commerce collections currently under review by OMB.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice 
to [email protected] or fax no. (202) 395-5806.

    Dated: February 20, 2014.
Gwellnar Banks,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2014-04025 Filed 2-24-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P