[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 27 (Tuesday, February 10, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7418-7419]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-02583]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Highly 
Migratory Species Dealer Reporting Family of Forms

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 April 13, 2015.

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 Rick Pearson, Atlantic Highly Migratory Species 
Management Division, National Marine Fisheries Service, 263 13th Avenue 
South, Saint Petersburg, FL 33701, (813) 486-2037 or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract

    This request is for extension of a currently approved information 
collection,
    Under the provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 
and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), the National Marine 
Fisheries Service (NMFS) is responsible for management of the Nation's 
marine fisheries. NMFS must also promulgate regulations, as necessary 
and appropriate, to carry out obligations the United States (U.S.) 
undertakes internationally regarding tuna management through the 
Atlantic Tunas Convention Act (16 U.S.C. 971 et seq.).
    This collection serves as a family of forms for Atlantic highly 
migratory species (HMS) dealer reporting, including purchases of HMS 
from domestic fishermen, and the import, export, and/or re-export of 
HMS, including federally managed tunas, sharks, and swordfish.
    Transactions covered under this collection include purchases of 
Atlantic HMS from domestic fishermen; and the import/export of all 
bluefin tuna (BFT), frozen bigeye tuna (BET), southern bluefin tuna 
(SBT) or swordfish (SWO), regardless of geographic area of origin. This 
information is used to monitor the harvest of domestic fisheries, and/
or track international trade of internationally managed species.
    The domestic dealer reporting covered by this collection includes 
weekly electronic landing reports and negative reports (e.g., reports 
of no activity) of Atlantic SWO, sharks, BET, albacore, yellowfin, and 
skipjack tunas (collectively referred to as BAYS tunas), and biweekly 
and daily landing reports for BFT, including tagging of individual 
fish. Also, because of the recent development of an individual bluefin 
quota (IBQ) management system (RIN 0648-BC09), electronic entry of BFT 
landing card data is required for Atlantic BFT purchased from Longline 
and Purse seine category vessels. NMFS intends to consider integrating 
the data fields that have been collected on the Atlantic BFT Biweekly 
Dealer Report into the electronic system. However, at this time, 
dealers must submit to NMFS both electronic and faxed versions of BFT 
landing cards for purse seine and pelagic longline vessels.
    International trade tracking programs are required by both the 
International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) 
and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) to account for 
all international trade of covered species. The U.S. is a member of 
ICCAT and required by ATCA to promulgate regulations as necessary and 
appropriate to implement ICCAT recommendations. These programs require 
that a statistical document (SD) or catch document (CD) accompany each 
export from and import to a member nation, and that a re-export 
certificate (RXC) accompany each re-export. The international trade 
reporting requirements covered by this collection include 
implementation of CD, SD, and RXC trade tracking programs for BFT, 
frozen BET, and SWO. U.S. regulations implementing ICCAT SD and CD 
programs require SDs and CDs for international transactions of the 
covered species from all ocean areas, so Pacific imports and exports 
must also be accompanied by SDs and CDs. Since there are SD programs in 
place under other international conventions (e.g., the Indian Ocean 
Tuna Commission), a SD from another program may be used to satisfy the 
SD requirement for imports into the United States.
    Dealers who internationally trade SBT are required to participate 
in a trade tracking program to ensure that imported Atlantic and 
Pacific BFT will not be intentionally mislabeled as ``southern 
bluefin'' to circumvent reporting requirements. This action is 
authorized under ATCA, which provides for the promulgation of 
regulations as may be necessary and appropriate to carry out ICCAT 
recommendations.
    In addition to SD, CD, and RXC requirements, this collection 
includes biweekly reports to complement trade tracking SDs by 
summarizing SD data and collecting additional economic information.

II. Method of Collection

    Methods of submission include electronic, mail, fax and tagging of 
fish.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0648-0040.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Review: Regular submission (request for extension of a 
currently approved information collection).
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 7,061.
    Estimated Time per Response: 5 minutes each for CD, SD, and RXC 
certificates; 15 minutes for CD/SD/RXC validation by government 
official; 120 minutes for authorization of non-governmental CD/SD/RXC 
validation; 2 minutes for daily Atlantic BFT landing reports; 3 minutes 
for daily Atlantic BFT landing reports from pelagic longline and purse 
seine vessels; 1 minute for Atlantic BFT tagging; 15 minutes for 
biweekly Atlantic BFT dealer landing reports; 15 minutes for HMS 
international trade biweekly reports; 15 minutes for weekly electronic 
HMS dealer landing reports (e-dealer); 5 minutes for negative weekly 
electronic HMS dealer landing reports (e-dealer); 15 minutes for 
voluntary fishing vessel and catch forms; 2 minutes for provision of 
HMS dealer email address.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 18,700.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $154,155.

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

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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: February 4, 2015.
Glenna Mickelson,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2015-02583 Filed 2-9-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P