[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 20 (Wednesday, February 1, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Page 8918]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-02131]



[[Page 8918]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


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: Atlantic Herring Amendment 5 Data Collection.
    OMB Control Number: 0648-0674.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Regular (extension of a currently approved 
information collection).
    Number of Respondents: 204.
    Average Hours per Response: Category E permit renewal, 1 minute; 
At-Sea Herring Dealer Permit renewal, 5 minutes; weekly dealer reports, 
15 minutes; VMS activity declarations, 5 minutes; VMS power-down 
exemption letter, 5 minutes; VMS pre-landing notification and gear 
declaration, 5 minutes; catch reports and vessel trip reports, 5 
minutes; request for an observer prior to a trip, 5 minutes; 
cancellation of trip, 1 minute; estimate of catch/discard provision, 1 
minute; documentation of slippage, 5 minutes.
    Burden Hours: 1,159.
    Needs and Uses: This request is for extension of a current 
information collection. Under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 
and Management Act, the Secretary of Commerce has the responsibility 
for the conservation and management of marine fishery resources. Much 
of this responsibility has been delegated to NOAA's 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 resources.
    Data collection for Amendment 5 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery 
Management Plan requires renewal of Category E permits for limited 
access herring permit holders. This collection also requires herring 
carrier vessels that sell herring (rather than deliver those fish on 
behalf of a dealer for purchase) to obtain or maintain an At-Sea 
Atlantic Herring Dealer Permit. Vessels that have both an At-Sea 
Atlantic Herring Dealer Permit and a Federal fishing permit are 
required to fulfill the reporting requirements of both permits as 
appropriate.
    This collection has several vessel monitoring system (VMS) and 
vessel trip reporting (VTR) components. Category E vessels must submit 
daily VMS reports, weekly VTRs, and maintain a VMS unit on their 
vessels and declare intent to target Atlantic herring via VMS. This 
collection allows a vessel that opts to enroll as a herring carrier to 
do so via VMS rather than obtaining a letter of authorization (LOA). By 
declaring a herring trip via VMS, a vessel is exempt from daily VMS 
catch reporting, and is not bound by the 7-day enrollment period 
required by the herring carrier LOA. Vessels with limited access 
herring permits, Category E permits, and vessels declaring herring 
carrier trips via VMS also must give a pre-landing notification to the 
NMFS Office of Law Enforcement via VMS. In addition, vessels are 
prohibited from turning off VMS units while in port. A vessel 
representative must request a letter of exemption (LOE) from NMFS to 
turn off its VMS if that vessel will be out of the water for more than 
72 hours. A vessel owner is able to sign a herring vessel out of the 
VMS program for a minimum of 30 days by requesting and obtaining an LOE 
from NMFS. A vessel is not able to leave the dock unless the VMS unit 
is turned back on.
    This collection also requires that vessels with limited access 
herring permits, vessels with open access Category D permits that are 
fishing with midwater trawl gear in Areas 1A, 1B, and/or 3, vessels 
with open access category E permits, and herring carrier vessels 
contact NMFS at least 48 hours in advance of fishing to request an 
observer. Vessels currently contact NMFS via phone, and selection 
notices or waivers are issued by NMFS via VMS. Vessels with limited 
access herring permits, Category E permits, and vessels declaring 
herring carrier trips via VMS must notify NMFS via VMS of their intent 
to participate in the herring fishery prior to leaving port on each 
trip by entering the appropriate activity and gear codes in order to 
harvest, possess, or land herring on that trip.
    Additionally, this collection requires vessels issued limited 
access permits working cooperatively in the herring fishery to provide 
NMFS-approved observers with the estimated weight of each species 
brought on board or released on each tow.
    Finally, this collection requires that all herring vessels (i.e. 
any area throughout the EEZ, any gear type) bring all catch aboard the 
vessel and make it available for sampling by an observer. If catch is 
not made available to an observer before discard, that catch is defined 
as slippage, and the vessel operator must complete a ``Released Catch 
Affidavit'' form within 48 hours of the end of the fishing trip which 
details why catch was slipped, estimates the quantity and species 
composition of the slipped catch, and records the time and location of 
the slipped catch.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.
    Frequency: Annually, daily and on occasion.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    This information collection request may be viewed at reginfo.gov. 
Follow the instructions to view 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 to (202) 395-5806.

    Dated: January 27, 2017.
Sarah Brabson,
NOAA PRA Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2017-02131 Filed 1-31-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P