[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 31 (Thursday, February 16, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10884-10885]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-03076]


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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: Alaska Region Gear Identification.
    OMB Control Number: 0648-0353.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Regular (extension of a currently approved 
information collection).
    Number of Respondents: 988.
    Average Hours per Response: Tag requests and replacements, 15 
minutes; buoy marking, 15 minutes per buoy.
    Burden Hours: 1,841.
    Needs and Uses: Regulations specify that all hook-and-line, 
longline pot, and pot-and-line marker buoys carried on board or used by 
any vessel must be marked with Federal Fisheries Permit number or State 
of Alaska Department of Fish and Game vessel registration number. 
Regulations that marker buoys be marked with identification information 
are essential to facilitate fisheries enforcement and actions 
concerning damage, loss, and civil proceedings. The ability to link 
fishing gear to the vessel owner or operator is crucial to enforcement 
of regulations.
    This collection also provides a voluntary opportunity for Gulf of 
Alaska (GOA) individual fishing quota (IFQ) sablefish fishermen to use 
a gear that physically protects caught sablefish from depredation by 
whales. That option, the use of pot longline gear, currently exists in 
sablefish IFQ fisheries in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands 
management areas. Potential benefits of pot longline gear for sablefish 
fishing include: Mitigation of whale interaction with fishing gear, 
reduced mortality of seabirds, reduced bycatch of non-target fish 
species, reduced overall halibut mortality when targeting sablefish, 
and better accounting of total sablefish fishing mortality.
    Whales are able to strip hooked fish from hook-and-line gear, which 
reduces the amount of sablefish caught by fishermen. As such, whale 
depredation represents undocumented fishing mortality.
    Many seabird species are attracted to fishing vessels in order to 
forage on bait, offal, discards, and other prey made available by 
fishing operations. These interactions can result in direct mortality 
for seabirds if they become entangled in fishing gear or strike the 
vessel or fishing gear while flying.
    Each vessel must use mandatory logbooks (see OMB Control No. 0648-
0213 and 0648-0515) when participating in a longline pot fishery. When 
the number of pots deployed by a vessel is self-reported through 
logbooks, the use of pot tags provides an additional enforcement tool 
to ensure

[[Page 10885]]

that the pot limits are not exceeded. The use of pot tags requires a 
uniquely identified tag to be securely affixed to each pot. This allows 
at-sea enforcement and post-trip verification of the number of pots 
fished.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations; 
individuals or households.
    Frequency: 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: February 10, 2017.
Sarah Brabson,
NOAA PRA Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2017-03076 Filed 2-15-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P