[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 70 (Thursday, April 13, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17826-17827]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-07497]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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: Expanded Vessel Monitoring System Requirement in the Pacific 
Coast Groundfish Fishery.
    OMB Control Number: 0648-0573.
    Form Number(s): None.

[[Page 17827]]

    Type of Request: Regular (extension of a currently approved 
information collection).
    Number of Respondents: 1,000.
    Average Hours per Response: VMS installation: 4 hours; VMS 
maintenance: 4 hours; installation, exemption and activation reports: 5 
minutes each; and declaration reports: 4 minutes.
    Burden Hours: 771.
    Needs and Uses: This request is for extension of a currently 
approved information collection.
    The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (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 send 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, 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. 
Finally, in 2010, NMFS expanded the declaration reports to include 
several more limited entry categories.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit.
    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: April 10, 2017.
Sarah Brabson,
NOAA PRA Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2017-07497 Filed 4-12-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P