[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 140 (Monday, July 22, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35099-35100]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-15492]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Alaska Council 
Cooperative Annual Reports

AGENCY: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 
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 September 20, 
2019.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Adrienne Thomas, Government 
Information Specialist, NOAA, 151 Patton Avenue, Room 159, Asheville, 
NC 28801 (or via the internet at [email protected]). Comments will 
generally be posted without change. All Personally Identifiable 
Information (for example, name and address) voluntarily submitted by 
the commenter may be publicly accessible. Do not submit Confidential 
Business Information or otherwise sensitive or protected information. 
You may submit attachments to electronic comments in Microsoft Word, 
Excel, or Adobe PDF file formats.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the information collection instrument and instructions should 
be directed to Gabrielle Aberle, NOAA's National Marine Fisheries 
Service, P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802-1668, Telephone (907) 586-
7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract

    The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) has 
developed cooperative programs as options in several fishery catch 
share programs. As part of cooperative programs, the Council and the 
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) have required or requested 
that the cooperatives submit annual reports detailing various fishery 
activities. These reports are intended to be a resource for the Council 
to track the effectiveness of cooperatives and their ability to meet 
the Council's goals, and as way for NMFS to monitor the internal 
fishery management practices of cooperatives. Additionally, they are a 
tool for the cooperatives to provide feedback on the programs. This 
collection covers the following required and voluntary cooperative and 
inter-cooperative reports, agreements, and plans:
     The Alaska Crab Rationalization Program Cooperative Annual 
Report is voluntary and provides information about measures taken by 
cooperatives to increase the availability of crab quota share (QS) for 
transfer to active participants and crew members in the fishery, as 
well as actions to decrease high QS lease rates and improve low crew 
compensation.
     The Rockfish Program Cooperative Annual Report is a 
required summary of cooperative harvests, retention, discards, 
monitoring methods, and disciplinary actions made within each Rockfish 
Program cooperative. Additionally, it contains voluntary reporting 
requirements including monthly chinook bycatch by origin, and 
intertemporal harvest information.
     The Amendment 80 Cooperative Annual Report is a required 
summary of cooperative harvests, discards, monitoring methods, 
disciplinary actions taken against non-compliant members, groundfish 
retention calculations, and a third-party audit. Voluntary elements of 
the report include catch from the Northern Bristol Bay Trawl Area, 
fleet catch capacity over time, and intertemporal harvest information. 
An additional voluntary element was added to this report in 2019 
requesting information on cooperatives or other measures implemented to 
reduced bycatch in the BSAI yellowfin sole Trawl Limited Access Sector 
fishery by A80 participants.
     The Amendment 80 Halibut Prohibited Species Catch (PSC) 
Management Plan is a voluntary collection providing information to the 
Council about fishery cooperative halibut avoidance practices, 
communication between participating harvesters, use of halibut 
excluders, deck sorting, bycatch performance assessment of individual 
boats, incentives to reduce bycatch, and consequences for substandard 
performance.
     The Amendment 80 Halibut Bycatch Avoidance Progress Report 
is voluntary and intended to inform the Council about non-regulatory 
methods used within A80 fishery cooperatives to reduce and avoid 
halibut bycatch in BSAI groundfish fisheries.
     The American Fisheries Act Catcher Vessel Intercooperative 
Agreement is voluntary and includes fishery allocations of cooperative 
members, penalties to members that exceed them, monitoring methods, 
limits on the amount of cod harvested by certain vessels, procedures 
for intercooperative sideboard transfers, and incentives for prohibited 
species catch reduction.
     The American Fisheries Act Catcher Vessel Intercooperative 
Report is voluntary and provides information about cooperative Bering 
Sea pollock fishery allocations, harvest, salmon bycatch reduction 
measures, groundfish sideboards, and prohibited species catch.
     The American Fisheries Act Cooperative Annual Report 
(moved from 0678-0401) is required and must report the cooperative's 
pollock and sideboard allocations, sub-allocations made to individual 
vessels, retained and discarded catch, monitoring methods, actions 
taken against non-compliant members, any pollock landed outside of

[[Page 35100]]

the State of Alaska, and chinook bycatch including a list of vessels 
with the highest bycatch rates. An additional voluntary element was 
added to this report in 2019 requesting information on cooperatives or 
other measures implemented to reduce bycatch in the BSAI yellowfin sole 
Trawl Limited Access Sector fishery by AFA participants.

II. Method of Collection

    Methods of submittal include text attachments to email, mail, and 
facsimile transmission.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0648-0678.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Review: Revision and extension of a currently approved 
information collection.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit organizations.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 26.
    Estimated Time per Response: Alaska Crab Rationalization 
Cooperative Annual Report, 30 hours; Rockfish Program Cooperative 
Annual Report, 45 hours; Amendment 80 Cooperative Annual Report, 40 
hours; Amendment 80 Halibut Bycatch Avoidance Progress Report, 40 
hours; Amendment 80 Halibut PSC Management Plan, 12 hours; American 
Fisheries Act Catcher Vessel Intercooperative Agreement, 40 hours; 
American Fisheries Act Catcher Vessel Intercooperative Report, 8 hours; 
American Fisheries Act Cooperative Annual Report, 8 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 797 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $3,819 in recordkeeping/
reporting costs.

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 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.

Sheleen Dumas,
Departmental Lead PRA Officer, Office of the Chief Information Officer, 
Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2019-15492 Filed 7-19-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P