[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 121 (Tuesday, June 23, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37632-37633]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-13422]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment
Request; Greater Atlantic Region Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery
Management Plan
The Department of Commerce will submit the following information
collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for
review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995, on or after the date of publication of this notice. We invite the
general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed, and
continuing information collections, which helps us assess the impact of
our information collection requirements and minimize the public's
reporting burden. Public comments were previously requested via the
Federal Register on March 6, 2020, during a 60-day comment period. This
notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Title: Greater Atlantic Region, Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery
Management Plan Data Collection.
OMB Control Number: 0648-0491.
Form Number(s): None.
Type of Request: Regular (extension of a currently approved
information collection).
Number of Respondents: 802.
Average Hours per Response: Trip exchange request (full & part-
time)--15 minutes; Quote transfer application (temporary & permanent)--
5 minutes; Cost Recovery--2 hours; Sector Proposals & Operation Plans--
125 hours.
Burden Hours: 980.
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). NMFS manages the Atlantic sea scallop
(scallop) fishery through a set of regulations that limit catch of
scallops and fishing vessel activity. In addition, regulations limit
catch of certain other species of fish in order to minimize bycatch and
bycatch mortality (bycatch is the catch and discard of species that
[[Page 37633]]
are not targeted in the scallop fishery). Finally, the regulations
control vessel permitting and the exchange of effort and quota
allocations between vessels.
In order to effectively manage these resources, track fishing
effort and catch, and to allow vessel owners to exchange fishing trips
and quota, NMFS must collect information through the reporting
requirements included in this renewal: Access area trip exchange
application procedures; Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) transfers; Cost
recovery; and IFQ sector program. The collection is being revised to
remove Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) requirements to eliminate
duplication as these VMS requirements are now collected under the
approved OMB Control No. 0648-0202.
Access Area Trip Exchange Application
The one-for-one access area trip exchange program provides
flexibility to scallop vessels about where they may fish. Participants
need to send an access area trip exchange application to NMFS with the
following information: Vessel name and permit number, owner name and
signature, specification of the areas involved in the exchange. Both
vessels involved in the exchange are required to submit forms for cross
verification. This measure is expected to provide flexibility to
vessels regarding which areas to fish, thereby reducing the possibility
of revenue loss to those vessels that are unable to access some distant
areas due to vessel capacity constraints.
IFQ Transfers
IFQ permit holders can temporarily and/or permanently transfer
individual fishing quota from one IFQ vessel to another. Quota
transfers are requested through the submission of transfer
applications. Required information includes vessel information, quota
transfer information, and authorizing signatures from both parties. The
IFQ transfer program is entirely optional, and provides greater
flexibility for IFQ permit holders by enabling them to increase their
vessel's IFQ or for individuals to lease or sell IFQ if they choose not
to fish the allocation.
Cost Recovery
Section 304(d)(2) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) requires an IFQ
cost recovery plan to recover management and enforcement costs for IFQ
fisheries. The FMP includes an IFQ cost recovery program, whereby NMFS
will collect up to 3% of ex-vessel value of landed product to cover
actual costs directly related to enforcement and management of the IFQ
program. IFQ permit holders are required to submit a cost recovery
payment annually via a pre-existing Federal payment system called
www.pay.gov, which is also currently used by the Alaska Region and the
Southeast Region. Information submitted via the internet would require
the user to establish an online account, including personal and
financial information. This requirement is necessary in order to comply
with the provisions of the MSA and to collect payments from individuals
that have been granted an allocation to a public resource.
IFQ Sector Program
The FMP contains provisions that authorize allocation of a portion
of the overall IFQ fishery total allowable catch (TAC) to a self-
selected group of IFQ permit holders (sector), provided the sector
provides adequate information describing the formation of the sector
and its intended plan of operations. Individuals or other entities
(corporations, cooperatives, etc.) proposing a sector are required to
submit a Sector Allocation Proposal and Operations Plan. Any person may
submit a Sector Allocation Proposal for a group of limited access
general category scallop vessels to the Council, at least 1 year in
advance of the start of a sector, and request that the Sector be
implemented through a framework procedure specified at Sec. 648.55. A
group that wants to form a Sector and receive an allocation is required
to submit a legally binding Operations Plan to the Council and the
Regional Administrator. The operations plan must be agreed upon and
signed by all members of the sector and, if approved, would constitute
a contract. This information is necessary to describe the proposed
sector and the proposed rules under which the sector would operate.
This information is used to determine whether this sector would
maintain consistency with the goals and objectives of the FMP.
VMS Requirements
Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) requirements are now collected under
the approved OMB Control No. 0648-0202 and will not be collected in
this renewal.
The collection requirements under OMB Control No. 0648-0491 enable
successful implementation and administration of components of the
Fishery Management Plan (FMP).
Affected Public: Businesses and other for-profit organizations are
primarily affected.
Frequency: On occasion, monthly, annually, every three years.
Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
Legal Authority:
This information collection request may be viewed at
www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view the Department of
Commerce collections currently under review by OMB.
Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information
collection should be submitted within 30 days of the publication of
this notice on the following website www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain.
Find this particular information collection by selecting ``Currently
under 30-day Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search
function and entering either the title of the collection or the OMB
Control Number 0648-0491.
Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2020-13422 Filed 6-22-20; 8:45 am]
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