[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 148 (Friday, July 31, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46070-46071]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-16630]


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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; Highly Migratory Species Dealer Reporting Family of Forms

AGENCY: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce, in accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), invites 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. 
The purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment 
preceding submission of the collection to OMB.

DATES: To ensure consideration, comments regarding this proposed 
information collection must be received on or before September 29, 
2020.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments to 
Adrienne Thomas, NOAA PRA Officer, at [email protected]. Please 
reference OMB Control Number 0648-0040 in the subject line of your 
comments. Do not submit Confidential Business Information or otherwise 
sensitive or protected information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
specific questions related to collection activities should be directed 
to Dianne Stephan, Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Management 
Division, National Marine Fisheries Service, (978) 281-9260 or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    Under the provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 
and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), the National Marine 
Fisheries Service (NMFS) is responsible for management of the Nation's 
marine fisheries. NMFS must also promulgate regulations, as necessary 
and appropriate, to carry out obligations the United States (U.S.) 
undertakes internationally regarding tuna management through the 
Atlantic Tunas Convention Act (ATCA, 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq.).
    This collection serves as a family of forms for Atlantic highly 
migratory species (HMS) dealer reporting, including purchases of HMS 
from domestic fishermen, and the import, export, and/or re-export of 
HMS, including federally managed tunas, sharks, and swordfish.
    Transactions covered under this collection include purchases of 
Atlantic HMS from domestic fishermen; and the import/export of all 
bluefin tuna, frozen bigeye tuna, southern bluefin tuna or swordfish 
under the HMS International Trade Program, regardless of geographic 
area of origin. This information is used to monitor the harvest of 
domestic fisheries, and/or track international trade of internationally 
managed species. We are currently revising this information collection 
to implement mandatory electronic, web-based reporting to replace the 
downloadable hard copy forms currently used for biweekly bluefin dealer 
reporting and international trade reporting of bluefin tuna, swordfish, 
and frozen bigeye tuna. No other changes in the reporting program are 
being implemented at this time, and no significant changes in the 
number of responses or burden estimates are anticipated aside from 
removal of postage costs for returning the completed forms by mail.
    The domestic dealer reporting covered by this collection includes 
weekly electronic landing reports and negative reports (i.e., reports 
of no activity) of Atlantic swordfish, sharks, bigeye tuna, albacore, 
yellowfin, and skipjack tunas (collectively referred to as BAYS tunas), 
and electronic biweekly and daily landing reports for bluefin tuna, 
including tagging of individual fish. Because of the individual bluefin 
quota (IBQ) management system (RIN 0648-BC09), electronic entry of IBQ-
related landing data is required for Atlantic bluefin tuna purchased 
from Longline and Purse seine category vessels.
    International trade tracking programs are required by both the 
International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) 
and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) to account for 
all international trade of covered species. The United States is a 
member of ICCAT and IATTC and required by ATCA and the Tunas Convention 
Act (16 U.S.C. 951 et. seq., consecutively) to promulgate regulations 
as necessary and appropriate to implement ICCAT and IATTC 
recommendations. These programs require that a statistical document or 
catch document accompany each export from and import to a member 
nation, and that a re-export certificate accompany each re-export. The 
international trade reporting requirements covered by this collection 
include implementation of catch documents, statistical documents, and 
re-export certificate trade tracking programs for bluefin tuna, frozen 
bigeye tuna, and swordfish. An electronic catch document program for 
bluefin tuna (EBCD) was recommended by ICCAT and implemented by the 
United States in 2016 (0648-BF17). United States regulations 
implementing ICCAT statistical document and catch document programs 
require statistical documents and catch documents for international 
transactions of the covered species from all ocean areas, so Pacific 
imports and exports must also be

[[Page 46071]]

accompanied by statistical documents and catch documents. Since there 
are statistical document programs in place under other international 
conventions (e.g., the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission), a statistical 
document or catch document from another program may be used to satisfy 
the statistical document requirement for imports into the United 
States.
    Dealers who internationally trade Southern bluefin tuna are 
required to participate in a trade tracking program to ensure that 
imported Atlantic and Pacific bluefin tuna will not be intentionally 
mislabeled as ``southern bluefin'' to circumvent reporting 
requirements. This action is authorized under ATCA, which provides for 
the promulgation of regulations as may be necessary and appropriate to 
carry out ICCAT recommendations.
    In addition to statistical document, catch document, and re-export 
certificate requirements, this collection includes biweekly reports to 
complement trade tracking statistical documents by summarizing 
statistical document data and collecting additional economic 
information.

II. Method of Collection

    Methods of submission include electronic, mail, fax, and tagging of 
fish.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0648-0040.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Review: Regular submission [request for revision of a 
currently approved information collection].
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organization.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 10,391.
    Estimated Time per Response: 5 minutes each for catch document, 
statistical document, and re-export certificate; 15 minutes for catch 
document/statistical document/re-export certificate validation by 
government official; 120 minutes for authorization of non-governmental 
catch document/statistical document/re-export certificate validation; 2 
minutes for daily Atlantic bluefin tuna landing reports; 3 minutes for 
daily Atlantic bluefin tuna landing reports from pelagic longline and 
purse seine vessels; 1 minute for Atlantic bluefin tuna tagging; 15 
minutes for biweekly electronic Atlantic bluefin tuna dealer landing 
reports; 15 minutes for HMS international trade biweekly electronic 
reports; 15 minutes for weekly electronic HMS dealer landing reports 
(e-dealer); 5 minutes for negative weekly electronic HMS dealer landing 
reports (e-dealer); 15 minutes for voluntary fishing vessel and catch 
forms; 2 minutes for provision of HMS dealer email address.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 18,285.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $1,634.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: Legal authority for these data collections are 
authorized under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) and the Atlantic Tunas 
Convention Act (ATCA, 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq.).

IV. Request for Comments

    We are soliciting public comments to permit the Department/Bureau 
to: (a) Evaluate whether the proposed information collection is 
necessary for the proper functions of the Department, including whether 
the information will have practical utility; (b) Evaluate the accuracy 
of our estimate of the time and cost burden for this proposed 
collection, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions 
used; (c) Evaluate ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of 
the information to be collected; and (d) Minimize the reporting burden 
on those who are to respond, including the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.
    Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of 
public record. We will include or summarize each comment in our request 
to OMB to approve this ICR. Before including your address, phone 
number, email address, or other personal identifying information in 
your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment--including 
your personal identifying information--may be made publicly available 
at any time. While you may ask us in your comment to withhold your 
personal identifying information from public review, we cannot 
guarantee that we will be able to do so.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2020-16630 Filed 7-30-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P