[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 216 (Friday, November 6, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71060-71061]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-24718]


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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; Alaska Region Scale & Catch Weighing Requirements

    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 June 17, 2020 (85 FR 36566), 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: Alaska Region Scale & Catch Weighing Requirements.
    OMB Control Number: 0648-0330.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Regular submission [extension of a current 
information collection].
    Number of Respondents: 85.
    Average Hours Per Response: Scale Type Evaluation: 50 hours; 
Installation & Maintenance: At-Sea Scales (Maintenance only)--1 minute; 
Video Monitoring Systems (maintenance)--1 minute; Video Monitoring 
Systems (installation)--12 hours; Observer Sampling Station 
(installation)--12 hours; maintenance--1 minute; Inspection Request: 10 
minutes; Daily Scale Test: Notify Observer of Tests--2 minutes; Record 
of Flow Scale Test--10 minutes; Record of Hopper Scale Test--10 
minutes; Printed Report--Flow Scale: Catch & Cumulative Weight, Audit 
Trail, Calibration Log, and Fault Log--1 minute each; Printed Report--
Hopper Scale: Catch Weight and Audit Trail--1 minute each; Video 
Monitoring: 2 hours; Notification of Pacific Cod Monitoring Option: 10 
minutes; Catch Monitoring and Control Plan (CMCP): Annual Submission--
40 hours; CMCP Addendum--8 hours; Printed Record from Scale--1 minute; 
Notify Observer--1 minute; Crab Monitoring Plan (CMP): Annual 
Submission--16 hours; CMP Addendum--8 hours; Printed Records from 
Scale--1 minute.
    Total Annual Burden Hours: 46,037.
    Needs and Uses: The National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS), 
Alaska Regional Office, is requesting extension of the currently 
approved information collection for Alaska Region Scale & Catch 
Weighing Requirements.
    The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, 16 
U.S.C. 1801 et seq. (Magnuson-Stevens Act) authorizes the North Pacific 
Fishery Management Council to prepare and amend fishery management 
plans for any fishery in waters under its jurisdiction.
    The At-Sea Scales Program was developed in response to the need for 
catch accounting methods that were more precise and verifiable at the 
level of the individual haul and less dependent on estimates generated 
by at-sea observers. This was necessary due to the implementation of 
large-scale catch share programs that required NMFS to provide 
verifiable and defensible estimates of quota harvest. Scale and catch-
weighing monitoring is required for Western Alaska Community 
Development Quota Program (CDQ) catcher/processors (C/Ps), American 
Fisheries Act (AFA) C/Ps, AFA motherships, AFA shoreside processors and 
stationary floating processors, Central Gulf of Alaska Rockfish Program 
trawl C/Ps, non-AFA trawl C/Ps participating in Bering Sea and Aleutian 
Islands (BSAI) trawl fisheries, and longline C/Ps participating in BSAI 
Pacific cod fisheries. Scale and catch weighing requirements are 
located at 50 CFR parts 679 and 680.
    NMFS has identified three primary objectives for monitoring catch 
to ensure independent and verifiable data is available for fisheries 
management. First, monitoring methods must ensure all catch delivered 
to a processor is weighed and identified to species and provide a 
verifiable record of the weight and species composition of each 
delivery. Second, all catch must be weighed using NMFS-approved scales 
to determine the weight of the catch and provide a record of that 
weight. Third, monitoring systems, such as video, must be in place to 
ensure that all catch is accounted for.
    Shoreside processors participating in catch share programs have 
many of the same catch accounting and monitoring goals, but two 
differences require unique monitoring tools to obtain precise and 
verifiable catch amounts for quota management. First, shoreside 
processors vary more in size, facilities, and layout than do catcher/
processors or motherships. Second, the State of Alaska is responsible 
for approving scales used for trade by shoreside processors and has 
developed an effective program for their inspection and approval.
    Because of the wide variations in factory layout, a performance-
based catch monitoring system is more appropriate for shoreside 
processors than a type approval process used for at-sea scales. CMCPs 
(Catch Monitoring and Control Plans) and CMPs (Crab Monitoring Plans) 
are submitted by the representative from the shoreside processor and 
approved by NMFS. CMCPs and CMPs detail a series of performance based 
standards set out in regulation that ensure that all delivered catch 
can be effectively monitored by NMFS-authorized personnel, that NMFS-
authorized personnel can effectively conduct their monitoring duties, 
and that all catch is accurately sorted and weighed by species.
    Vessels that participate in halibut deck sorting are required to 
comply with additional monitoring and equipment requirements such as 
the installation of an observer sampling station on deck and video 
monitoring requirements. These additional measures are necessary to 
ensure accurate accounting of halibut sorted on the deck of 
participating vessels.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.
    Frequency: Annually; daily, for time period.

[[Page 71061]]

    Respondent's Obligation: Required to Obtain or Retain Benefits.
    Legal Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
    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 0648-0330.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2020-24718 Filed 11-5-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P