[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 102 (Friday, May 28, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28760-28761]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-11311]


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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; Individual Fishing Quotas for Pacific Halibut and Sablefish in 
the Alaska Fisheries

    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 January 13, 2021 (86 FR 2644), during a 60-day 
comment period. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public 
comments.
    Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 
Commerce.
    Title: Individual Fishing Quotas for Pacific Halibut and Sablefish 
in the Alaska Fisheries.
    OMB Control Number: 0648-0272.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Regular submission (extension and revision of a 
currently approved information collection).
    Number of Respondents: 3,441.
    Average Hours per Response: Application for IFQ/CDQ Hired Master 
Permit, 1 hour; Application for IFQ/CDQ Registered Buyer Permit, 30 
minutes; Application for Replacement of Certificates or Permits, 30 
minutes; Application for Eligibility to Receive QS/IFQ by Transfer, 2 
hours; QS Holder: Identification of Ownership Interest, 2 hours; 
Application for Transfer of QS, 2 hours; Application for Transfer of 
QS/IFQ by Self Sweep Up, 2 hours; Application for Medical Transfer of 
IFQ, 1.5 hours; Application for Temporary Transfer of Halibut/Sablefish 
IFQ, 2 hours; (emergency) Application for Temporary Transfer of 
Halibut/Sablefish IFQ, 2 hours; Annual Report for CDQ IFQ Transfers, 40 
hours; QS/IFQ Beneficiary Designation Form, 30 minutes; Appeals, 4 
hours; IFQ Administrative Waiver, 6 minutes; Prior Notice of Landing, 
15 minutes; IFQ Departure Report, 15 minutes; Transshipment 
Authorization, 12 minutes; Dockside sales, 6 minutes; Application for a 
Non-profit Corporation to be Designated as a Recreational Quota Entity, 
200 hours; Application for Transfer of Quota Share To or From a 
Recreational Quota Entity, 2 hours; Recreational Quota Entity Annual 
Report, 40 hours.
    Total Annual Burden Hours: 11,236 hours.
    Needs and Uses: The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), 
Alaska Regional Office, is requesting renewal and revision of this 
currently approved information collection that contains requirements 
for the Pacific Halibut and Sablefish Individual Fishing Quota Program 
(IFQ Program).
    The International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) and NMFS Alaska 
Region manage fishing for Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) 
through regulations established under the authority of the Northern 
Pacific Halibut Act of 1982, 16 U.S.C. 773c (Halibut Act). The IPHC 
promulgates regulations governing the halibut fishery under the 
Convention between the United States Halibut Fishery of the Northern 
Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea (Convention). Regulations pursuant to the 
Convention are set forth at 50 CFR 300 subpart E.
    The North Pacific Fishery Management Council, under the authority 
of the Halibut Act (with respect to Pacific halibut) and the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et 
seq.; Magnuson-Stevens Act) (with respect to sablefish), manages the 
IFQ Program. NMFS Alaska Region administers the IFQ Program. 
Regulations implementing the IFQ Program are set forth at 50 CFR part 
679.
    The IFQ Program provides a limited access system for Pacific 
halibut in Convention waters in and off Alaska and sablefish fisheries 
in waters of the Exclusive Economic Zone off Alaska. The IFQ Program 
provides coastal Alaska communities a source of revenue, while 
maintaining the social and economic character of the fixed-gear 
sablefish and halibut fisheries. The IFQ Program provides economic 
stability for these fisheries while reducing many of the conservation 
and management problems commonly associated with open-access fisheries. 
The IFQ Program includes several provisions, such as ownership caps and 
vessel use caps that protect small producers, part-time participants, 
and entry-level participants that otherwise could be adversely affected 
by excessive consolidation.
    Participation in the IFQ Program is limited to persons that hold 
quota share (QS), although there are several very limited provisions 
for ``leasing'' of annual IFQ. QS is a transferable permit that was 
initially issued to persons who owned or leased vessels that made legal 
commercial fixed-gear landings of Pacific halibut or sablefish in the 
waters off Alaska from 1988 through 1990. Currently, QS may only be 
obtained through transfer.
    Annually, NMFS issues eligible QS holders an IFQ fishing permit 
that authorizes participation in the IFQ fisheries. Those to whom IFQ 
permits are issued may harvest their annual allocation at any time 
during the eight plus-month IFQ halibut and sablefish seasons.
    More information on the IFQ Program is provided on the NMFS Alaska 
Region website at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/alaska/sustainable-fisheries/pacific-halibut-and-sablefish-individual-fishing-quota-ifq-program.
    Some of the collection instruments in this information collection 
are used by

[[Page 28761]]

participants in the Western Alaska Community Development Quota (CDQ) 
Program. The purpose of the CDQ Program is to provide eligible western 
Alaska villages with the opportunity to participate and invest in 
fisheries in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area 
(BSAI); to support economic development in western Alaska; to alleviate 
poverty and provide economic and social benefits for residents of 
western Alaska; and to achieve sustainable and diversified local 
economies in western Alaska. In fitting with these goals, NMFS 
allocates a portion of the annual catch limits for a variety of 
commercially valuable marine species in the BSAI to the CDQ Program. 
Pacific halibut is one of these species. More information on the CDQ 
Program is provided on the NMFS Alaska Region website at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/alaska/sustainable-fisheries/community-development-quota-cdq-program. Information collection requirements for 
the CDQ Program are approved under OMB Control Number 0648-0269.
    This information collection is required to manage commercial 
halibut and sablefish fishing under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the 
Halibut Act, and under 50 CFR parts 300 and 679.
    This information collection contains the forms used by participants 
in the IFQ Program to apply for, renew, or replace permits; transfer or 
lease IFQ and QS; determine compliance with IFQ program requirements; 
and designate a beneficiary for a QS holder. Two of the permit 
applications are also used by participants in the CDQ Program. This 
information collection also contains annual reports and other 
collections submitted by telephone or other methods and that do not 
have forms.
    The type of information collected includes information on the 
applicants, transferors, transferees, permits, IFQ or QS types and 
owners, beneficiaries, vessels, business operations, medical 
declarations, landings, gear types, products, and harvests and harvest 
areas.
    This information is used to identify and authorize participants in 
the halibut and sablefish fisheries, to track and transfer quota share, 
to limit transfers to authorized participants, and to monitor quota 
share balances and harvest in these fisheries.
    Several revisions are made to this collection. The emergency 
version of the Application for Temporary Transfer of Halibut/Sablefish 
Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ), which was approved under an emergency 
approval (OMB Control No. 0648-0795), is added for use during emergency 
situations. Two forms are revised to remove information that is not 
needed. The Application for Transfer of QS/IFQ by Self Sweep-up is 
revised to remove the notary certification, and the Application for 
Eligibility to Receive QS/IFQ is revised to no longer collect social 
security numbers. The Application for Eligibility to Receive QS/IFQ and 
Application for Transfer of QS are revised to collect the NMFS ID 
number to improved identification.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; Business or other for-
profit organizations; Not-for-profit institutions.
    Frequency: On occasion; Annually.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary; Required to Obtain or Retain 
Benefits; Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act, 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.; Northern Pacific Halibut Act of 
1982, 16 U.S.C. 773c.
    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 0648-0272.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2021-11311 Filed 5-27-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P