[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 248 (Wednesday, December 28, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79873-79874]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-28214]


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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; Atlantic Herring Amendment 5 Data Collection

    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 September 30, 2022 (87 FR 59402) during a 60-day 
comment period. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public 
comments.
    Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), 
Commerce.
    Title: Atlantic Herring Amendment 5 Data Collection.
    OMB Control Number: 0648-0674.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Regular submission (extension of a current 
information collection).
    Number of Respondents: 622.
    Average Hours per Response: For participants in the Atlantic 
herring fishery, 5 minutes for a pre-trip notification; 1 minute for a 
trip cancellation notification; 5 minutes for a call to request an IFM 
observer to access groundfish closed areas; 1 minute for a trip 
cancellation notification for groundfish closed areas; 5 minutes for 
the submission of a released catch affidavit; and 1 minute for the 
submission of species pounds to the observer.
    For IFM service providers, 10 minutes for submission of a monitor 
deployment report; 20 minutes for the submission of an ASM availability 
report; 30 minutes for the submission of a safety refusal; 5 minutes 
for the submission of raw monitor data; 2 hours for a monitor 
debriefing; 30 minutes for the submission of other reports; 1 hour for 
the submission of biological samples; 10 hours for the submission of a 
new service provider application; 10 hours for an applicant response to 
a service provider denial; 30 minutes to request monitor training; 8 
hours to rebut removal from the list of approved IFM service providers; 
10 minutes to process request for an ASM; 5 minutes to notify 
unavailability of ASMs; 10 minutes to process request for an IFM 
observer in groundfish closed area; 5 minutes to notify unavailability 
of IFM observers; 5 minutes for the submission of monitor contact list 
updates; 5 minutes for the submission of monitor availability updates; 
30 minutes for submission of service provider materials; and 30 minutes 
for the submission of service provide contracts.
    Total Annual Burden Hours: 1,848.
    Needs and Uses: This request is for an extension of a currently 
approved collection associated with the Atlantic herring fishery. 
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Greater Atlantic Region 
manages these fisheries in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the 
Northeastern United States through the Atlantic Herring Fishery 
Management Plan (FMP). The New England Fishery Management Council 
prepared the FMP pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 
and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). The regulations implementing 
the FMP are specified at 50 CFR part 648 and the recordkeeping and 
reporting requirements at Sec.  648.11 form the basis for this 
collection of information.
    In 2014, NMFS implemented Amendment 5 to the Atlantic Herring FMP 
to improve the collection of real-time and accurate catch information 
for the Atlantic herring fishery; enhance the monitoring and sampling 
of catch at-sea; and address bycatch issues, in particular bycatch of 
river herrings and shads, through responsible management.
    In 2020, NMFS implemented the New England Industry Funded 
Monitoring (IFM) Omnibus Amendment to increase monitoring in certain 
FMPs, above levels required by the Standardized Bycatch Reporting 
Methodology (SBRM), to assess the amount and type of catch and to 
reduce variability around catch estimates. This amendment created a 
structure by which industry funding would be used in conjunction with 
available federal funding to pay for additional monitoring to meet FMP-
specific coverage targets and required IFM in the Atlantic herring 
fishery.
    We request the continued collection of the following information to 
improve monitoring and the collection of catch information in the 
Atlantic herring fishery:
     Observer notification requirement for permitted herring 
vessels to facilitate SBRM and IFM coverage;
     Requirement for vessel captains to submit a Released Catch 
Affidavit form documenting the discarding of unsampled catch;
     A requirement that Category A and B Atlantic herring 
permit holders pay for vessel at-sea monitoring costs, estimated to be 
up to $710 per sea day, on trips selected for IFM coverage (50% 
coverage target);
     The option for Category A and B Atlantic herring permit 
holders that fish with midwater trawl gear to obtain an IFM observer 
allowing the vessel to fish in groundfish closed areas and pay for the 
vessel's at-sea monitoring costs, estimated to be up to $818 per sea 
day; and
     Requirements for IFM monitor service providers to submit 
reports to NMFS on behalf of Category A or B Atlantic herring permitted 
vessels or for meeting service provider responsibilities for service 
provider approval and to facilitate accurate catch monitoring.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.
    Frequency: As-needed.

[[Page 79874]]

    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq, Section 303).
    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 0648-0674.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2022-28214 Filed 12-27-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P