[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 37 (Friday, February 23, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13693-13694]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-03747]


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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 Halibut Fisheries: Charter

    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 28, 2023, 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: Alaska Halibut Fisheries: Charter.
    OMB Control Number: 0648-0575.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Regular submission (extension of a current 
information collection).
    Number of Respondents: 560.
    Average Hours per Response: Application for Annual Registration of 
CHPs: 15 minutes; Application for Military CHP: 30 minutes; Application 
for Transfer of CHP: 2 hours; Application for Transfer (Lease) Between 
IFQ and GAF: 1.5 hours; GAF Landing Report: 5 minutes; GAF Permit Log: 
2 minutes; ADF&G Saltwater Sport Fishing Charter Trip Logbook: 4 
minutes; and Appeals: 4 hours.
    Total Annual Burden Hours: 3,876 hours.
    Needs and Uses: The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), 
Alaska Region, is requesting extension of a currently approved 
information collection for the Pacific halibut charter fishery off 
Alaska.
    Management of and regulations for Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus 
stenolepis) in Alaska are developed on the international, Federal, and 
state levels by the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC), 
the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, the NMFS Alaska Region, 
and the State of Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G). The IPHC 
and NMFS manage fishing for Pacific halibut through regulations 
established under authority of the Convention between the United States 
Halibut Fishery of the Northern Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea, the 
Northern Pacific Halibut Act of 1982 (16 U.S.C. 773), and section 
303(b) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 
(16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.).
    NMFS manages the charter halibut fishery off Alaska under the 
Charter Halibut Limited Access Program (CHLAP; 75 FR 554, January 5, 
2010) and the Pacific Halibut Catch Sharing Plan (CSP; 78 FR 75844, 
December 12, 2013). This information collection is necessary for NMFS 
to manage and administer the charter halibut fishery under the CHLAP 
and the CSP. Regulations that implement this information collection are 
at 50 CFR 300 subpart E and 50 CFR 679.5(l)(7). Information on the 
CHLAP and the CSP is on the NMFS Alaska Region website at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/alaska/resources-fishing/sport-halibut-fishing-alaska.
    The CHLAP established new Federal Charter Halibut Permits (CHPs) 
for operators in the sport charter halibut fishery in IPHC regulatory 
Areas 2C (Southeast Alaska) and 3A (Central Gulf of Alaska). All 
charter halibut vessel operators in Areas 2C and 3A with clients on 
board must have a valid CHP on board during every charter vessel 
fishing trip. As the period to obtain a CHP, other than a military CHP 
or community CHP, ended in 2010, CHPs may now only be obtained through 
transfer. This information collection contains the applications used to 
annually register CHPs, to apply for new military CHPs, and to transfer 
CHPs. The application for a community CHP is approved under OMB Control 
Number 0648-0665. Information collected by these applications includes 
permit holder information or applicant information, and depending on 
the form, may include CHP identification, CHP ownership information and 
affiliation, a survey question on the use of the CHP, and transaction 
information for transfer of a CHP.
    The CSP authorizes annual transfers of commercial halibut 
individual fishing quota (IFQ) as guided angler fish (GAF) to qualified 
CHP holders for harvest by charter vessel anglers in Area 2C or 3A. GAF 
enables CHP holders to lease a limited amount of IFQ from commercial 
quota shareholders to allow charter vessel anglers to harvest halibut 
in addition to, or instead of, the halibut harvested under the daily 
bag limit for charter anglers.
    This information collection includes the application used to 
transfer Area 2C or 3A commercial halibut IFQ to a CHP holder for use 
as GAF or for the CHP holder to return unused GAF to the IFQ permit 
holder from which it was obtained. Information collected by this 
application includes permit holder information, IFQ permit information, 
CHP information, GAF permit information, and transaction information. 
NMFS, on approving the transfer of IFQ to GAF, issues a GAF permit, 
which authorizes the holder to allow charter vessel anglers to retain 
GAF halibut caught in the IPHC regulatory area specified on the permit.
    This information collection also includes the GAF landing report 
and the GAF permit log. The GAF landing report is submitted by GAF 
permit holders and collects information on each GAF halibut retained by 
an angler on a charter vessel fishing trip in Area 2C or 3A. The GAF 
permit log is printed on the back of each GAF permit and is used by the 
permit holder to record the GAF landing report confirmation number and 
information on GAF halibut after a trip in which GAF halibut were 
retained.
    If a GAF permit holder is unable to submit the GAF landings report 
electronically due to hardware, software, or internet failure for a 
period longer than the required reporting time, or a correction must be 
made to information already submitted, the

[[Page 13694]]

permit holder must contact NOAA OLE by telephone. This information 
collection is revised to include a form for the non-electronic (manual) 
GAF landing report. This form will help streamline the submission of 
manual landing information for GAF permit holders and NOAA Office for 
Law Enforcement, and help ensure the correct information is submitted 
on time. The time and cost burden for the manual GAF landing report 
form remains the same as the previous estimates for the GAF landing 
report because the estimates allow for differences needed to complete 
and submit the report.
    This information collection includes the logbook reporting 
requirements for the charter halibut fishery. The charter halibut 
sector in Areas 2C and 3A is managed to charter catch limits 
established under the CSP. Charter operators are required to record all 
halibut caught and kept by charter vessel anglers in the ADF&G 
Saltwater Charter Logbook. Logbook reporting is the basis for 
estimating annual charter harvests of halibut relative to the charter 
catch limits.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; Business or other for-
profit organizations.
    Frequency: Annually; As needed.
    Respondent's Obligation: Required to Obtain or Retain Benefits, 
Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: The Northern Pacific Halibut Act of 1982 (16 
U.S.C. 773c); Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 
(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 0648-0575.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Under Secretary for 
Economic Affairs, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2024-03747 Filed 2-22-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P