[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 81 (Thursday, April 25, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Page 31736]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-08914]



[[Page 31736]]

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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; West Coast Region Groundfish Trawl Fishery Monitoring and 
Catch Accounting Program

    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 February 9, 2024, during a 60-day comment period. 
This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
    Agency: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 
Commerce.
    Title: West Coast Region Groundfish Trawl Fishery Monitoring and 
Catch Accounting Program.
    OMB Control Number: 0648-0619.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Regular submission (extension of a current 
information collection).
    Number of Respondents: 153.
    Average Hours per Response: For 5 existing observer providers: 2 
hours for preparation and submission of the annual observer provider 
permit renewal application. For 1 new observer provider: 10 hours for 
observer provider permit application preparation and submission. For 1 
observer provider: 4 hours for a written response and submission of an 
appeal if an observer provider permit is denied. For 45 catch monitors: 
1 hour for submission of qualifications to work as a catch monitor. For 
5 catch monitors: 4 hours for a written response and submission of an 
appeal if a catch monitor permit is denied. For 16 vessels in the 
Mothership or Catcher/Processor fleet, 30 minutes or less for 
satisfying requirements for use of at-sea scales, including daily 
testing reports (30 minutes), daily catch and cumulative weight reports 
(10 minutes), audit trail (1 minute), calibration log (2 minutes), and 
fault log (3 minutes).
    Total Annual Burden Hours: 447 hours.
    Needs and Uses: This request is for extension of the current 
collection for the West Coast Region Groundfish Trawl Fishery 
Monitoring and Catch Accounting Program. In January 2011, the National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Marine 
Fisheries Service (NMFS) implemented a trawl rationalization program, a 
catch share program, for the Pacific coast groundfish fishery's trawl 
fleet. The program was developed through Amendment 20 to the Groundfish 
Fishery Management Plan (FMP), under the authority of the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et 
seq.) and consists of an individual fishing quota (IFQ) program for the 
shorebased trawl fleet (including whiting and non-whiting fisheries); 
and cooperative (coop) programs for the at-sea mothership (MS) and 
catcher/processor (C/P) trawl fleets (whiting only). Fixed allocations 
to the limited entry trawl fleet were developed through a parallel 
process with Amendment 21 to the FMP. The regulations implementing the 
program were effective January 1, 2011; all of the necessary tracking 
systems to make the program operational became active on January 11, 
2011, the date fishing began under the new program. Since that time, 
the Council and NMFS have been addressing implementation issues as they 
arise. To achieve individual accountability for catch and bycatch and 
track total catch, the shorebased IFQ Program is subject to 100 percent 
monitoring both at-sea and dockside. In addition to 100 percent 
monitoring at-sea, motherships and catcher/processors are subject to 
flow scale requirements that include daily testing, reporting, and an 
annual inspection.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.
    Frequency: Reporting on occasion, daily, weekly, or annually.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act. US Code 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. And CFR Citation 50 CFR 
660.15
    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 0648-0619.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Under Secretary for 
Economic Affairs, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2024-08914 Filed 4-24-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P