New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meetings, 48860-48861 [2013-19446]
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48860
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 155 / Monday, August 12, 2013 / Notices
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
Proposed Information Collection;
Comment Request; South Pacific Tuna
Act
National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
The Department of
Commerce, as part of its continuing
effort to reduce paperwork and
respondent burden, invites the general
public and other Federal agencies to
take this opportunity to comment on
proposed and/or continuing information
collections, as required by the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
DATES: Written comments must be
submitted on or before October 11,
2013.
ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments
to Jennifer Jessup, Departmental
Paperwork Clearance Officer,
Department of Commerce, Room 6616,
14th and Constitution Avenue NW.,
Washington, DC 20230 (or via the
Internet at JJessup@doc.gov).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Requests for additional information or
copies of the information collection
instrument and instructions should be
directed to Tom Graham, (808) 944–
2219 or tom.graham@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
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SUMMARY:
I. Abstract
This request is for extension of a
current information collection.
The National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
collects vessel license, vessel
registration, catch, and unloading
information from operators of United
States (U.S.) purse seine vessels fishing
within a large region of the western and
central Pacific Ocean, which is
governed by the Treaty on Fisheries
between the Governments of Certain
Pacific Island States and the
Government of the United States of
America. The Treaty, along with its
annexes, schedules and implementing
agreements, was signed in Port Moresby,
Papua New Guinea, in 1987. This
collection of information is required to
meet U.S. obligations under the Treaty.
The Treaty authorizes U.S. tuna
vessels to fish within fishing zones of a
large region of the Pacific Ocean. The
South Pacific Tuna Act of 1988 (16
U.S.C. 973–973r) and U.S.
implementing regulations (50 CFR part
300, Subpart D) authorize the collection
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of information from participants in the
Treaty fishery. Vessel operators who
wish to participate in the Treaty Fishery
must submit annual vessel license and
registration (including registration of
vessel monitoring system (VMS) units)
applications and periodic written
reports of catch and unloading of fish
from licensed vessels. They are also
required to ensure the continued
operation of VMS units on board
licensed vessels, which is expected to
require periodic maintenance of the
units. The information collected is
submitted to the Pacific Islands Forum
Fisheries Agency (FFA) through the U.S.
government, NOAA’s National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS). The license
and registration application information
is used by the FFA to determine the
operational capability and financial
responsibility of a vessel operator
interested in participating in the Treaty
fishery. Information obtained from
vessel catch and unloading reports is
used by the FFA to assess fishing effort
and fishery resources in the region and
to track the amount of fish caught
within each Pacific island state’s
exclusive economic zone for fair
disbursement of Treaty monies.
Maintenance of VMS units is needed to
ensure the continuous operation of the
VMS units, which, as part of the VMS
administered by the FFA, are used as an
enforcement tool. If the information is
not collected, the U.S. government will
not meet its obligations under the
Treaty, and the lack of fishing
information will result in poor
management of the fishery resources.
II. Method of Collection
III. Data
OMB Control Number: 0648–0218.
Form Number: None.
Type of Review: Regular submission
(extension of a currently approved
collection).
Affected Public: Business or other forprofit organizations.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
40.
Estimated Time Per Response: License
application, 15 minutes; registration
application, 45 minutes; catch report, 1
hour; and unloading logsheet, 30
minutes.
Estimated Total Annual Burden
Hours: 408.
Estimated Total Annual Cost to
Public: $122,202 in recordkeeping/
reporting costs.
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Comments are invited on: (a) Whether
the proposed collection of information
is necessary for the proper performance
of the functions of the agency, including
whether the information shall have
practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the
agency’s estimate of the burden
(including hours and cost) of the
proposed collection of information; (c)
ways to enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the
burden of the collection of information
on respondents, including through the
use of automated collection techniques
or other forms of information
technology.
Comments submitted in response to
this notice will be summarized and/or
included in the request for OMB
approval of this information collection;
they also will become a matter of public
record.
Dated: August 6, 2013.
Gwellnar Banks,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief
Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2013–19410 Filed 8–9–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
RIN 0648–XC802
New England Fishery Management
Council; Public Meetings
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; public meetings.
AGENCY:
All forms are to be submitted in hard
copy, via mail.
PO 00000
IV. Request for Comments
The New England Fishery
Management Council (Council) will
hold public meetings of two of its
advisory bodies, the ABC Control Rule
Working Group (ABC WG) and
Electronic Monitoring Working Group
(EM WG).
DATES: The first meeting of the ABC
Control Rule Working Group will be on
Tuesday, September 3, 2013. The
meeting will be held at the Doubletree
by Hilton in Danvers, MA and it will
start at 10 a.m. Additional meetings may
be held between August 15, 2013 and
January 31, 2014. Specific information
about the dates, times and places for the
meetings will be posted on the Council’s
Web site, https://nefmc.org/.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Thomas A. Nies, Executive Director,
SUMMARY:
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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 155 / Monday, August 12, 2013 / Notices
New England Fishery Management
Council; telephone: (978) 465–0492.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
Council has established these working
groups to develop background
information and approaches to problems
and issues to be considered by the
Council and its committees. The
working groups will not make any final
decisions about the selection of
approaches or alternatives that might be
adopted by the Council.
The purpose of the ABC Control Rule
Working Group is to prepare a work
plan on how the Council should
proceed in developing acceptable
biological catch (ABC) control rules that
incorporate the Council’s risk tolerance
into the process for setting ABCs. The
work plan will enable the Council to
approve a process for developing the
risk policy as a Council priority.
The purpose of the Electronic
Monitoring Working Group is to identify
barriers or necessary steps to the
approval by NMFS of Northeast
Multispecies (Groundfish) sector
operations plans that rely on electronic
monitoring to achieve the compliance
and catch attribution requirements for
groundfish sectors.
Special Accommodations
The meetings will be physically
accessible to people with disabilities.
Requests for sign language
interpretation or other auxiliary aids
should be directed to Thomas A. Nies,
Executive Director, at (978) 465–0492, at
least 5 days prior to the meeting date.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: August 7, 2013.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2013–19446 Filed 8–9–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
RIN 0648–XC792
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Western Pacific Fisheries; Approval of
a Marine Conservation Plan for Pacific
Insular Areas; Western Pacific
Sustainable Fisheries Fund
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of agency decision.
AGENCY:
NMFS announces approval of
a marine conservation plan for Pacific
SUMMARY:
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Insular Areas other than American
Samoa, Guam, and the Northern
Mariana Islands.
DATES: This agency decision is effective
from August 1, 2013, through July 31,
2016.
Copies of the marine
conservation plan, identified by NOAA–
NMFS–2013–0126, are available from
www.regulations.gov, or the Western
Pacific Fishery Management Council
(Council), 1164 Bishop St., Suite 1400,
Honolulu, HI 96813, tel 808–522–8220.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jarad Makaiau, Sustainable Fisheries,
NMFS Pacific Islands Regional Office,
808–944–2108.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section
204(e) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act
(Magnuson-Stevens Act) authorizes the
Secretary of State, with the concurrence
of the Secretary of Commerce
(Secretary) and in consultation with the
Council, to negotiate and enter into a
Pacific Insular Area fishery agreement
(PIAFA). A PIAFA would allow foreign
fishing within the U.S. Exclusive
Economic Zone (EEZ) adjacent to any
Pacific Insular Area other than
American Samoa, Guam, or the
Northern Mariana Islands, that is, in the
EEZ around the Pacific remote island
areas (PRIA). The PRIA are Baker Island,
Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston
Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Island,
Wake Island, and Palmyra Atoll. Before
entering into a PIAFA, the Council must
develop a 3-year Marine Conservation
Plan (MCP) providing details on uses for
any funds collected by the Secretary
under the PIAFA.
The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires
that payments received under a PIAFA,
and any funds or contributions received
in support of conservation and
management objectives for the PRIA, be
deposited into the Western Pacific
Sustainable Fisheries Fund (Fund) for
use by the Council. Additionally,
amounts received by the Secretary
attributable to fines and penalties
imposed under the Magnuson-Stevens
Act for violations by foreign vessels
occurring within the EEZ off any PRIA
are also deposited into the Fund for use
by the Council.
An MCP must be consistent with the
Council’s fishery ecosystem plans, must
identify conservation and management
objectives (including criteria for
determining when such objectives have
been met), and must prioritize planned
marine conservation projects. The
Council, at its 157th meeting held June
26–28, 2013, reviewed and approved
this MCP and recommended its
ADDRESSES:
PO 00000
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48861
submission to the Secretary for
approval.
The MCP contains five conservation
and management objectives, and
identifies major task areas for planned
activities, as follows:
Objective 1. Support quality research
and obtain the most complete scientific
information available to assess and
manage fisheries within an ecosystem
approach.
a. Support cooperative research on
U.S. purse seine vessels fishing on fish
aggregation devices in the PRIA.
b. Support tagging studies in the PRIA
to provide better understanding of
pelagic species.
c. Support collection and analysis of
life history characteristics of federally
managed species through bio-sampling.
Objective 2. Conduct education and
outreach to foster good stewardship
principles and broad and direct public
participation in the Council decisionmaking process by supporting education
and outreach activities related to
sustainable fisheries management of
pelagic fisheries in the PRIA.
Objective 3. Promote regional
cooperation to manage domestic and
international fisheries, by participating
in international fishery policy
development in Pacific Regional Fishery
Management Organizations.
Objective 4. Encourage development
of technologies and methods to achieve
the most effective level of monitoring,
control, and surveillance, and to ensure
safety at sea.
a. Support pilot programs to test new
technologies for information gathering,
in coordination with federal, state, and
industry representatives.
b. Support observer programs or other
monitoring efforts that are adequate to
monitor the harvest, bycatch, and
compliance of foreign fishing vessels
that fish under a PIAFA in the PRIA.
c. Participate in Pacific-wide vessel
monitoring system consultations.
Objective 5. Support activities that
promote western Pacific community
demonstration projects and the western
Pacific community development
program.
Section 204(e)(7)(C) of the MagnusonStevens Act authorizes the Council to
use monies deposited into the Fund to
meet conservation and management
objectives in the State of Hawaii,
consistent with the Fishery Ecosystem
Plan for the Hawaii Archipelago. The
MCP includes an appendix describing
these objectives. At the 157th meeting,
the Council recommended amendments
to the appendix relating to fisheries
research.
The MCP also outlines a process by
which the Council’s Executive
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 155 (Monday, August 12, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48860-48861]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-19446]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XC802
New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meetings
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; public meetings.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) will hold
public meetings of two of its advisory bodies, the ABC Control Rule
Working Group (ABC WG) and Electronic Monitoring Working Group (EM WG).
DATES: The first meeting of the ABC Control Rule Working Group will be
on Tuesday, September 3, 2013. The meeting will be held at the
Doubletree by Hilton in Danvers, MA and it will start at 10 a.m.
Additional meetings may be held between August 15, 2013 and January 31,
2014. Specific information about the dates, times and places for the
meetings will be posted on the Council's Web site, https://nefmc.org/.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas A. Nies, Executive Director,
[[Page 48861]]
New England Fishery Management Council; telephone: (978) 465-0492.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Council has established these working
groups to develop background information and approaches to problems and
issues to be considered by the Council and its committees. The working
groups will not make any final decisions about the selection of
approaches or alternatives that might be adopted by the Council.
The purpose of the ABC Control Rule Working Group is to prepare a
work plan on how the Council should proceed in developing acceptable
biological catch (ABC) control rules that incorporate the Council's
risk tolerance into the process for setting ABCs. The work plan will
enable the Council to approve a process for developing the risk policy
as a Council priority.
The purpose of the Electronic Monitoring Working Group is to
identify barriers or necessary steps to the approval by NMFS of
Northeast Multispecies (Groundfish) sector operations plans that rely
on electronic monitoring to achieve the compliance and catch
attribution requirements for groundfish sectors.
Special Accommodations
The meetings will be physically accessible to people with
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other
auxiliary aids should be directed to Thomas A. Nies, Executive
Director, at (978) 465-0492, at least 5 days prior to the meeting date.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: August 7, 2013.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-19446 Filed 8-9-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
