Whaling Provisions; Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling Quotas, 2427-2428 [2018-00677]
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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 11 / Wednesday, January 17, 2018 / Notices
Dated: January 10, 2018.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2018–00666 Filed 1–16–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
ethrower on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES
Submission for OMB Review;
Comment Request
The Department of Commerce will
submit to the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) for clearance the
following proposal for collection of
information under the provisions of the
Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.
Chapter 35).
Agency: National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Title: Alaska American Fisheries Act
(AFA) Reports.
OMB Control Number: 0648–0401.
Form Number(s): None.
Type of Request: Regular (extension of
a currently approved information
collection).
Number of Respondents: 8.
Average Hours per Response: AFA
cooperative contract, 8 hours; annual
cooperative report, 16 hours; inshore
cooperative weekly catch report, 45
minutes; incentive plan agreement (IPA)
amendment, 50 hours; incentive plan
agreement disapproval appeals, 4 hours;
IPA annual report, 80 hours.
Burden Hours: 599.
Needs and Uses: On October 21, 1998,
the President signed into law The
American Fisheries Act, 16 U.S.C. 1851
(AFA). The AFA authorizes the
formation of fishery cooperatives in all
sectors of the Bering Sea and Aleutian
Islands Management Area (BSAI)
pollock fishery, grants antitrust
exemptions to cooperatives in the
mothership sector, and imposes
operational limits on fishery
cooperatives in the BSAI pollock
fishery. The National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS) issues a single pollock
allocation to each cooperative, and the
cooperative may make sub-allocations of
pollock to each individual vessel owner
in the cooperative.
With respect to the fisheries off
Alaska, the AFA Program is a suite of
management measures that fall into four
general regulatory categories:
• Limit access into the fishing and
processing sectors of the BSAI pollock
fishery and that allocate pollock to such
sectors (50 CFR 679.64).
• Govern the formation and operation
of fishery cooperatives in the BSAI
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:14 Jan 16, 2018
Jkt 244001
pollock fishery, including filing of
cooperative contracts (50 CFR 679.61
and 679.62).
• Protection of other fisheries from
spillover effects from the AFA (50 CFR
679.64).
• Govern catch measurement and
monitoring in the BSAI pollock fishery,
including filing of annual reports and
completing and submitting inshore
catcher vessel pollock cooperative catch
reports (50 CFR 679.63).
Affected Public: Business or other forprofit organizations.
Frequency: Annually and on occasion.
Respondent’s Obligation: Mandatory.
This information collection request
may be viewed at reginfo.gov. Follow
the instructions to view Department of
Commerce collections currently under
review by OMB.
Written comments and
recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be sent
within 30 days of publication of this
notice to OIRA_Submission@
omb.eop.gov or fax to (202) 395–5806.
Dated: January 11, 2018.
Sarah Brabson,
NOAA PRA Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2018–00691 Filed 1–16–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
RIN 0648–XF951
Whaling Provisions; Aboriginal
Subsistence Whaling Quotas
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; notification of quota for
bowhead whales.
AGENCY:
NMFS notifies the public of
the aboriginal subsistence whaling
quota for bowhead whales that it has
assigned to the Alaska Eskimo Whaling
Commission (AEWC), and of limitations
on the use of the quota deriving from
regulations of the International Whaling
Commission (IWC). For 2018, the quota
is 75 bowhead whales struck. This quota
and other applicable limitations govern
the harvest of bowhead whales by
members of the AEWC.
DATES: Applicable January 17, 2018.
ADDRESSES: Office for International
Affairs and Seafood Inspection, National
Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 EastWest Highway, Silver Spring, MD
20910.
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
2427
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Carolyn Doherty, (301) 427–8385.
Aboriginal
subsistence whaling in the United States
is governed by the Whaling Convention
Act (WCA) (16 U.S.C. 916 et seq.).
Under the WCA, IWC regulations shall
generally become effective with respect
to all persons and vessels subject to the
jurisdiction of the United States, within
90 days of notification from the IWC
Secretariat of an amendment to the IWC
Schedule (16 U.S.C. 916k). Regulations
that implement the WCA, found at 50
CFR 230.6, require the Secretary of
Commerce (Secretary) to publish, at
least annually, aboriginal subsistence
whaling quotas and any other
limitations on aboriginal subsistence
whaling deriving from regulations of the
IWC.
At the 64th Annual Meeting of the
IWC, the Commission set catch limits
for aboriginal subsistence use of
bowhead whales from the BeringChukchi-Beaufort Seas stock. The
bowhead catch limits were based on a
joint request by the United States and
the Russian Federation, accompanied by
documentation concerning the needs of
two Native groups: Alaska Eskimos and
Chukotka Natives in the Russian Far
East.
The IWC set a 6-year block catch limit
of 336 bowhead whales landed. For
each of the years 2013 through 2018, the
number of bowhead whales struck may
not exceed 67, except that any unused
portion of a strike quota from any prior
year may be carried forward. No more
than 15 strikes may be added to the
strike quota for any one year. At the end
of the 2017 harvest, there were 15
unused strikes available for carryforward, so the combined strike quota
set by the IWC for 2018 is 82 (67 + 15).
An arrangement between the United
States and the Russian Federation
ensures that the total quota of bowhead
whales landed and struck in 2018 will
not exceed the limits set by the IWC.
Under this arrangement, the Russian
natives may use no more than seven
strikes, and the Alaska Eskimos may use
no more than 75 strikes.
Through its cooperative agreement
with the AEWC, NOAA has assigned 75
strikes to the Alaska Eskimos. The
AEWC will in turn allocate these strikes
among the 11 villages whose cultural
and subsistence needs have been
documented, and will ensure that its
hunters use no more than 75 strikes.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Other Limitations
The IWC regulations, as well as the
NOAA regulation at 50 CFR 230.4(c),
forbid the taking of calves or any whale
accompanied by a calf.
E:\FR\FM\17JAN1.SGM
17JAN1
2428
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 11 / Wednesday, January 17, 2018 / Notices
NOAA regulations (at 50 CFR 230.4)
contain a number of other prohibitions
relating to aboriginal subsistence
whaling, some of which are summarized
here:
• Only licensed whaling captains or
crew under the control of those captains
may engage in whaling.
• Captains and crew must follow the
provisions of the relevant cooperative
agreement between NOAA and a Native
American whaling organization.
• The aboriginal hunters must have
adequate crew, supplies, and equipment
to engage in an efficient operation.
• Crew may not receive money for
participating in the hunt.
• No person may sell or offer for sale
whale products from whales taken in
the hunt, except for authentic articles of
Native American handicrafts.
• Captains may not continue to whale
after the relevant quota is taken, after
the season has been closed, or if their
licenses have been suspended. They
may not engage in whaling in a wasteful
manner.
Dated: January 11, 2018.
John Henderschedt,
Director, Office for International Affairs and
Seafood Inspection, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2018–00677 Filed 1–16–18; 8:45 am]
Dated: January 11, 2018.
Sarah Brabson,
NOAA PRA Clearance Officer.
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
[FR Doc. 2018–00690 Filed 1–16–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
ethrower on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES
Submission for OMB Review;
Comment Request
The Department of Commerce will
submit to the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) for clearance the
following proposal for collection of
information under the provisions of the
Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.
Chapter 35).
Agency: National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Title: Greater Atlantic Region Dealer
Purchase Reports.
OMB Control Number: 0648–0229.
Form Number(s): None.
Type of Request: Regular (extension of
a currently approved information
collection).
Number of Respondents: 657.
Average Hours per Response: 4
minutes.
Burden Hours: 2,278.
Needs and Uses: This request is for
extension of a currently approved
information collection.
Federally permitted dealers, and any
individual acting in the capacity of a
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17:14 Jan 16, 2018
Jkt 244001
dealer, must submit to the Regional
Administrator or to the official designee
a detailed report of all fish purchased or
received for a commercial purpose,
other than solely for transport on land,
by one of the available electronic
reporting mechanisms approved by
National Marine Fisheries Service
(NMFS). The information obtained is
used by economists, biologists, and
managers in the management of the
fisheries. The data collection parameters
are consistent with the current
requirements for Federal dealers under
the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management
Act.
Affected Public: Business or other forprofit organizations; individuals or
households.
Frequency: Weekly.
Respondent’s Obligation: Mandatory.
This information collection request
may be viewed at reginfo.gov. Follow
the instructions to view Department of
Commerce collections currently under
review by OMB.
Written comments and
recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be sent
within 30 days of publication of this
notice to OIRA_Submission@
omb.eop.gov or fax to (202) 395–5806.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
Submission for OMB Review;
Comment Request
The Department of Commerce will
submit to the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) for clearance the
following proposal for collection of
information under the provisions of the
Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.
Chapter 35).
Agency: National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Title: Southeast Region Individual
Fishing Quota Programs.
OMB Control Number: 0648–0551.
Form Number(s): None.
Type of Request: Regular (revision
and extension of a currently approved
information collection).
Number of Respondents: 1,069.
Average Hours per Response: Share
Transfer Receipt form, Cost Recovery
Fee Submission form, 1 minute; Share
Transfer form, IFQ Close Account form,
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Cost Recovery Fee Submission form,
Landing Transaction Correction Request
form, Landing Location Submission
form, Transfer Allocation form, Cost
Recovery Fee payment through pay.gov,
3 minutes; Notification of Landing form,
5 minutes; Landing Transaction Report
form, 6 minutes; IFQ Online Account
Application form, 15 minutes;
Wreckfish Quota Share Transfer form,
18 minutes.
Burden Hours: 2,156.
Needs and Uses: This request is for an
extension and revision of a currently
approved information collection.
The NMFS Southeast Regional Office
manages three commercial IFQ and
individual transferable quota (ITQ)
programs in the Southeast Region under
the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management
Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), 16 U.S.C.
1801 et seq. The IFQ programs for red
snapper, and grouper and tilefish occur
in Federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico,
and the ITQ program for wreckfish
occurs in Federal waters of the South
Atlantic.
This collection of information tracks
the transfer and use of IFQ and ITQ
shares, and IFQ allocation and landings
necessary to operate, administer, and
review management of the IFQ and ITQ
programs. Regulations for the IFQ and
ITQ programs are located at 50 CFR part
622.
The NMFS Southeast Regional Office
also proposes to revise parts of the
information collection approved under
OMB Control Number 0648–0551 to
account for updates to burden time and
cost estimates, as well as administrative
updates to online and paper forms.
NMFS intends the revisions would
make instructions and data collection
requirements clearer and easier to
understand, resulting in more accurate
and efficient information available for
use by fishery managers.
Affected Public: Business or other forprofit organizations; individuals or
households.
Frequency: Annually, quarterly and
on occasion.
Respondent’s Obligation: Mandatory.
This information collection request
may be viewed at reginfo.gov. Follow
the instructions to view Department of
Commerce collections currently under
review by OMB.
Written comments and
recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be sent
within 30 days of publication of this
notice to OIRA_Submission@
omb.eop.gov or fax to (202) 395–5806.
E:\FR\FM\17JAN1.SGM
17JAN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 11 (Wednesday, January 17, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2427-2428]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-00677]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XF951
Whaling Provisions; Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling Quotas
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; notification of quota for bowhead whales.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NMFS notifies the public of the aboriginal subsistence whaling
quota for bowhead whales that it has assigned to the Alaska Eskimo
Whaling Commission (AEWC), and of limitations on the use of the quota
deriving from regulations of the International Whaling Commission
(IWC). For 2018, the quota is 75 bowhead whales struck. This quota and
other applicable limitations govern the harvest of bowhead whales by
members of the AEWC.
DATES: Applicable January 17, 2018.
ADDRESSES: Office for International Affairs and Seafood Inspection,
National Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver
Spring, MD 20910.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carolyn Doherty, (301) 427-8385.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Aboriginal subsistence whaling in the United
States is governed by the Whaling Convention Act (WCA) (16 U.S.C. 916
et seq.). Under the WCA, IWC regulations shall generally become
effective with respect to all persons and vessels subject to the
jurisdiction of the United States, within 90 days of notification from
the IWC Secretariat of an amendment to the IWC Schedule (16 U.S.C.
916k). Regulations that implement the WCA, found at 50 CFR 230.6,
require the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) to publish, at least
annually, aboriginal subsistence whaling quotas and any other
limitations on aboriginal subsistence whaling deriving from regulations
of the IWC.
At the 64th Annual Meeting of the IWC, the Commission set catch
limits for aboriginal subsistence use of bowhead whales from the
Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort Seas stock. The bowhead catch limits were based
on a joint request by the United States and the Russian Federation,
accompanied by documentation concerning the needs of two Native groups:
Alaska Eskimos and Chukotka Natives in the Russian Far East.
The IWC set a 6-year block catch limit of 336 bowhead whales
landed. For each of the years 2013 through 2018, the number of bowhead
whales struck may not exceed 67, except that any unused portion of a
strike quota from any prior year may be carried forward. No more than
15 strikes may be added to the strike quota for any one year. At the
end of the 2017 harvest, there were 15 unused strikes available for
carry-forward, so the combined strike quota set by the IWC for 2018 is
82 (67 + 15).
An arrangement between the United States and the Russian Federation
ensures that the total quota of bowhead whales landed and struck in
2018 will not exceed the limits set by the IWC. Under this arrangement,
the Russian natives may use no more than seven strikes, and the Alaska
Eskimos may use no more than 75 strikes.
Through its cooperative agreement with the AEWC, NOAA has assigned
75 strikes to the Alaska Eskimos. The AEWC will in turn allocate these
strikes among the 11 villages whose cultural and subsistence needs have
been documented, and will ensure that its hunters use no more than 75
strikes.
Other Limitations
The IWC regulations, as well as the NOAA regulation at 50 CFR
230.4(c), forbid the taking of calves or any whale accompanied by a
calf.
[[Page 2428]]
NOAA regulations (at 50 CFR 230.4) contain a number of other
prohibitions relating to aboriginal subsistence whaling, some of which
are summarized here:
Only licensed whaling captains or crew under the control
of those captains may engage in whaling.
Captains and crew must follow the provisions of the
relevant cooperative agreement between NOAA and a Native American
whaling organization.
The aboriginal hunters must have adequate crew, supplies,
and equipment to engage in an efficient operation.
Crew may not receive money for participating in the hunt.
No person may sell or offer for sale whale products from
whales taken in the hunt, except for authentic articles of Native
American handicrafts.
Captains may not continue to whale after the relevant
quota is taken, after the season has been closed, or if their licenses
have been suspended. They may not engage in whaling in a wasteful
manner.
Dated: January 11, 2018.
John Henderschedt,
Director, Office for International Affairs and Seafood Inspection,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2018-00677 Filed 1-16-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
