Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; American Lobster-Annual Trap Transfer Program, 47495-47496 [2019-19529]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 175 (Tuesday, September 10, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47495-47496]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-19529]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; American 
Lobster--Annual Trap Transfer Program

AGENCY: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 
Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: 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 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 November 12, 
2019.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Adrienne Thomas, PRA Officer, 
NOAA, 151 Patton Avenue, Room 159, Asheville, NC 28801 (or via the 
internet at [email protected]). All comments received are part of the 
public record. Comments will generally be posted without change. All 
Personally Identifiable Information (for example, name and address) 
voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be

[[Page 47496]]

publicly accessible. Do not submit Confidential Business Information or 
otherwise sensitive or protected information. You may submit 
attachments to electronic comments in Microsoft Word, Excel, or Adobe 
PDF file formats.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the information collection instrument and instructions should 
be directed to Laura Hansen, Fishery Management Specialist, NMFS, 
Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, 55 Great Republic Drive, 
Gloucester, MA 01930; 978-281-9225, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    Type of Review: Regular submission (Extension of a current 
information collection). The National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration's (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) 
requests an extension to a current collection of information under OMB 
Control No. 0648-0673.
    The American lobster fishery is cooperatively managed by the states 
and NMFS under the authority of the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries 
Cooperative Management Act. This collection of information is in 
response to several addenda to Amendment 3 of the Interstate Fishery 
Management Plan for American Lobster that work to reduce trap fishing 
effort through limited entry fishing and trap allocation limit 
reductions. This program is intended to help control fishing effort 
while increasing economic flexibility in the American lobster trap 
fishery.
    Currently, Federal lobster permit holders qualified to fish with 
trap gear in Lobster Conservation Management Areas 2 and 3 are 
undergoing scheduled annual trap allocation reductions of 5 percent per 
year until 2021 (Area 2) and 2020 (Area 3). In 2015, in an effort to 
help mitigate the economic burden of these reductions, NMFS and state 
agencies implemented the Lobster Trap Transfer Program that allows all 
qualified Federal lobster permit holders to buy and sell trap 
allocation from Areas 2, 3, or Outer Cape Cod. Each transaction 
includes a conservation tax of 10 percent, which deducts a number of 
traps equal to 10 percent of the total number of traps with each 
transfer, permanently removing them from the fishery.
    NMFS collects annual application forms from lobster permit holders 
who wish to buy and/or sell Area 2, 3, or Outer Cape Area trap 
allocation through the Trap Transfer Program. The transfer applications 
are only accepted during a 2-month period (from August 1 through 
September 30) each year, and the revised allocations for each 
participating lobster permit resulting from the transfers become 
effective at the start of the following Federal lobster fishing year on 
May 1. Both the seller and buyer of the traps are required to sign the 
application form, which includes each permit holder's permit and vessel 
information, the number of traps sold, and the revised number of traps 
received by the buyer, inclusive of the amount removed according to the 
transfer tax. Both parties must sign the form as an agreement to the 
number of traps in the transfer. The parties must date the document and 
show that the transferring permit holder has sufficient allocation to 
transfer and the permit holder receiving the traps has sufficient room 
under any applicable trap cap. This information allows NMFS to process 
and track transfers of lobster trap allocations through the Trap 
Transfer Program, and better enables the monitoring and management of 
the American lobster fishery as a whole.

II. Method of Collection

    Applications for the Trap Transfer Program are accepted annually 
from August 1 through September 30 by mail, fax, or email.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0648-0673.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Review: Regular submission (Extension of a current 
information collection).
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit organizations; 
Individuals or households; Federal government; and State, Local, or 
Tribal government.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 102.
    Estimated Time per Response: 10 minutes.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 17.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $573.24 in reporting/
recordkeeping costs.

IV. Request for Comments

    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.

Sheleen Dumas,
Departmental Lead PRA Officer, Office of the Chief Information Officer, 
Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2019-19529 Filed 9-9-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P