Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Alaska American Fisheries Act Reports, 8343 [2021-02443]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 23 (Friday, February 5, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Page 8343]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-02443]


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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 American Fisheries Act Reports

    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 October 21, 2020, 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 American Fisheries Act Reports.
    OMB Control Number: 0648-0401.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Regular submission [extension of a current 
information collection].
    Number of Respondents: 11.
    Average Hours per Response: AFA Cooperative Contract 8 hours; AFA 
Annual Cooperative Report 16 hours; Incentive Plan Agreement amendment 
50 hours; IPA Annual Report 80 hours; IPA administrative appeals 4 
hours.
    Total Annual Burden Hours: 486 hours.
    Needs and Uses: The National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS), 
Alaska Region, is requesting extension of a currently approved 
information collection for American Fisheries Act reporting 
requirements.
    NMFS manages the groundfish fisheries of the Bering Sea and 
Aleutian Islands Management Area in the Exclusive Economic Zone off 
Alaska. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) prepared 
the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and 
Aleutian Islands Management Area (FMP) under the authority of the 
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, 16 U.S.C. 
1801 et seq., and other applicable laws. Regulations implementing the 
FMP are at 50 CFR part 679.
    The Bering Sea pollock fishery is managed under the American 
Fisheries Act (AFA). The purpose of the AFA was to tighten U.S. 
ownership standards for U.S. fishing vessels under the Anti-reflagging 
Act and to provide the Bering Sea pollock fleet the opportunity to 
conduct its fishery in a more rational manner while protecting non-AFA 
participants in the other fisheries. The AFA established sector 
allocations in the Bering Sea pollock fishery, determined eligible 
vessels and processors, allowed the formation of cooperatives, set 
limits on the participation of AFA vessels in other fisheries, and 
imposed special catch weighing and monitoring requirements on AFA 
vessels.
    This information collection contains the annual and periodic 
reporting requirements for AFA cooperatives. These requirements include 
reports about on-going fishing operations of the cooperatives and 
reports specifically focused on efforts to minimize salmon bycatch in 
the Bering Sea pollock fishery. These reporting requirements are 
located at 50 CFR 679.21 and 679.61.
    This information is used to manage the BS pollock fishery, to 
evaluate the salmon bycatch management measures, and to provide the 
public with information about how the program operates and information 
about bycatch reduction under this program. This information collection 
provides the Council and NMFS with information about the organization 
and fishing operations of the AFA cooperatives, allocations to the AFA 
cooperatives, and the effectiveness of the Chinook salmon and chum 
salmon bycatch management measures. This information is necessary to 
ensure long-term conservation and abundance of salmon and pollock, 
maintain a healthy marine ecosystem, and provide maximum benefit to 
fishermen and communities that depend on salmon and pollock.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.
    Frequency: Annually, On occasion.
    Respondent's Obligation: Required to Obtain or Retain Benefits, 
Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act, American Fisheries Act.
    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 0648-0401.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2021-02443 Filed 2-4-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P