Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Individual Fishing Quotas for Pacific Halibut and Sablefish in the Alaska Fisheries, 28760-28761 [2021-11311]
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28760
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 102 / Friday, May 28, 2021 / Notices
Habitat Protection and Ecosystem-Based
Management.
The Council will discuss other
business, upcoming meetings, and take
action as necessary.
Documents regarding these issues are
available from the Council office (see
ADDRESSES).
Although non-emergency issues not
contained in this agenda may come
before this group for discussion, those
issues may not be the subject of formal
action during this meeting. Action will
be restricted to those issues specifically
identified in this notice and any issues
arising after publication of this notice
that require emergency action under
section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management
Act, provided the public has been
notified of the Council’s intent to take
final action to address the emergency.
Special Accommodations
These meetings are physically
accessible to people with disabilities.
Requests for auxiliary aids should be
directed to the Council office (see
ADDRESSES) 5 days prior to the meeting.
Note: The times and sequence specified in
this agenda are subject to change.
(Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.)
Dated: May 25, 2021.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2021–11325 Filed 5–27–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
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; Individual Fishing Quotas for
Pacific Halibut and Sablefish in the
Alaska Fisheries
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
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:28 May 27, 2021
Jkt 253001
via the Federal Register on January 13,
2021 (86 FR 2644), 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: Individual Fishing Quotas for
Pacific Halibut and Sablefish in the
Alaska Fisheries.
OMB Control Number: 0648–0272.
Form Number(s): None.
Type of Request: Regular submission
(extension and revision of a currently
approved information collection).
Number of Respondents: 3,441.
Average Hours per Response:
Application for IFQ/CDQ Hired Master
Permit, 1 hour; Application for IFQ/
CDQ Registered Buyer Permit, 30
minutes; Application for Replacement
of Certificates or Permits, 30 minutes;
Application for Eligibility to Receive
QS/IFQ by Transfer, 2 hours; QS Holder:
Identification of Ownership Interest, 2
hours; Application for Transfer of QS, 2
hours; Application for Transfer of QS/
IFQ by Self Sweep Up, 2 hours;
Application for Medical Transfer of IFQ,
1.5 hours; Application for Temporary
Transfer of Halibut/Sablefish IFQ, 2
hours; (emergency) Application for
Temporary Transfer of Halibut/Sablefish
IFQ, 2 hours; Annual Report for CDQ
IFQ Transfers, 40 hours; QS/IFQ
Beneficiary Designation Form, 30
minutes; Appeals, 4 hours; IFQ
Administrative Waiver, 6 minutes; Prior
Notice of Landing, 15 minutes; IFQ
Departure Report, 15 minutes;
Transshipment Authorization, 12
minutes; Dockside sales, 6 minutes;
Application for a Non-profit
Corporation to be Designated as a
Recreational Quota Entity, 200 hours;
Application for Transfer of Quota Share
To or From a Recreational Quota Entity,
2 hours; Recreational Quota Entity
Annual Report, 40 hours.
Total Annual Burden Hours: 11,236
hours.
Needs and Uses: The National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS), Alaska
Regional Office, is requesting renewal
and revision of this currently approved
information collection that contains
requirements for the Pacific Halibut and
Sablefish Individual Fishing Quota
Program (IFQ Program).
The International Pacific Halibut
Commission (IPHC) and NMFS Alaska
Region manage fishing for Pacific
halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis)
through regulations established under
the authority of the Northern Pacific
Halibut Act of 1982, 16 U.S.C. 773c
(Halibut Act). The IPHC promulgates
regulations governing the halibut fishery
PO 00000
Frm 00014
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
under the Convention between the
United States Halibut Fishery of the
Northern Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea
(Convention). Regulations pursuant to
the Convention are set forth at 50 CFR
300 subpart E.
The North Pacific Fishery
Management Council, under the
authority of the Halibut Act (with
respect to Pacific halibut) and the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation
and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et
seq.; Magnuson-Stevens Act) (with
respect to sablefish), manages the IFQ
Program. NMFS Alaska Region
administers the IFQ Program.
Regulations implementing the IFQ
Program are set forth at 50 CFR part 679.
The IFQ Program provides a limited
access system for Pacific halibut in
Convention waters in and off Alaska
and sablefish fisheries in waters of the
Exclusive Economic Zone off Alaska.
The IFQ Program provides coastal
Alaska communities a source of
revenue, while maintaining the social
and economic character of the fixed-gear
sablefish and halibut fisheries. The IFQ
Program provides economic stability for
these fisheries while reducing many of
the conservation and management
problems commonly associated with
open-access fisheries. The IFQ Program
includes several provisions, such as
ownership caps and vessel use caps that
protect small producers, part-time
participants, and entry-level
participants that otherwise could be
adversely affected by excessive
consolidation.
Participation in the IFQ Program is
limited to persons that hold quota share
(QS), although there are several very
limited provisions for ‘‘leasing’’ of
annual IFQ. QS is a transferable permit
that was initially issued to persons who
owned or leased vessels that made legal
commercial fixed-gear landings of
Pacific halibut or sablefish in the waters
off Alaska from 1988 through 1990.
Currently, QS may only be obtained
through transfer.
Annually, NMFS issues eligible QS
holders an IFQ fishing permit that
authorizes participation in the IFQ
fisheries. Those to whom IFQ permits
are issued may harvest their annual
allocation at any time during the eight
plus-month IFQ halibut and sablefish
seasons.
More information on the IFQ Program
is provided on the NMFS Alaska Region
website at https://
www.fisheries.noaa.gov/alaska/
sustainable-fisheries/pacific-halibutand-sablefish-individual-fishing-quotaifq-program.
Some of the collection instruments in
this information collection are used by
E:\FR\FM\28MYN1.SGM
28MYN1
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 102 / Friday, May 28, 2021 / Notices
participants in the Western Alaska
Community Development Quota (CDQ)
Program. The purpose of the CDQ
Program is to provide eligible western
Alaska villages with the opportunity to
participate and invest in fisheries in the
Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands
Management Area (BSAI); to support
economic development in western
Alaska; to alleviate poverty and provide
economic and social benefits for
residents of western Alaska; and to
achieve sustainable and diversified local
economies in western Alaska. In fitting
with these goals, NMFS allocates a
portion of the annual catch limits for a
variety of commercially valuable marine
species in the BSAI to the CDQ Program.
Pacific halibut is one of these species.
More information on the CDQ Program
is provided on the NMFS Alaska Region
website at https://
www.fisheries.noaa.gov/alaska/
sustainable-fisheries/communitydevelopment-quota-cdq-program.
Information collection requirements for
the CDQ Program are approved under
OMB Control Number 0648–0269.
This information collection is
required to manage commercial halibut
and sablefish fishing under the
Magnuson-Stevens Act, the Halibut Act,
and under 50 CFR parts 300 and 679.
This information collection contains
the forms used by participants in the
IFQ Program to apply for, renew, or
replace permits; transfer or lease IFQ
and QS; determine compliance with IFQ
program requirements; and designate a
beneficiary for a QS holder. Two of the
permit applications are also used by
participants in the CDQ Program. This
information collection also contains
annual reports and other collections
submitted by telephone or other
methods and that do not have forms.
The type of information collected
includes information on the applicants,
transferors, transferees, permits, IFQ or
QS types and owners, beneficiaries,
vessels, business operations, medical
declarations, landings, gear types,
products, and harvests and harvest
areas.
This information is used to identify
and authorize participants in the halibut
and sablefish fisheries, to track and
transfer quota share, to limit transfers to
authorized participants, and to monitor
quota share balances and harvest in
these fisheries.
Several revisions are made to this
collection. The emergency version of the
Application for Temporary Transfer of
Halibut/Sablefish Individual Fishing
Quota (IFQ), which was approved under
an emergency approval (OMB Control
No. 0648–0795), is added for use during
emergency situations. Two forms are
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:28 May 27, 2021
Jkt 253001
revised to remove information that is
not needed. The Application for
Transfer of QS/IFQ by Self Sweep-up is
revised to remove the notary
certification, and the Application for
Eligibility to Receive QS/IFQ is revised
to no longer collect social security
numbers. The Application for Eligibility
to Receive QS/IFQ and Application for
Transfer of QS are revised to collect the
NMFS ID number to improved
identification.
Affected Public: Individuals or
households; Business or other for-profit
organizations; Not-for-profit
institutions.
Frequency: On occasion; Annually.
Respondent’s Obligation: Voluntary;
Required to Obtain or Retain Benefits;
Mandatory.
Legal Authority: Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management
Act, 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.; Northern
Pacific Halibut Act of 1982, 16 U.S.C.
773c.
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 0648–0272.
Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of
the Chief Information Officer, Commerce
Department.
[FR Doc. 2021–11311 Filed 5–27–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
[RTID 0648–XB099]
Fisheries of the Gulf of Mexico;
Southeast Data, Assessment, and
Review (SEDAR); Public Meeting
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of SEDAR 72 Assessment
Webinar III for Gulf of Mexico gag
grouper.
AGENCY:
PO 00000
Frm 00015
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
28761
The SEDAR 72 stock
assessment process for Gulf of Mexico
gag grouper will consist of a series of
data and assessment webinars. See
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
DATES: The SEDAR 72 Assessment
Webinar III will be held June 15, 2021,
from 1 p.m. until 3 p.m., Eastern.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held
via webinar. The webinar is open to
members of the public. Those interested
in participating should contact Julie A.
Neer at SEDAR (see FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT below) to request
an invitation providing webinar access
information. Please request webinar
invitations at least 24 hours in advance
of each webinar.
SEDAR address: 4055 Faber Place
Drive, Suite 201, North Charleston, SC
29405.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julie
A. Neer, SEDAR Coordinator; (843) 571–
4366; email: Julie.neer@safmc.net.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Gulf
of Mexico, South Atlantic, and
Caribbean Fishery Management
Councils, in conjunction with NOAA
Fisheries and the Atlantic and Gulf
States Marine Fisheries Commissions
have implemented the Southeast Data,
Assessment and Review (SEDAR)
process, a multi-step method for
determining the status of fish stocks in
the Southeast Region. SEDAR is a multistep process including: (1) Data
Workshop, (2) a series of assessment
webinars, and (3) A Review Workshop.
The product of the Data Workshop is a
report that compiles and evaluates
potential datasets and recommends
which datasets are appropriate for
assessment analyses. The assessment
webinars produce a report that describes
the fisheries, evaluates the status of the
stock, estimates biological benchmarks,
projects future population conditions,
and recommends research and
monitoring needs. The product of the
Review Workshop is an Assessment
Summary documenting panel opinions
regarding the strengths and weaknesses
of the stock assessment and input data.
Participants for SEDAR Workshops are
appointed by the Gulf of Mexico, South
Atlantic, and Caribbean Fishery
Management Councils and NOAA
Fisheries Southeast Regional Office,
HMS Management Division, and
Southeast Fisheries Science Center.
Participants include data collectors and
database managers; stock assessment
scientists, biologists, and researchers;
constituency representatives including
fishermen, environmentalists, and
NGO’s; International experts; and staff
of Councils, Commissions, and state and
federal agencies.
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\28MYN1.SGM
28MYN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 102 (Friday, May 28, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28760-28761]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-11311]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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; Individual Fishing Quotas for Pacific Halibut and Sablefish in
the Alaska Fisheries
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 January 13, 2021 (86 FR 2644), 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: Individual Fishing Quotas for Pacific Halibut and Sablefish
in the Alaska Fisheries.
OMB Control Number: 0648-0272.
Form Number(s): None.
Type of Request: Regular submission (extension and revision of a
currently approved information collection).
Number of Respondents: 3,441.
Average Hours per Response: Application for IFQ/CDQ Hired Master
Permit, 1 hour; Application for IFQ/CDQ Registered Buyer Permit, 30
minutes; Application for Replacement of Certificates or Permits, 30
minutes; Application for Eligibility to Receive QS/IFQ by Transfer, 2
hours; QS Holder: Identification of Ownership Interest, 2 hours;
Application for Transfer of QS, 2 hours; Application for Transfer of
QS/IFQ by Self Sweep Up, 2 hours; Application for Medical Transfer of
IFQ, 1.5 hours; Application for Temporary Transfer of Halibut/Sablefish
IFQ, 2 hours; (emergency) Application for Temporary Transfer of
Halibut/Sablefish IFQ, 2 hours; Annual Report for CDQ IFQ Transfers, 40
hours; QS/IFQ Beneficiary Designation Form, 30 minutes; Appeals, 4
hours; IFQ Administrative Waiver, 6 minutes; Prior Notice of Landing,
15 minutes; IFQ Departure Report, 15 minutes; Transshipment
Authorization, 12 minutes; Dockside sales, 6 minutes; Application for a
Non-profit Corporation to be Designated as a Recreational Quota Entity,
200 hours; Application for Transfer of Quota Share To or From a
Recreational Quota Entity, 2 hours; Recreational Quota Entity Annual
Report, 40 hours.
Total Annual Burden Hours: 11,236 hours.
Needs and Uses: The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS),
Alaska Regional Office, is requesting renewal and revision of this
currently approved information collection that contains requirements
for the Pacific Halibut and Sablefish Individual Fishing Quota Program
(IFQ Program).
The International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) and NMFS Alaska
Region manage fishing for Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis)
through regulations established under the authority of the Northern
Pacific Halibut Act of 1982, 16 U.S.C. 773c (Halibut Act). The IPHC
promulgates regulations governing the halibut fishery under the
Convention between the United States Halibut Fishery of the Northern
Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea (Convention). Regulations pursuant to the
Convention are set forth at 50 CFR 300 subpart E.
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council, under the authority
of the Halibut Act (with respect to Pacific halibut) and the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et
seq.; Magnuson-Stevens Act) (with respect to sablefish), manages the
IFQ Program. NMFS Alaska Region administers the IFQ Program.
Regulations implementing the IFQ Program are set forth at 50 CFR part
679.
The IFQ Program provides a limited access system for Pacific
halibut in Convention waters in and off Alaska and sablefish fisheries
in waters of the Exclusive Economic Zone off Alaska. The IFQ Program
provides coastal Alaska communities a source of revenue, while
maintaining the social and economic character of the fixed-gear
sablefish and halibut fisheries. The IFQ Program provides economic
stability for these fisheries while reducing many of the conservation
and management problems commonly associated with open-access fisheries.
The IFQ Program includes several provisions, such as ownership caps and
vessel use caps that protect small producers, part-time participants,
and entry-level participants that otherwise could be adversely affected
by excessive consolidation.
Participation in the IFQ Program is limited to persons that hold
quota share (QS), although there are several very limited provisions
for ``leasing'' of annual IFQ. QS is a transferable permit that was
initially issued to persons who owned or leased vessels that made legal
commercial fixed-gear landings of Pacific halibut or sablefish in the
waters off Alaska from 1988 through 1990. Currently, QS may only be
obtained through transfer.
Annually, NMFS issues eligible QS holders an IFQ fishing permit
that authorizes participation in the IFQ fisheries. Those to whom IFQ
permits are issued may harvest their annual allocation at any time
during the eight plus-month IFQ halibut and sablefish seasons.
More information on the IFQ Program is provided on the NMFS Alaska
Region website at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/alaska/sustainable-fisheries/pacific-halibut-and-sablefish-individual-fishing-quota-ifq-program.
Some of the collection instruments in this information collection
are used by
[[Page 28761]]
participants in the Western Alaska Community Development Quota (CDQ)
Program. The purpose of the CDQ Program is to provide eligible western
Alaska villages with the opportunity to participate and invest in
fisheries in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area
(BSAI); to support economic development in western Alaska; to alleviate
poverty and provide economic and social benefits for residents of
western Alaska; and to achieve sustainable and diversified local
economies in western Alaska. In fitting with these goals, NMFS
allocates a portion of the annual catch limits for a variety of
commercially valuable marine species in the BSAI to the CDQ Program.
Pacific halibut is one of these species. More information on the CDQ
Program is provided on the NMFS Alaska Region website at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/alaska/sustainable-fisheries/community-development-quota-cdq-program. Information collection requirements for
the CDQ Program are approved under OMB Control Number 0648-0269.
This information collection is required to manage commercial
halibut and sablefish fishing under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the
Halibut Act, and under 50 CFR parts 300 and 679.
This information collection contains the forms used by participants
in the IFQ Program to apply for, renew, or replace permits; transfer or
lease IFQ and QS; determine compliance with IFQ program requirements;
and designate a beneficiary for a QS holder. Two of the permit
applications are also used by participants in the CDQ Program. This
information collection also contains annual reports and other
collections submitted by telephone or other methods and that do not
have forms.
The type of information collected includes information on the
applicants, transferors, transferees, permits, IFQ or QS types and
owners, beneficiaries, vessels, business operations, medical
declarations, landings, gear types, products, and harvests and harvest
areas.
This information is used to identify and authorize participants in
the halibut and sablefish fisheries, to track and transfer quota share,
to limit transfers to authorized participants, and to monitor quota
share balances and harvest in these fisheries.
Several revisions are made to this collection. The emergency
version of the Application for Temporary Transfer of Halibut/Sablefish
Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ), which was approved under an emergency
approval (OMB Control No. 0648-0795), is added for use during emergency
situations. Two forms are revised to remove information that is not
needed. The Application for Transfer of QS/IFQ by Self Sweep-up is
revised to remove the notary certification, and the Application for
Eligibility to Receive QS/IFQ is revised to no longer collect social
security numbers. The Application for Eligibility to Receive QS/IFQ and
Application for Transfer of QS are revised to collect the NMFS ID
number to improved identification.
Affected Public: Individuals or households; Business or other for-
profit organizations; Not-for-profit institutions.
Frequency: On occasion; Annually.
Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary; Required to Obtain or Retain
Benefits; Mandatory.
Legal Authority: Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act, 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.; Northern Pacific Halibut Act of
1982, 16 U.S.C. 773c.
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 0648-0272.
Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2021-11311 Filed 5-27-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P