Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Northeast Region Permit Family of Forms
AGENCY: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.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 January 14, 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 Lindsey Feldman, (978) 675-2179 or Lindsey.Feldman@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
This request is for revision and extension of a current information
collection. Under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act, the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) has the
responsibility for the conservation and management of marine fishery
resources. Much of this responsibility has been delegated to the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS). Under this stewardship role, the Secretary
was given certain regulatory authorities to ensure the most beneficial
uses of these resources. One of the regulatory steps taken to carry out
the conservation and management objectives is to collect information
from users of the resource.
As regional Fishery Management Councils develop specific Fishery
Management Plans (FMP), the Secretary has promulgated rules for the
issuance of permits to individuals and organizations participating in
Federally controlled fisheries in order to: (1) Register fishermen,
fishing vessels, fish dealers and processors, (2) List the
characteristics of fishing vessels and/or dealer/processor operations,
(3) Exercise influence over compliance (e.g. withhold issuance pending
collection of unpaid penalties), (4) Provide a mailing list and email
list for the dissemination of important information to the industry,
(5) Register participants to be considered for limited entry, and (6)
Provide a universe for data collection samples. Identification of the
participants, their gear types, vessels, and expected activity levels
is an effective tool in the enforcement of fishery regulations.
Limited access fishing permits, where entry is reviewed during a
one-time application period, place size, tonnage, and horsepower
restrictions on the ability of a vessel owner to upgrade or replace
their vessel. If a vessel owner wishes to upgrade any of the
specifications of his/her vessel such as length overall, net tonnage,
gross tonnage, horsepower, or vessel fish hold capacity, he/she must
submit, in writing, a request for a vessel upgrade. A request, in
writing, also must be made in order to replace one limited access
permitted vessel with another as vessel size restrictions are limited
to 10-percent above the baseline length overall, gross, and net
tonnage, 20-percent above the baseline horsepower, and 10-percent above
the vessel hold capacity measurement for limited access vessels with
Tier 1 or 2 Atlantic mackerel permits.
Vessels with particular permits are also required to use an
electronic vessel monitoring system (VMS) to declare their intent to
fish before starting a particular trip, change their intent to fish
during a trip, and to report real-time catch and discard information.
While vessels are also required to report catch information weekly or
monthly depending on their permit through vessel trip reports
(VTRs)(VTR collection approved in OMB Control No. 0648-0212), it is
often necessary to have daily catch reporting in order to have a real-
time understanding of the operation of the fishery. Real-time catch
reporting is especially important for high volume fisheries, where
large amounts of fish are landed in short periods of time, so that the
fishery can be shut down when approaching the annual, regional, or
seasonal quota.
This collection also includes the requirement of participants in
certain fisheries to notify NMFS before fishing trips for the purpose
of observer placement. The placement of fisheries observers is critical
to accurately monitoring and collecting information on fish catch,
discards, gear performance, socio-economic information about vessel
crew and operations, etc. Vessels are also required to request, in
writing, participation in any of the various exemption programs offered
in the Northeast region. Exemption programs may allow a vessel to fish
in an area that is limited to vessels of a particular size, using a
certain gear type, or fishing for a particular species. Vessels are
also required to request gillnet and lobster tags through the Northeast
region permit office when using gillnet gear or lobster traps. Lastly,
vessel owners that own multiple vessels, but would like to request
communication from NMFS be consolidated into one mailing (and not
separate mailings for each vessel), may request the single letter
vessel owner option to improve efficiency of their business practice.
This revision/extension removes the expedited submission of
proposed special access programs (SAPs), days-at-sea (DAS) transfer
program requirements, and Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization
(NAFO) reporting requirements to avoid duplication, as this information
has been moved to another collection (OMB Control No. 0648-0605).
II. Method of Collection
Vessel Permits
All vessel permit applications including initial permit
applications for vessels and dealers, vessel and dealer renewal
applications, vessel operator permit applications, gillnet and lobster
trap tag purchase are submitted by signed paper form sent in the mail.
VMS Requirements
Vessels with VMS requirements are required to declare their intent
to fish (i.e. declare into the fishery) and submit daily catch reports
using electronic VMS units on board the vessel. VMS power down
exemption requests are submitted by signed paper form.
Observer Program Call-In Requirements
Vessels issued certain permits such as NE multispecies, monkfish,
scallop, and Atlantic herring permits are required to give advance
notification to the Northeast Fisheries Observer Program (NEFOP) before
the start of a trip in order to receive a fisheries observer or a
waiver. Vessels use an online pre-trip notification system, email,
toll-free call in number, or a local phone number to comply with this
requirement.
Exempted Fisheries Programs
Vessels that would like to request participation in one or more of
the NE fisheries exemption programs must either submit a request
electronically using their VMS unit, by declaring into an exempted
fishery prior to the start of a trip, or by mailing in a written
request to participate in the program(s) of interest.
Vessel Owner Single Letter Option
Vessel owners that own multiple vessels, but would like to receive
only a single NE Fisheries Bulletin or small entity compliance guide
instead of one for each vessel permit, must submit a request, in
writing, to NMFS to participate in this program.
III. Data
OMB Control Number: 0648-0202.
Form Number: None.
Type of Review: Regular submission (revision and extension of a
current information collection).
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit organizations;
Individuals or households, state, local or tribal government, and
Federal Government.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 62,295.
Estimated Time Per Response:
Vessel Permits
Vessel permit application: 45 minutes; Vessel permit renewal forms:
30 minutes; Initial dealer permit applications: 15 minutes; Dealer
permit renewal forms: 5 minutes; Initial and renewal vessel operator
permit applications: 1 hour; Obtaining and submitting a dealer or
vessel owner email address: 5 minutes; Limited access vessel upgrade or
replacement applications: 3 hours; and Applications for retention of
limited access permit history: 30 minutes.
VMS Requirements
Installing a VMS unit: 1 hour; Confirming VMS connectivity: 5
minutes; VMS certification form: 5 minutes; VMS installation for
Canadian herring transport vessels: 1 hour and 20 minutes; Email to
declare their entrance and departure from U.S. waters: 15 minutes;
Automatic polling of vessel position using the VMS unit: 0 minutes;
Area and DAS declarations: 5 minutes; Declaration of days-out of the
gillnet fishery for monkfish and NE multispecies vessels: 3 minutes;
Departure and landing notification for monkfish and occasional sea
scallop vessels using the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system: 2
minutes; Good Samaritan DAS credit request: 30 minutes; Entangled whale
DAS credit request: 30 minutes; DAS credit for a canceled trip due to
unforeseen circumstances, but have not yet begun fishing: 5 minutes to
request via the VMS unit and 10 minutes to request via the paper form;
VMS catch reports for trips in NE multispecies broad stock areas: 15
minutes; All other NE multispecies VMS reporting requirements, such as
U.S. Canada Area, Closed Area II Special Access Programs, etc: 15
minutes; VMS catch reports by Atlantic herring vessels: 7 minutes, VMS
power down exemption: 30 minutes.
Observer Program Call-In Requirements
Requests for observer coverage are estimated to require either 2 or
10 minutes per request, depending on the program for which observers
are requested.
Exempted Fisheries Programs
Letter of Authorization (LOA) to participate in any of the
exemption programs: 5 minutes; Charter/Party Exemption Certificate for
GOM Closed Areas: 2 minutes; Limited access sea scallop vessels state
waters DAS exemption program or state waters gear exemption program: 2
minutes; Withdraw from either state waters exemption program prior to
the end of the 7-day designated exemption period requirement: 2
minutes; Request for change in permit category designation: 5 minutes;
Request for transit to another port by a vessel required to remain
within the GOM cod trip limit: 2 minutes; Gillnet category designation,
including initial requests for gillnet tags: 10 minutes; Requests for
additional tags: 2 minutes; Notification of lost tags and requests for
replacement tag numbers: 2 minutes; Attachment of gillnet tags: 1
minute; Initial lobster area designations: 5 minutes; Requests for
additional tags: 2 minutes; and notification of lost tags: 3 minutes;
Requests for state quota transfers in the bluefish, summer flounder and
scup fisheries: 1 hour; GOM cod trip limit exemption: 5 minutes; Vessel
owner single letter option: 5 minutes.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 28,748.
Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $5,828,067 in recordkeeping/
reporting 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.