[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 36 (Thursday, February 22, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13311-13312]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-03621]


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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; Central Gulf of Alaska Rockfish Program: Permits and 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 September 19, 2023, during a 60-day comment period. 
This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
    Agency: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 
Commerce.
    Title: Central Gulf of Alaska Rockfish Program: Permits and 
Reports.
    OMB Control Number: 0648-0545.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Regular submission (extension of a current 
information collection).
    Number of Respondents: 6.
    Average Hours per Response: Application for Rockfish Cooperative 
Fishing Quota: 2 hours; Application for Inter-Cooperative Transfer of 
Rockfish Cooperative Quota: 10 minutes; Rockfish Program Vessel Check-
In/Check-Out: 10 minutes; Termination of Fishing Report: 10 minutes.
    Total Annual Burden Hours: 39 hours.
    Needs and Uses: This information collection contains requirements 
for the Central Gulf of Alaska Rockfish Program (Rockfish Program) and 
is necessary for NMFS to administer and monitor compliance with the 
management provisions of the Rockfish Program. This information 
collection is required

[[Page 13312]]

in Rockfish Program regulations at 50 CFR part 679.
    The Rockfish Program is a limited access privilege program 
developed to enhance resource conservation and improve economic 
efficiency in the Central Gulf of Alaska rockfish fisheries. The 
rockfish fisheries are conducted in Federal waters near Kodiak, Alaska, 
by trawl vessels and longline vessels. The Rockfish Program assigns 
quota share (QS) to License Limitation Program (LLP) licenses for 
rockfish primary and secondary species based on legal landings 
associated with that LLP.
    Each year, an LLP license holder assigns the LLP license with 
rockfish QS to a rockfish cooperative. Each rockfish cooperative 
receives an annual cooperative fishing quota (CQ), which is an amount 
of primary and secondary rockfish species the cooperative is able to 
harvest in that fishing year.
    This collection contains the information collection requirements 
submitted by the rockfish cooperatives for an annual rockfish CQ 
permit, inter-cooperative quota transfers, vessel check-in/check-out 
reports, and termination of fishing reports.
    The Application for Rockfish Cooperative Fishing Quota is submitted 
annually by a rockfish cooperative to receive the cooperative's annual 
CQ permit. The application collects rockfish cooperative identification 
information, LLP holder and ownership documentation for the members of 
the cooperative applying for QS, identification information for vessels 
of the cooperative members, shoreside processor associate 
identification information, certifications of the cooperative 
representative and processor associate(s), and required attachments.
    The Application for Inter-Cooperative Transfer of CQ is used by a 
rockfish cooperative to transfer CQ to another rockfish cooperative. 
The information collected includes information on the QS to be 
transferred. This information is used by NMFS to monitor transfers to 
ensure they do not exceed ownership or use caps for the fishery.
    The Rockfish Program vessel check-in report must be submitted 
before a vessel authorized to fish under the cooperative's permit 
starts fishing for the cooperative, and a check-out report when a 
vessel stops fishing for the cooperative during the fishing season. The 
check-in and check-out reports are necessary so that NMFS's catch 
accounting system can identify catch by a vessel that should accrue to 
a rockfish cooperative quota allocation from catch that occurs in 
other, non-Rockfish Program fisheries.
    A rockfish cooperative may choose to terminate its CQ permit 
through a termination of fishing report submitted to NMFS. This 
notifies NMFS that all vessels fishing for the cooperative have 
completed fishing in the Rockfish Program for the year.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.
    Frequency: Annually; as needed.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary; Required to Obtain or Retain 
Benefits; Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management 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 0648-0545.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Under Secretary for 
Economic Affairs, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2024-03621 Filed 2-21-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P