[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 78 (Friday, April 22, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24102-24103]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-08661]


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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; Surfclam/Ocean Quahog Individual Transferable Quota 
Administration

    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 20, 2022, 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: Surfclam/Ocean Quahog Individual Transferable Quota 
Administration.
    OMB Control Number: 0648-0240.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Regular submission [extension of a current 
information collection].
    Number of Respondents: 180.
    Average Hours Per Response: ITQ permit application form, review of 
a pre-filled form for renewing entities, ITQ transfer form, 5 minutes 
each; 1 hour to complete the ITQ ownership form for new applicants and 
30 minutes for the application to shuck surfclams and ocean quahogs at 
sea. The requirements under the PSP protocol are based on the number of 
vessels that land surfclams or ocean quahogs and the number of trips 
taken into the area, with a total estimated annual burden of 2,400 
hours.
    Total Annual Burden Hours: 1,642.
    Needs and Uses: This request is for an extension of a currently 
approved collection associated with the Atlantic surfclam and ocean 
quahog fisheries. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Greater 
Atlantic Region manages these fisheries in the Exclusive Economic Zone 
(EEZ) of the Northeastern United States through the Atlantic Surfclam 
and Ocean Quahog Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The Mid-Atlantic 
Fishery Management Council prepared the FMP pursuant to the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). 
The regulations implementing the FMP are specified at 50 CFR part 648.
    The recordkeeping and reporting requirements at Sec. Sec.  648.74, 
648.75, and 648.76 form the basis for this collection of information. 
We request information from surfclam and ocean quahog individual 
transferable quota (ITQ) permit holders to issue ITQ permits and to 
process and track requests from permit holders to transfer quota share 
or cage tags. We also request information from surfclam and ocean 
quahog ITQ permit holders to track and properly account for surfclam 
and ocean quahog harvest shucked at sea. Because there is not a 
standard conversion factor for estimating unshucked product from 
shucked product, NMFS requires vessels that shuck product at sea to 
carry on board the vessel a NMFS-approved observer to certify the 
amount of these clams harvested. This information, upon receipt, 
results in an efficient and accurate database for management and 
monitoring of fisheries of the Northeastern U.S. EEZ.
    Georges Bank has been closed to the harvest of surfclams and ocean 
quahogs since 1990 due to red tide blooms that cause paralytic 
shellfish poisoning (PSP). We reopened a portion of the Georges Bank 
Closed Area starting in 2012 under certain conditions. We request 
information from surfclam and ocean quahog ITQ permit holders who fish 
in the reopened area to ensure compliance with the Protocol for Onboard 
Screening and Dockside Testing in Molluscan Shellfish. The U.S. Food 
and Drug Administration, the commercial fishing industry, and NMFS 
developed the PSP protocol to test and verify that clams harvested from 
Georges Bank continue to be safe for human consumption. The National 
Shellfish Sanitation Program adopted the PSP protocol at the October 
2011 Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference.
    The Council has approved Amendment 20 to the Surfclam and Ocean 
Quahog FMP, which would implement an excessive shares cap in this 
fishery. If that action is approved

[[Page 24103]]

and implemented, some of the fields in the ITQ ownership form and the 
ITQ transfer form may change as a result. Any revisions to this 
collection will be specified in the proposed rule for the amendment.
    Affected Public: Individuals and Business or other for-profit 
organizations.
    Frequency: Frequency varies from collection to collection (e.g., 
annual, per trip, as requested by public).
    Respondent's Obligation: Obligation varies from collection to 
collection (e.g., mandatory, voluntary, required to retain benefits).
    Legal Authority: Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq, Section 303).
    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 0648-0240.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2022-08661 Filed 4-21-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P