27132 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 88 / Friday, May 6, 2022 / Notices 

Plan (FMP) for the Reef Fish Resources 

of the Gulf of Mexico. NMFS and the 

South Atlantic Council manage the 

fishery for rock shrimp in the South 

Atlantic under the FMP for the Shrimp 

Fishery in the South Atlantic Region. 

The vessel monitoring system (VMS) 

regulations for the Gulf reef fish fishery 

and the South Atlantic rock shrimp 

fishery may be found at 50 CFR 622.28 

and 622.205, respectively. 

The FMPs and the implementing 

regulations contain several specific 

management areas where fishing is 

restricted or prohibited to protect 

habitat or spawning aggregations, or to 

control fishing pressure. Unlike size, 

bag, and trip limits, where the catch can 

be monitored on shore when a vessel 

returns to port, area restrictions require 

at-sea enforcement. However, at-sea 

enforcement of offshore areas is difficult 

due to the distance from shore and the 

limited number of patrol vessels, 

resulting in a need to improve 

enforceability of area fishing restrictions 

through remote sensing methods. In 

addition, all fishing gears are subject to 

some area fishing restrictions. Because 

of the sizes of these areas and the 

distances from shore, the effectiveness 

of enforcement through over flights and 

at-sea interception is limited. An 

electronic VMS allows a more effective 

means to monitor vessels for intrusions 

into restricted areas. 

The VMS provides effort data and 

significantly aids in enforcement of 

areas closed to fishing. All position 

reports are treated in accordance with 

NMFS existing guidelines for 

confidential data. As a condition of 

authorized fishing for or possession of 

Gulf reef fish or South Atlantic rock 

shrimp in or from Federal waters, vessel 

owners or operators subject to VMS 

requirements must allow NMFS, the 

United States Coast Guard, and their 

authorized officers and designees, 

access to the vessel’s position data 

obtained from the VMS. 

The information collected on the 

‘‘Vessel Monitoring System Installation 

and Activation Certification for the Reef 

Fish Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico’’ 

form provides NMFS assurance that 

vessels are compliant with the 

requirements to install and activate an 

approved VMS unit. Information 

collected on the ‘‘Vessel Monitoring 

System Mobile Transceiver Unit (MTU) 

Power-Down Exemption Request for 

Vessels in the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish 

Fishery’’ form provides information that 

allows NMFS to exempt a vessel from 

their the VMS reporting requirement 

under specific criteria. 

Affected Public: Business or other forprofit organizations. 

Frequency: VMS unit installation, 

once; installation and activation 

checklist, once; power down exemption 

request, variable but on average less 

than once per year; trip declaration, 

variable but an average of 9 annually per 

vessel; and annual maintenance once 

per year. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Submission 

of the Installation and Activation 

certification is and mandatory. 

Transmission of fishing activity report is 

mandatory. Submission of a Power 

down Exemption Authorization request 

is required to obtain or retain benefits. 

Legal Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. 

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 0648–0544. 

Sheleen Dumas, 

Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of 

the Chief Information Officer, Commerce 

Department. 

[FR Doc. 2022–09820 Filed 5–5–22; 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; Fisheries Certificate of Origin 

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 24, 

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: Fisheries Certificate of Origin. 

OMB Control Number: 0648–0335. 

Form Number(s): NOAA Form 370. 

Type of Request: Regular submission, 

extension of a current information 

collection. 

Number of Respondents: 540. 

Average Hours per Response: 25 

minutes. 

Total Annual Burden Hours: 5,833. 

Needs and Uses: This request is for an 

extension of a current information 

collection sponsored by NMFS’ Office of 

International Affairs, Trade, and 

Commerce. The information required by 

the International Dolphin Conservation 

Program Act, amendment to the Marine 

Mammal Protection Act, is needed to: 

(1) Document the dolphin-safe status of 

frozen and/or processed tuna import 

shipments; (2) verify that import 

shipments of fish were not harvested by 

large-scale, high seas driftnets; and (3) 

verify that tuna was not harvested by an 

embargoed nation or one that is 

otherwise prohibited from exporting 

tuna to the United States. 

Collected information includes the 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection 

Entry Identification, date of entry, and 

contact details on the exporting and 

importing companies. Collected 

information also includes harvest 

characteristics such as fishing vessel 

name, fishing trip dates, vessel flag, 

vessel gear type, and ocean area of 

harvest, as well as the declaration of the 

dolphin-safe status of the shipment, and 

if applicable, the attachment of required 

certifications. Forms are submitted by 

importers and processors. NMFS uses 

this information to verify the dolphinsafe status of tuna shipments. 

Affected Public: Business or other forprofit organizations. 

Frequency: Per applicable tuna 

importation. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Mandatory. 

Legal Authority: Marine Mammal 

Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) 

and the Dolphin Protection Consumer 

Information Act (16 U.S.C. 1385). 

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/ 


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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 88 / Friday, May 6, 2022 / Notices 27133 

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 0648–0335. 

Sheleen Dumas, 

Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of 

the Chief Information Officer, Commerce 

Department. 

[FR Doc. 2022–09829 Filed 5–5–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XB897] 

Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; 

General Provisions for Domestic 

Fisheries; Application for Exempted 

Fishing Permits 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: The Assistant Regional 

Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, 

Greater Atlantic Region, NMFS, has 

made a preliminary determination that 

an Exempted Fishing Permit application 

contains all of the required information 

and warrants further consideration. The 

Exempted Fishing Permit would allow 

commercial fishing vessels to fish 

outside fishery regulations in support of 

research conducted by the applicant. 

Regulations under the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act require publication of 

this notification to provide interested 

parties the opportunity to comment on 

applications for proposed Exempted 

Fishing Permits. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before May 23, 2022. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit written 

comments by any of the following 

methods: 

• Email: nmfs.gar.efp@noaa.gov. 

Include in the subject line ‘‘NEFSC 

Study Fleet EFP’’. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Louis Forristall, Fishery Management 

Specialist, (339) 674–7646. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

applicant submitted a complete 

application for an Exempted Fishing 

Permit (EFP) to conduct commercial 

fishing activities that the regulations 

would otherwise restrict. This EFP 

would exempt the participating vessels 

from the following Federal regulations: 

TABLE 1—REQUESTED EXEMPTIONS

Citation Regulation Need for exemption 

648.83 ...... Multispecies Minimum Fish Sizes .............. Allow possession of haddock, yellowtail flounder, winter flounder, and American 

plaice below minimum size on Common pool and sector vessels for biological sampling purposes. 

684.86(a) .. Haddock Possession Restriction ................ Allow possession of haddock for biological sampling. 

648.86(d) .. Small-Mesh Multispecies Possession Restriction.Exempt vessels from small-mesh possession restrictions for biological sampling. 

648.86(g) .. Yellowtail Flounder Possession Restriction Exempt common pool vessels from yellowtail possession restrictions and limitations. 

648.86(j) ... Georges Bank Winter Flounder Possession Restriction.Exempt common pool vessels from winter flounder restrictions. 

648.86(l) ... Ocean Pout, Windowpane Flounder, and 

Atlantic Wolffish Possession Restriction.

Exempt vessels from wolffish possession prohibitions. 

TABLE 2—PROJECT SUMMARY

Project title Study fleet program 

Applicant ......................................... NESFC Cooperative Research Branch. 

Project objectives ............................ Allow fishermen and Center staff to collect biological data and biological samples relevant to stock assessments and fish biology. 

Application date .............................. February 7, 2022. 

Project period .................................. May 1, 2022. 

Project location ............................... April 30, 2023. 

Number of vessels .......................... 19. 

Number of trips ............................... 40. 

Trip duration (days) ......................... 3. 

Total number of days ...................... 72. 

Gear type(s) .................................... Otter trawl, scallop dredge, midwater otter trawl, paired trawl. 

Number of tows or sets .................. 5. 

Duration of tows or sets .................. 2 hours. 

Project Narrative 

The Northeast Fisheries Science 

Center’s Cooperative Research Branch is 

requesting an EFP to allow participants 

in their Study Fleet Program to collect 

biological information on discarded 

catch. The Center established the Study 

Fleet Program in 2002 to more fully 

characterize commercial fishing 

operations and provide sampling 

opportunities to augment NOAA’s 

National Marine Fisheries Service’s data 

collection programs. As part of the 

program, the Center contracts 

commercial fishing vessels to collect 

biological data and fish specimens for 

the Center to use in research relevant to 

stock assessments and fish biology. 

Under the EFP, Study Fleet 

participants would be allowed to 


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