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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27134 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 88 / Friday, May 6, 2022 / Notices 

temporarily possess catch that is below 

minimum size restrictions and above 

possession limits for the purposes of 

biological sampling. When directed by 

the Center, participating vessels would 

be authorized to retain and land specific 

amounts of fish exceeding possession 

limits and/or below minimum fish sizes, 

for research purposes only. The captain 

or crew would deliver these fish to 

Center staff or local Port Agents upon 

landing. In these limited circumstances, 

the Study Fleet Program would give 

participating vessels a formal biological 

sampling request prior to landing. This 

would ensure that the landed fish do 

not exceed any collection needs of the 

Study Fleet Program, as detailed below. 

During EFP trips, crew would sort, 

weigh, measure, and collect biological 

data from fish prior to discarding. 

During sampling, some discarded fish 

would remain on deck slightly longer 

than they would under normal sorting 

procedures. Exemptions from minimum 

fish sizes and possession restrictions 

would allow vessels to temporarily 

retain catch for at-sea sampling. 

Vessels would be required to comply 

with all other applicable regulations 

specified at 50 CFR part 648 and would 

not be exempt from any inseason quota 

closures. All catch would be attributed 

to the appropriate commercial fishing 

quota. For a vessel fishing on a 

groundfish sector trip, all catch of 

groundfish stocks allocated to sectors 

would be deducted from the vessel’s 

sector’s annual catch entitlement (ACE). 

Once the ACE for a stock has been 

reached in a sector, participating vessels 

would no longer be allowed to fish in 

that stock area unless the sector acquires 

additional ACE for the stock in 

question. For participating common 

pool vessels, all groundfish catch would 

be counted toward the appropriate 

trimester total allowable catch (TAC). 

Common pool vessels would be exempt 

from the possession and trip limits, but 

would still be subject to trimester TAC 

closures. 

Vessels fishing under this EFP would 

be required to report via their Vessel 

Monitoring System (VMS) or the web- or 

app-based Interactive Voice Response 

(IVR) system to identify trips that would 

be landing species below minimum size 

limits and/or in excess of possession 

limits. Vessels not landing fish for the 

Center, but temporarily possessing fish 

for at-sea sampling, would not be 

required to report via the IVR system or 

VMS. 

If approved, the applicant may 

request minor modifications and 

extensions to the EFP throughout the 

year. EFP modifications and extensions 

may be granted without further notice if 

they are deemed essential to facilitate 

completion of the proposed research 

and have minimal impacts that do not 

change the scope or impact of the 

initially approved EFP request. Any 

fishing activity conducted outside the 

scope of the exempted fishing activity 

would be prohibited. 

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

Dated: May 3, 2022. 

Jennifer M. Wallace, 

Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2022–09805 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; Florida Fishing and Boating 

Survey 

AGENCY: National Oceanic & 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of Information 

Collection, request for comment. 

SUMMARY: The Department of 

Commerce, in accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(PRA), invites 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. The purpose of this 

notice is to allow for 60 days of public 

comment preceding submission of the 

collection to OMB. 

DATES: To ensure consideration, 

comments regarding this proposed 

information collection must be received 

on or before July 5, 2022. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit written comments to 

Adrienne Thomas, NOAA PRA Officer, 

at NOAA.PRA@noaa.gov. Please 

reference OMB Control Number 0648- in 

the subject line of your comments. Do 

not submit Confidential Business 

Information or otherwise sensitive or 

protected information. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Requests for additional information or 

specific questions related to collection 

activities should be directed David W. 

Carter, Economist, Southeast Fisheries 

Science Center, NMFS, 75 Virginia 

Beach Drive, Miami FL 33149, Tel: (305) 

361–4467 or david.w.carter@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract 

This request is for an extension of a 

currently approved information 

collection and is sponsored by NOAA’s 

Southeast Fisheries Science Center 

(SEFSC). 

The objective of the data collection 

effort under OMB Control Number 0648- 

0769 is to understand how anglers 

respond to changes in trip costs and/or 

fishing regulations in the Gulf of 

Mexico. This will improve the analysis 

of the economic effects of proposed 

changes in fishing regulations and 

changes in economic factors that affect 

the cost of fishing such as fuel prices. 

The survey will be used to develop 

predictive models that forecast how 

fishing effort changes when either trip 

costs change or when fishing regulations 

(season length or bag limits) change. 

The survey will ask about the number 

of trips anglers take under current costs 

and regulations and anticipated number 

of trips when costs and/or regulations 

change. 

The population to be surveyed 

consists of those anglers who fish in the 

Gulf of Mexico from Florida, including 

those who possess a license to fish, and 

those who are not required to have a 

license (e.g., seniors). The sample will 

be drawn from the list of licensed 

Florida anglers and/or Florida private 

boat owners using the state of Florida’s 

boat registration list. With the boat 

registration list, the sample can be 

targeted to anglers who fish for offshore 

species, when desired, and will capture 

those who fish from a boat but may not 

be required to have a fishing license 

(e.g. seniors). Anglers and/or boat 

owners will be either emailed an 

invitation to the online survey or mailed 

a postcard that directs them to a website 

to complete the survey. A limited 

number of anglers who do not respond 

to the online survey may receive a paper 

survey in the mail. 

II. Method of Collection 

Surveys will be conducted using two 

modes: Internet and mail. 

III. Data 

OMB Control Number: 0648- 0769. 

Form Number(s): None. 

Type of Review: Regular submission, 

extension of a current information 

collection. 

Affected Public: Individuals or 

households. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

1800. 

Estimated Time Per Response: Survey, 

3 minutes; Non-response survey, 3 

minutes. 


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