52282 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 217 / Monday, November 13, 2017 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

The Department of Commerce will 

submit to the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) for clearance the 

following proposal for collection of 

information under the provisions of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 

Chapter 35). 

Agency: National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). 

Title: Alaska Prohibited Species 

Donation Program. 

OMB Control Number: 0648–0316. 

Form Number(s): None. 

Type of Request: Regular (extension of 

a currently approved information 

collection). 

Number of Respondents: 1. 

Average Hours per Response: 50 

hours for a three-year permit, 

annualized to 17. 

Burden Hours: 17. 

Needs and Uses: The prohibited 

species donation (PSD) program for 

salmon and halibut has effectively 

reduced regulatory discard of salmon 

and halibut by allowing fish that would 

otherwise be discarded to be donated to 

needy individuals through tax-exempt 

organizations. Vessels and processing 

plants participating in the PSD program 

voluntarily retain and process salmon 

and halibut bycatch. An authorized, taxexempt distributor, chosen by the 

National Marine Fisheries Service 

(NMFS), is responsible for monitoring 

retention and processing of fish donated 

by vessels and processors. The 

authorized distributor also coordinates 

processing, storage, transportation, and 

distribution of salmon and halibut. The 

PSD program requires an information 

collection so that NMFS can monitor the 

authorized distributors’ ability to 

effectively supervise program 

participants and ensure that donated 

fish are properly processed, stored, and 

distributed. 

Affected Public: Not-for-profit 

institution. 

Frequency: Every three years. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Mandatory. 

This information collection request 

may be viewed at reginfo.gov. Follow 

the instructions to view Department of 

Commerce collections currently under 

review by OMB. 

Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be sent 

within 30 days of publication of this 

notice to OIRA_Submission@

omb.eop.gov or fax to (202) 395–5806. 

Dated: November 7, 2017. 

Sarah Brabson, 

NOAA PRA Clearance Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2017–24471 Filed 11–9–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XF829 

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. This 

Exempted Fishing Permit would exempt 

a commercial fishing vessel from 

Atlantic sea scallop regulations in 

support of research conducted by the 

Coonamessett Farm Foundation. 

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 November 28, 2017. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit written 

comments by any of the following 

methods: 

• Email: nmfs.gar.efp@noaa.gov. 

Include in the subject line ‘‘DA17–100 

CFF BREP LA Flounder Sweep Study 

EFP.’’ 

• Mail: John K. Bullard, Regional 

Administrator, NMFS, Greater Atlantic 

Regional Fisheries Office, 55 Great 

Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. 

Mark the outside of the envelope 

‘‘Comments on DA17–100 CFF BREP LA 

Flounder Sweep Study EFP.’’ 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Shannah Jaburek, Fisheries Management 

Specialist, 978–282–8456. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Coonamessett Farm Foundation (CFF) 

submitted an application for an EFP on 

September 18, 2017, for a 2017 Bycatch 

Reduction Engineering Program project 

titled ‘‘A Modified Flounder Sweep for 

Flatfish Bycatch Reduction in the 

Limited Access (LA) Scallop Fishery.’’ 

The project would test a modified 

flounder cookie sweep on the outer bale 

bars of the scallop dredge and film fishdredge interactions to monitor the 

effectiveness of the gear modification in 

reducing flatfish bycatch. 

To conduct this experiment, vessels 

would require exemptions from the 

following regulations: Atlantic sea 

scallop crew size restrictions at 50 CFR 

648.51(c); dredge gear obstruction 

restrictions at § 648.51(b)(4)(ii); Atlantic 

sea scallop observer program 

requirements at § 648.11(g); and closed 

area exemptions for Closed Area I at 

§ 648.60(c), Closed Area II at 

§ 648.60(d), Closed Area II Extension at 

§ 648.60(e), and Nantucket Lightship at 

§ 648.60(f). It would also exempt 

participating vessels from possession 

limits and minimum fish size 

requirements specified in 50 CFR part 

648, subsections B and D through O, for 

biological sampling purposes only. 

Vessels would conduct scallop 

dredging between November 2017-June 

2018, on 2 trips each lasting 

approximately 7 days-at-sea (DAS) each 

for a project total of 14 DAS. An average 

of 10 tows per day would be conducted 

for a maximum duration of 50 minutes 

at a tow speed range of 4.8–5.1 knots 

(2.5–2.6 m/s). Trips would take place in 

scallop open areas of Southern New 

England and Georges Bank along with 

scallop access areas Nantucket 

Lightship and Closed Areas I and II. 

The vessel would conduct all tows 

with two 15-foot (4.57-m) New Bedford 

Style dredges, one acting as a control 

dredge and one acting as an 

experimental dredge. The vessel would 

tow both dredges simultaneously to 

reduce spatial and temporal variability. 

Researchers would attach the two 9-foot 

(2.74-m) cookie sweeps to each of the 

outer bale bars using chain and shackles 

on the experimental dredge. The cookie 

sweeps would alternate between the two 

dredges each tow to reduce ‘‘side’’ 

effects. The cookie sweeps would be 

constructed of round rubber disks with 

lead cookies approximately 3–4 inches 

(7.6–10.2 cm) in diameter evenly spaced 

to encourage bottom contact. The 

attachment chains would be evenly 

spaced and varied in length to account 

for dredge position while being towed to 

ensure contact with the ocean bottom. 

Exemption from the dredge gear 

obstruction regulation would allow 

researchers to use the cookie sweep for 

the experimental tows. 

Researchers would weigh all scallop 

catch in industry bushel baskets caught 

in both dredges and measure a onebasket sub-sample from each side in 5- 


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