2013-01091. 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: Northeast Region Logbook Family of Forms.

OMB Control Number: 0648-0212.

Form Number(s): NA.

Type of Request: Regular submission (revision and extension of a current information collection).

Number of Respondents: 6,378.

Average Hours Per Response: Logbooks, 5 minutes except for shellfish logbook, 12.5 minutes; interactive voice response (IVR) landings reports, 5 minutes; declaration of days out of gillnet fishery, 3 minutes; departure/landing call-ins for monkfish and limited access occasional sea scallop trips, 2 minutes.

Burden Hours: 15,057.

Needs and Uses: This request is for a revision and extension of a currently approved information collection.

Under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) has the responsibility for the conservation and management of marine fishery resources. Much of this responsibility has been delegated to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). Under this stewardship role, the Secretary was given certain regulatory authorities to ensure the most beneficial uses of these resources. One of the regulatory steps taken to carry out the conservation and management objectives is to collect data from users of the resource. Thus, as regional Fishery Management Councils develop specific Fishery Management Plans (FMP), the Secretary has promulgated rules for the issuance and use of a vessel Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system, a Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) and vessel logbooks (VTR) to obtain fishery-dependent data to monitor, evaluate, and enforce fishery regulations.

Fishing vessels permitted to participate in Federally-permitted fisheries in the Northeast are required to submit logbooks containing catch and effort information about their fishing trips. Permitted vessels that catch halibut are also asked to voluntarily provide additional information on the estimated size of the fish and the time of day caught through vessel logbooks. Participants in the herring, tilefish and red crab fisheries are also required to make weekly reports on their catch through IVR. In addition, vessels fishing under a days-at sea (DAS) management system can use the IVR system to request a DAS credit when they have canceled a trip for unforeseen circumstances. The information submitted is needed for the management of the fisheries.

This revision/extension removes the VMS requirement for Northeast multispecies permit holders participating in the special access programs (SAPs), the Category B (regular) Days-at-Sea (DAS) program, and fishing in the United States/Canada Resource Sharing Understanding Area to avoid duplication, as this information collection is approved under another collection (OMB Control No. 0648-0605).

Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.

Frequency: Monthly, weekly and on occasion.

Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.

OMB Desk Officer: [e-mail].

Copies of the above information collection proposal can be obtained by calling or writing Jennifer Jessup, Departmental Paperwork Clearance Officer, [phone], Department of Commerce, Room 6616, 14th and Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230 (or via the Internet at [e-mail]).

Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice to [e-mail].

Dated: January 15, 2013.

Gwellnar Banks,

Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.