2011-27548. 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: Highly Migratory Species Vessel Logbooks and Cost-Earnings Data Reports.

OMB Control Number: 0648-0371.

Form Number(s): 88-191.

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

Number of Respondents: 10,216.

Average Hours per Response: Trip reports, 12 minutes; trip reports without fishing, 2 minutes; cost-earnings and annual summary reports, 30 minutes.

Burden Hours: 36,189.

Needs and Uses: This request is for extension of a current information collection.

Under the provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is responsible for management of the Nation's marine fisheries. In addition, NMFS must comply with the United States' obligations under the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act of 1975 (16 U.S.C. 971 et seq.), which implements the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) recommendations. NMFS collects information via vessel logbooks to monitor the U.S. catch of Atlantic swordfish, sharks, billfish, and tunas in relation to the quotas, thereby ensuring that the United States complies with its domestic and international obligations. HMS logbooks are verified using observer data that is collected under OMB Control No. 0648-0593 (Observer Programs' Information That Can Be Gathered Only Through Questions). In addition to HMS fisheries, the HMS logbook is also used to report catches of dolphin and wahoo by commercial and charter/headboat fisheries. The HMS logbooks collect data on incidental species, including sea turtles, which is necessary to evaluate the fisheries in terms of bycatch and encounters with protected species. For both directed and incidentally caught species, the information supplied through vessel logbooks also provides the catch and effort data on a per set or per trip level of resolution. These data are necessary to assess the status of highly migratory species, dolphin, and wahoo in each fishery. International stock assessments for tunas, swordfish, billfish, and some species of sharks are conducted and presented to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) periodically and provide, in part, the basis for ICCAT management recommendations which become binding on member nations. Domestic stock assessments for most species of sharks and for dolphin and wahoo are used as the basis of managing these species. Supplementary information on fishing costs and earnings has been collected via this vessel logbook program. This economic information enables NMFS to assess the economic impacts of regulatory programs on small businesses and fishing communities, consistent with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Executive Order 12866, the Regulatory Flexibility Act, and other domestic laws.

Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.

Frequency: Annually 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 Diana Hynek, 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: October 20, 2011.

Gwellnar Banks,

Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.