2012-19683. 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: Tilefish Individual Fishing Quota Program.

OMB Control Number: 0648-0590.

Form Number(s): NA.

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

Number of Respondents: 12.

Average Hours per Response: Permit applications, 30 minutes; renewals, 15 minutes; quota transfers and ownership interest declarations, 5 minutes; fee cost recovery, 2 hours.

Burden Hours: 49.

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

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Northeast Region manages the tilefish fishery of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the Northeastern United States, through the Tilefish Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council prepared the FMP pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA). The regulations implementing the FMP are specified at 50 CFR part 648 Subpart N.

The recordkeeping and reporting requirements at § 648.294 form the basis for this collection of information. NMFS requests information from tilefish individual fishing quota (IFQ) permit holders in order to process applications to ensure that IFQ allocation owners are provided a statement of their annual catch quota, and for enforcement purposes, to ensure vessels are not exceeding an individual quota allocation. In conjunction with the application, NMFS also collects IFQ share accumulation information to ensure that an IFQ limited access privilege holder does not acquire an excessive share of the total limited access privileges, as required by section 303A(c)(5)(D) of the MSA.

NMFS requests transfer application information to process and track requests from allocation holders to transfer quota allocation (permanent and temporary) to another entity. NMFS also collects information for cost recovery purposes as required under the MSA to collect fees to recover the costs directly related to management, data collection and analysis, and enforcement of IFQ programs. Lastly, NMFS collects landings information to ensure that the amounts of tilefish landed and ex-vessel prices are properly recorded for quota monitoring purposes and the calculation of IFQ fees, respectively. Having this information results in an increasingly more efficient and accurate database for management and monitoring of fisheries of the Northeastern U.S. EEZ.

Revision: permit application appeals are no longer applicable as the fishery is closed to new applicants.

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 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: August 7, 2012.

Gwellnar Banks,

Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.