Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; American Lobster-Annual Trap Transfer Program
| Published date | 10 September 2019 |
| Citation | 84 FR 47495 |
| Record Number | 2019-19529 |
| Section | Notices |
| Court | Commerce Department,National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration |
Federal Register, Volume 84 Issue 175 (Tuesday, September 10, 2019)
[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 175 (Tuesday, September 10, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47495-47496]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-19529]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; American
Lobster--Annual Trap Transfer Program
AGENCY: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort
to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public
and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed and/or continuing
information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995.
DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before November 12,
2019.
ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Adrienne Thomas, PRA Officer,
NOAA, 151 Patton Avenue, Room 159, Asheville, NC 28801 (or via the
internet at [email protected]). All comments received are part of the
public record. Comments will generally be posted without change. All
Personally Identifiable Information (for example, name and address)
voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be
[[Page 47496]]
publicly accessible. Do not submit Confidential Business Information or
otherwise sensitive or protected information. You may submit
attachments to electronic comments in Microsoft Word, Excel, or Adobe
PDF file formats.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or
copies of the information collection instrument and instructions should
be directed to Laura Hansen, Fishery Management Specialist, NMFS,
Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, 55 Great Republic Drive,
Gloucester, MA 01930; 978-281-9225, [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
Type of Review: Regular submission (Extension of a current
information collection). The National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration's (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)
requests an extension to a current collection of information under OMB
Control No. 0648-0673.
The American lobster fishery is cooperatively managed by the states
and NMFS under the authority of the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries
Cooperative Management Act. This collection of information is in
response to several addenda to Amendment 3 of the Interstate Fishery
Management Plan for American Lobster that work to reduce trap fishing
effort through limited entry fishing and trap allocation limit
reductions. This program is intended to help control fishing effort
while increasing economic flexibility in the American lobster trap
fishery.
Currently, Federal lobster permit holders qualified to fish with
trap gear in Lobster Conservation Management Areas 2 and 3 are
undergoing scheduled annual trap allocation reductions of 5 percent per
year until 2021 (Area 2) and 2020 (Area 3). In 2015, in an effort to
help mitigate the economic burden of these reductions, NMFS and state
agencies implemented the Lobster Trap Transfer Program that allows all
qualified Federal lobster permit holders to buy and sell trap
allocation from Areas 2, 3, or Outer Cape Cod. Each transaction
includes a conservation tax of 10 percent, which deducts a number of
traps equal to 10 percent of the total number of traps with each
transfer, permanently removing them from the fishery.
NMFS collects annual application forms from lobster permit holders
who wish to buy and/or sell Area 2, 3, or Outer Cape Area trap
allocation through the Trap Transfer Program. The transfer applications
are only accepted during a 2-month period (from August 1 through
September 30) each year, and the revised allocations for each
participating lobster permit resulting from the transfers become
effective at the start of the following Federal lobster fishing year on
May 1. Both the seller and buyer of the traps are required to sign the
application form, which includes each permit holder's permit and vessel
information, the number of traps sold, and the revised number of traps
received by the buyer, inclusive of the amount removed according to the
transfer tax. Both parties must sign the form as an agreement to the
number of traps in the transfer. The parties must date the document and
show that the transferring permit holder has sufficient allocation to
transfer and the permit holder receiving the traps has sufficient room
under any applicable trap cap. This information allows NMFS to process
and track transfers of lobster trap allocations through the Trap
Transfer Program, and better enables the monitoring and management of
the American lobster fishery as a whole.
II. Method of Collection
Applications for the Trap Transfer Program are accepted annually
from August 1 through September 30 by mail, fax, or email.
III. Data
OMB Control Number: 0648-0673.
Form Number(s): None.
Type of Review: Regular submission (Extension of a current
information collection).
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit organizations;
Individuals or households; Federal government; and State, Local, or
Tribal government.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 102.
Estimated Time per Response: 10 minutes.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 17.
Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $573.24 in reporting/
recordkeeping costs.
IV. Request for Comments
Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden
(including hours and cost) of the proposed collection of information;
(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the
collection of information on respondents, including through the use of
automated collection techniques or other forms of information
technology.
Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of this information
collection; they also will become a matter of public record.
Sheleen Dumas,
Departmental Lead PRA Officer, Office of the Chief Information Officer,
Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2019-19529 Filed 9-9-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
