The issuance of a permit is an essential part of managing fishery resources. The purpose and use of permits is to: (1) Register vessel owners, vessel operators, fishing vessels, fish dealers, and processors; (2) list the characteristics of fishing vessels and/or dealer/processor operations; (3) exercise influence over compliance (e.g., withhold permit issuance pending collection of unpaid penalties, or unsubmitted, but required data); (4) provide a mailing list for the dissemination of important information to the industry; (5) register participants to be considered for limited entry; and (6) provide a universe for data collection samples. Identification of the participants, their gear types, vessels, and expected activity levels is an effective and necessary tool in the enforcement of fishery regulations.
Vessels are also required to request gillnet and lobster tags through the Northeast region permit office when using gillnet gear or lobster traps.
Lastly, vessel owners that own multiple vessels, but would like to request communication from NMFS be consolidated into one mailing (and not separate mailings for each vessel), may request the single letter vessel owner option to improve efficiency of their business practice.
This revision/extension removes the following information collections, as this information has been moved to another collection (OMB Control No. 0648-0605) to avoid duplication: Expedited submission of proposed special access programs (SAPs), days-at-sea (DAS) transfer program requirements, and Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) reporting requirements. This revision also removes the declaration of days out of the gillnet fishery for NE multispecies and monkfish vessels and the departure/landing call-in for monkfish and occasional scallop vessels both of which were moved to the 0648-0212 family of forms in the 2012 revision/extension.
This request also adds the requirement to collect vessel owner email addresses for the purpose of distributing information electronically instead of using paper mail only. This information collection is not associated with a rulemaking, but is being implemented as a voluntary program through the Northeast Regional Office.
PL:
Pub.L. 94 - 265 303
Name of Law: Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Management and Conservation Act
Program Changes: This revision/extension removes the following information collections, which are no longer valid or were moved to other collections:
No longer valid:
 Proposed Sector Allocations, was a one-time information collection and has been removed: 5 responses, 162 hours and $6.
 Area and DAS Declaration: Gulf of Maine Differential Days at Sea Area Heaving-To Declaration is no longer valid, per regulations enacted as part of Amendment 16 to the NE Multispecies FMP and implemented in OMB Control No.0648-0605: 140 responses, 12 hours and $70.
Moved to other collections:
 Expedited submission of proposed special access programs (SAPs): 1 response, 20 burden hours, $2 cost to the public (moved to OMB Control No. 0648-0605);
 Days-at-sea (DAS) transfer program requirements: 1,400 responses, 116 burden hours, $1,512 cost to the public, (moved to OMB Control No. 0648-0605);
 Multispecies Area and DAS Declaration - Groundfish vessels fishing under an NE Multispecies DAS: included in OMB Control No. 0648-0605 but had not yet been deleted from this collection: 30,000 responses, 2,490 hours and $15,000.
 Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) reporting requirements: 50 responses, 8 burden hours, zero cost to the public (moved to OMB Control No.0648-0605);
 Declaration of days out of the gillnet fishery for NE multispecies and monkfish vessels/
Departure/landing call-in for monkfish and occasional scallop vessels: 4,030 responses, 167 burden hours, zero cost to the public (moved to OMB Control No.0648-0212).
Total changes: 35,626 fewer responses, 2,975 fewer hours (rounded down to 2,973 in ROCIS) and $16,590 in public costs.
Adjustments: The burden estimates for this information collection have been revised and updated as necessary. Estimates made when new information collection requirements were added have often been overestimates, and have now been revised down. The burden has been adjusted downward for almost all information collections since the last comprehensive request.
Also, operator permit renewal intervals have been corrected from one to three years, reducing the annual burden from 11,200 to 4,200, a decrease of 7,000 hours.
Total adjustments: 20,994 fewer responses, 10,284 fewer hours (rounded up to 10,291 in ROCIS) and $4,152,251 less in public costs.
$849,765
No
No
No
No
No
Uncollected
Aja Peters-Mason 9782819195
No
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Monkfish Southern Fishery Management Area Landing Limit and Minimum Fish Size Exemption