The American Fisheries Act (AFA)
established an allocation program for the pollock fishery of the
Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (BSAI). NMFS issued
an emergency interim rule to give immediate effects to all
AFA-mandated management measures. Under the AFA, only vessels and
processors that meet specific qualifying criteria are eligible to
fish for and process pollock in the BSAI. The BSAI pollock quota is
suballocated to groups of vessel owners who form fishing vessel
cooperatives under the AFA. NMFS administeres new AFA fishing,
processing, and cooperative permits for the BSAI pollock fishery
through
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.