Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; American Lobster-Annual Trap Transfer Program

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Choosing an item from suggestions will bring you directly to the content. Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; American Lobster-Annual Trap Transfer Program Thank you for taking the time to create a comment. Your input is important. Once you have filled in the required fields below you can preview and/or submit your comment to the Commerce Department for review. All comments are considered public and will be posted online once the Commerce Department has reviewed them. To ensure consideration, comments regarding this proposed information collection must be received on or before August 10, 2026. Table of Contents Enhanced Content - Table of Contents This table of contents is a navigational tool, processed from the headings within the legal text of Federal Register documents. This repetition of headings to form internal navigation links has no substantive legal effect. This PDF is FR Doc. 2026-11787 as it appeared on Public Inspection on 06/10/2026 at 8:45 am. It was viewed 2 times while on Public Inspection. If you are using public inspection listings for legal research, you should verify the contents of the documents against a final, official edition of the Federal Register. Only official editions of the Federal Register provide legal notice of publication to the public and judicial notice to the courts under 44 U.S.C. 1503 & 1507. Learn more here. Published Document: 2026-11787 (91 FR 35465) This document has been published in the Federal Register. Use the PDF linked in the document sidebar for the official electronic format. AGENCY: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce. ACTION: Notice of information collection, request for comment. SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed and continuing information collections, which helps us assess the impact of our information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. The purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment preceding submission of the collection to OMB. DATES: To ensure consideration, comments regarding this proposed information collection must be received on or before August 10, 2026. ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments to Adrienne Thomas, NOAA PRA Officer, at NOAA.PRA@noaa.gov. Please reference OMB Control Number 0648-0673 in the subject line of your comments. All comments received are part of the public record and will generally be posted on https://www.regulations.gov without change. Do not submit Confidential Business Information or otherwise sensitive or protected information. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or specific questions related to collection activities should be directed to Matthew Rigdon; Fishery Management Specialist; National Marine Fisheries Service; 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930; 978-281-9336; and matthew.rigdon@noaa.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Abstract This request is for an extension of a currently approved information collection. The American lobster resource and fishery are cooperatively managed by the states and NMFS under the authority of the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act, according to the framework established by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) in Amendment 3 of its Interstate Fishery Management Plan (ISFMP). This collection of information is in response to several addenda to Amendment 3 of the ISFMP that work to reduce trap fishing effort through limited entry fishing and trap allocation limit reductions. The Trap Transfer Program is intended to foster economic flexibility for the lobster industry while reducing fishing effort on the American lobster resource. The regulations implementing the FMP in the economic exclusive zone (EEZ) are specified at 50 CFR part 697. This collection of information is being conducted to help mitigate the economic burden of scheduled trap allocation reductions in Lobster Conservation Management Areas 2 and 3 on Federal lobster permit holders through the Annual Lobster Trap Transfer Program, which allows all qualified Federal lobster permit holders to buy and sell trap allocation from Areas 2, 3, or Outer Cape Cod. NMFS collects application forms from Lobster permit holders who wish to transfer trap allocation from these areas during a 2-month period (from August 1 through September 30) each year. The revised allocations resulting from the transfers become effective for each participating lobster permit 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 ( printed page 35466) application form, date the document, and clearly show that the seller has sufficient allocation to transfer and that the buyer has sufficient room under the applicable trap cap. There are no modifications being made to this collection. II. Method of Collection Applications for the Trap Transfer Program are accepted annually from August 1 through September 30 by mail or email. III. OMB Control Number: 0648-0673. Form Number(s): None. Type of Review: Regular submission. Extension of a current information collection. Affected Public: Individuals or households; Business or other for-profit organizations; State, Local, or Tribal government; Federal government. Estimated Number of Respondents: 204. Estimated Time per Response: 10 minutes. Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 17 hours. Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $492. Respondent's Obligation: Required to Obtain or Retain Benefits. We are soliciting public comments to permit the Department/Bureau to: (a) Evaluate whether the proposed information collection is necessary for the proper functions of the Department, including whether the information will have practical utility; (b) Evaluate the accuracy of our estimate of the time and cost burden for this proposed collection, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (c) Evaluate ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) Minimize the reporting burden on those who are to respond, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology. Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of public record. We will include or summarize each comment in our request to OMB to approve this information collection request. Before including your address, phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment—including your personal identifying information—may be made publicly available at any time. While you may ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. Sheleen Dumas, Departmental PRA Compliance Officer, Office of the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs, Commerce Department.