Fisheries of the Northeastern United States Northeast Multispecies; Framework Adjustment 33 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan; Reporting Requirement

NMFS announces approval by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) of a collection-of-information requirement contained in Framework Adjustment 33 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP) and issues a final rule to make effective the restrictions and related prohibitions contained in Framework 33 for charter/party vessel operators fishing in the Gulf of Maine closed areas and the Nantucket Lightship Closed Area. Charter/party vessels are required to obtain a certificate in exchange for access to the Gulf of Maine closed areas. As a condition of the certificate, the vessel owner must agree to abide by charter/party regulations and to not utilize days at sea during the 3 months covered by the certificate. This final rule also codifies the OMB control number for the approved information collection in 50 CFR part 902. The intent of this final rule is to inform the public of the effective date of the charter/party vessel requirements and publish the OMB control number for the related collection-of-information requirement.