50 CFR 600 Subpart E - Confidentiality of Statistics

Fishery Conservation and Management

tion will be taken into consideration
(also see § 600.130):
(1) The specific types of data required.
(2) The relevance of the data to conservation and management issues.
(3) The duration of time access will
be required: continuous, infrequent, or
one-time.
(4) An explanation of why the availability of aggregate or non-confidential
summaries of data from other sources
would not satisfy the requested needs.
(b) Federal employees. Statistics submitted as a requirement of an FMP and
that reveal the identity of the submitter will only be accessible to the
following:
(1) Personnel within NMFS responsible for the collection, processing, and
storage of the statistics.
(2) Federal employees who are responsible for FMP development, monitoring, and enforcement.
(3) Personnel within NMFS performing research that requires confidential statistics.
(4) Other NOAA personnel on a demonstrable need-to-know basis.
(5)
NOAA/NMFS
contractors
or
grantees who require access to confidential statistics to perform functions authorized by a Federal contract
or grant.
(c) State personnel. Upon written request, confidential statistics will only
be accessible if:
(1) State employees demonstrate a
need for confidential statistics for use
in fishery conservation and management.
(2) The state has entered into a written agreement between the Assistant
Administrator and the head of the
state’s agency that manages marine
and/or anadromous fisheries. The
agreement shall contain a finding by
the Assistant Administrator that the
state has confidentiality protection authority comparable to the MagnusonStevens Act and that the state will exercise this authority to limit subsequent access and use of the data to
fishery management and monitoring
purposes.
(d) Councils. Upon written request by
the Council Executive Director, access
to confidential data will be granted to:

Subpart E—Confidentiality of
Statistics
§ 600.405

§ 600.415

Types of statistics covered.

NOAA is authorized under the Magnuson-Stevens Act and other statutes
to collect proprietary or confidential
commercial or financial information.
This part applies to all pertinent data
required to be submitted to the Secretary with respect to any FMP including, but not limited to, information regarding the type and quantity of fishing gear used, catch by species in numbers of fish or weight thereof, areas in
which fishing occurred, time of fishing,
number of hauls, and the estimated
processing capacity of, and the actual
processing capacity utilized by, U.S.
fish processors.
[61 FR 32540, June 24, 1996, as amended at 63
FR 7075, Feb. 12, 1998]

§ 600.410 Collection and maintenance
of statistics.
(a) General. (1) All statistics required
to be submitted to the Secretary are
provided to the Assistant Administrator.
(2) After receipt, the Assistant Administrator will remove all identifying
particulars from the statistics if doing
so is consistent with the needs of
NMFS and good scientific practice.
(3) Appropriate safeguards as specified by NOAA Directives, or other
NOAA or NMFS internal procedures,
apply to the collection and maintenance of all statistics, whether separated from identifying particulars or
not, so as to ensure their confidentiality.
(b) Collection agreements with states.
(1) The Assistant Administrator may
enter into an agreement with a state
authorizing the state to collect statistics on behalf of the Secretary.
(2) NMFS will not enter into a cooperative collection agreement with a
state unless the state has authority to
protect the statistics from disclosure
in a manner at least as protective as
these regulations.
§ 600.415 Access to statistics.
(a) General. In determining whether
to grant a request for access to confidential data, the following informa-

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§ 600.420

50 CFR Ch. VI (10–1–23 Edition)
(2) Have reviewed and are familiar
with the procedures to protect confidential statistics.

(1) Council employees who are responsible for FMP development and
monitoring.
(2) A Council for use by the Council
for conservation and management purposes, with the approval of the Assistant Administrator. In addition to the
information described in paragraph (a)
of this section, the Assistant Administrator will consider the following in deciding whether to grant access:
(i) The possibility that Council members might gain personal or competitive advantage from access to the data.
(ii) The possibility that the suppliers
of the data would be placed at a competitive disadvantage by public disclosure of the data at Council meetings or
hearings.
(3) A contractor of the Council for
use in such analysis or studies necessary for conservation and management purposes, with approval of the
Assistant Administrator and execution
of an agreement with NMFS as described by NOAA Administrative Order
(NAO) 216–100.
(e) Prohibitions. Persons having access to these data are prohibited from
unauthorized use or disclosure and are
subject to the provisions of 18 U.S.C.
1905, 16 U.S.C. 1857, and NOAA/NMFS
internal procedures, including NAO
216–100.

§ 600.425 Release of statistics.
(a) The Assistant Administrator will
not release to the public any statistics
required to be submitted under an FMP
in a form that would identify the submitter, except as required by law.
(b) All requests from the public for
statistics submitted in response to a
requirement of an FMP will be processed consistent with the NOAA FOIA
regulations (15 CFR part 903), NAO 205–
14, Department of Commerce Administrative Orders 205–12 and 205–14 and 15
CFR part 4.
(c) NOAA does not release or allow
access to confidential information in
its possession to members of Council
advisory groups, except as provided by
law.

Subpart F—Foreign Fishing
§ 600.501 Vessel permits.
(a) General. (1) Each FFV fishing
under the Magnuson-Stevens Act must
have on board a permit issued under
this section, unless it is engaged only
in recreational fishing.
(2) Permits issued under this section
do not authorize FFV’s or persons to
harass, capture, or kill marine mammals. No marine mammals may be
taken in the course of fishing unless
that vessel has on board a currently
valid Authorization Certificate under
the MMPA. Regulations governing the
taking of marine mammals incidental
to commercial fishing operations are
contained in 50 CFR part 229 of this
title.
(b) Responsibility of owners and operators. The owners and operators of each
FFV are jointly and severally responsible for compliance with the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the applicable GIFA,
this subpart, and any permit issued
under the Magnuson-Stevens Act and
this subpart. The owners and operators
of each FFV bear civil responsibility
for the acts of their employees and
agents constituting violations, regardless of whether the specific acts were
authorized or even forbidden by the
employer or principal, and regardless

[61 FR 32540, June 24, 1996, as amended at 63
FR 7075, Feb. 12, 1998]

§ 600.420

Control system.

(a) The Assistant Administrator
maintains a control system to protect
the identity of submitters of statistics
required by an FMP. The control system:
(1) Identifies those persons who have
access to the statistics.
(2) Contains procedures to limit access to confidential data to authorized
users.
(3) Provides for safeguarding the
data.
(b) This system requires that all persons who have authorized access to the
data be informed of the confidentiality
of the data. These persons are required
to sign a statement that they:
(1) Have been informed that the data
are confidential.

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