50 CFR § 600.405-600.425 - Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions - Confidentiality of Statistics

71 Fishery Conservation and Management § 600.415 Subpart E—Confidentiality of Statistics § 600.405 Types of statistics covered. NOAA is authorized under the Mag nuson-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 Sec retary with respect to any FMP includ ing, but not limited to, information re garding the type and quantity of fish ing gear used, catch by species in num bers 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 Adminis trator. (2) After receipt, the Assistant Ad ministrator 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 speci fied by NOAA Directives, or other NOAA or NMFS internal procedures, apply to the collection and mainte nance of all statistics, whether sepa rated from identifying particulars or not, so as to ensure their confiden tiality. (b) Collection agreements with states. (1) The Assistant Administrator may enter into an agreement with a state authorizing the state to collect statis tics on behalf of the Secretary. (2) NMFS will not enter into a coop erative 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 con fidential data, the following informa tion will be taken into consideration (also see § 600.130): (1) The specific types of data re quired. (2) The relevance of the data to con servation and management issues. (3) The duration of time access will be required: continuous, infrequent, or one-time. (4) An explanation of why the avail ability of aggregate or non-confidential summaries of data from other sources would not satisfy the requested needs. (b) Federal employees. Statistics sub mitted as a requirement of an FMP and that reveal the identity of the sub mitter will only be accessible to the following: (1) Personnel within NMFS respon sible for the collection, processing, and storage of the statistics. (2) Federal employees who are re sponsible for FMP development, moni toring, and enforcement. (3) Personnel within NMFS per forming research that requires con fidential statistics. (4) Other NOAA personnel on a de monstrable need-to-know basis. (5) NOAA/NMFS contractors or grantees who require access to con fidential statistics to perform func tions authorized by a Federal contract or grant. (c) State personnel. Upon written re quest, confidential statistics will only be accessible if: (1) State employees demonstrate a need for confidential statistics for use in fishery conservation and manage ment. (2) The state has entered into a writ ten 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 au thority comparable to the Magnuson Stevens Act and that the state will ex ercise this authority to limit subse quent 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: 72 50 CFR Ch. VI (10–1–22 Edition) § 600.420 (1) Council employees who are re sponsible for FMP development and monitoring. (2) A Council for use by the Council for conservation and management pur poses, with the approval of the Assist ant Administrator. In addition to the information described in paragraph (a) of this section, the Assistant Adminis trator will consider the following in de ciding whether to grant access: (i) The possibility that Council mem bers might gain personal or competi tive advantage from access to the data. (ii) The possibility that the suppliers of the data would be placed at a com petitive disadvantage by public disclo sure of the data at Council meetings or hearings. (3) A contractor of the Council for use in such analysis or studies nec essary for conservation and manage ment purposes, with approval of the Assistant Administrator and execution of an agreement with NMFS as de scribed by NOAA Administrative Order (NAO) 216–100. (e) Prohibitions. Persons having ac cess 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. [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 sys tem: (1) Identifies those persons who have access to the statistics. (2) Contains procedures to limit ac cess to confidential data to authorized users. (3) Provides for safeguarding the data. (b) This system requires that all per sons 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. (2) Have reviewed and are familiar with the procedures to protect con fidential statistics. § 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 sub mitter, except as required by law. (b) All requests from the public for statistics submitted in response to a requirement of an FMP will be proc essed consistent with the NOAA FOIA regulations (15 CFR part 903), NAO 205– 14, Department of Commerce Adminis trative 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 mam mals. 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 opera tors. The owners and operators of each FFV are jointly and severally respon sible for compliance with the Magnu son-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, regard less of whether the specific acts were authorized or even forbidden by the employer or principal, and regardless