Notice2023-00402
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Rationalization Social Study
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
January 11, 2023
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 7 (Wednesday, January 11, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 7 (Wednesday, January 11, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1562-1563]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-00402]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment
Request; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Rationalization Social Study
The Department of Commerce will submit the following information
collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for
review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995, on or after the date of publication of this notice. We invite 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. Public comments were previously requested via the
Federal Register on August 4, 2022 during a 60-day comment period. This
notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
Title: The Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Rationalization Social
Study.
OMB Control Number: 0648-0606.
[[Page 1563]]
Form Number(s): None.
Type of Request: Regular submission [Extension of a current
information collection].
Number of Respondents: 142.
Average Hours per Response: Survey/Interview, 1 hour; Interview
Only, 30 minutes; Meeting Only, 1 hour.
Total Annual Burden Hours: 134.
Needs and Uses: The Human Dimensions Team of the Conservation
Biology Division at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC),
Seattle, WA is requesting a renewal of its currently approved voluntary
information collection 0648-0606. The data collected under this
authorization supports the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA),
the current Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation Act (MSA),
contributes information to the Endangered Species Act requirements, and
the Regulatory Flexibility Act. Information from this data collection
has supported National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and Pacific
Fisheries Management Council (PFMC) fisheries management actions. Data
from this study has been included in broad resources to include the MSA
mandated 5-year review of the West Coast Groundfish Trawl Catch Shares
Program, in peer-reviewed documents, websites, and white papers. The
collection of this data not only informs legal requirements for
existing management actions, but also provides information for future
management actions requiring equivalent information.
Literature indicates fisheries rationalization programs have an
impact on those individuals participating in the affected fishery. The
PFMC implemented a rationalization program for the West Coast
Groundfish limited entry trawl fishery in January 2011. This research
aims to continue to study the individuals in the affected fishery over
the long term. It aims to collect data on a five-year cycle, post
initial data collection efforts. Prior data collection was related to
program design elements. A baseline data collection occurred in 2010,
followed by a second post-implementation collection in 2012, and a post
quota-share trading collection in 2015/2016. The data collected has
contributed to the five-year review of the program and highlighted
several areas for continued research. Efforts have also identified the
need for long term data collection as species recover and external
factors affect fishermen in this fishery. Such challenges include
underutilization, high costs of participation, difficulty finding
qualified crew, Covid challenges and other challenges. The study has
been able to highlight several issues such as `graying of the fleet' in
smaller communities, changing women's roles in commercial fishing, and
fishermen's adaptations under the new regulations. Continued research
is needed to understand continued and long term social impacts.
Combined with the ongoing mandatory Economic Data Collection (EDC) and
biological data collection, this research provides the PFMC extensive
information on concerns and impacts to fishing communities.
This data collection not only supports the requirements of NEPA and
NSA, but supports the NWFSC's Vivid Description of the Future (VDOF)
priorities to include Healthy Coastal Communities. This research
project also supports NOAA's 2022-2026 Strategic Plan contributing
information to Strategic Objective 2.2: Support Underserved and
Vulnerable Communities, and Strategic Objective 3.3: Improve Resilience
of Coastal Communities and Economies.
This study collects a broad swath of information from community
members through a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews.
Questionnaire sections include Demographic Information, Individual
Participation Information, Connections, Catch Shares Perspectives,
Quota Owners & Vessel Account Manager Section, Fishermen Section, and a
Processors Section. The questionnaire is primarily administered in
person in communities where respondents live. Study participants
include anyone who has a connection to the West Coast Groundfish Trawl
Fishery. This includes fishermen, fishermen's wives, processing
personnel, suppliers (ice, net, drydock, etc.), and others linked to
the fishery.
As previously indicated information from this study has broad
applications. To date, this project has informed concerns of graying of
the fleet--age disparities in some fisheries, has highlighted changing
women's roles, has supported management to open Yelloweye fisheries,
has reported on crew disparities, aims to understand processing
challenges, and is contributing to Ecosystem Science Studies. Ongoing
studies include infrastructure changes, vessel typology studies, and is
contributing to fishing diversity knowledge as well as climate studies.
Continued research will inform resilience and adaptation studies, will
further inform infrastructure studies, and contribute to and further
support efforts to understand underserved communities and build strong
and healthy coastal communities.
At this time there are no changes to the questionnaire, no changes
to the frequency of the data collection, and no changes to the target
population. It is critical to maintain consistent study parameters for
the longitudinal and time series study of this fishery to result in
accurate and consistent data and results.
Affected Public: Fishermen, Fishing Community Members.
Frequency: Once every 5 years.
Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
Legal Authority: MSA, NEPA.
This information collection request may be viewed at
<a href="http://www.reginfo.gov">www.reginfo.gov</a>. Follow the instructions to view the Department of
Commerce collections currently under review by OMB.
Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information
collection should be submitted within 30 days of the publication of
this notice on the following website <a href="http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>.
Find this particular information collection by selecting ``Currently
under 30-day Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search
function and entering either the title of the collection or the OMB
Control Number 0648-0606.
Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2023-00402 Filed 1-10-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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