Notice2023-27834
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Observer Programs' Information That Can Be Gathered Only Through Questions
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
December 19, 2023
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 242 (Tuesday, December 19, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 242 (Tuesday, December 19, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 87753-87754]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-27834]
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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; National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Observer Programs'
Information That Can Be Gathered Only Through Questions
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 31, 2023 (88 FR 60184) during a 60-day
comment period. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public
comments.
Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Commerce.
Title: NMFS Observer Programs' Information That Can Be Gathered
Only Through Questions.
OMB Control Number: 0648-0593.
Form Number(s): None.
Type of Request: Regular submission. Revision and extension of a
current information collection.
Number of Respondents: 2,155.
Average Hours per Response: Northeast Fisheries Observer Program
and At-Sea Monitors, 117 minutes; North Pacific Groundfish and Halibut
Observer Program and Processing Plants, 56 minutes; Alaska Marine
Mammal Observer Program, 15 minutes; West Coast Groundfish Observer
Program, 31 minutes; Pacific Islands Region Observer Program, 86
minutes; Southeast Fishery Observer Program, 55 minutes; West Coast
Region Observer Program, 62 minutes. Information will be collected for
observed fishing trips and deployments to fish processing plants;
therefore, there will be multiple responses for some respondents, but
counted as one response per trip or plant visit.
Total Annual Burden Hours: 15,728.
Needs and Uses: This is a request for revision and extension of an
existing information collection.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) deploys fishery observers on
United States (U.S.) commercial fishing vessels and to fish processing
plants in order to collect biological and economic data. NMFS has at
least one observer program in each of its five Regions. These observer
programs provide the most reliable and effective method for obtaining
information that is critical for the conservation and management of
living marine resources. Observer programs primarily obtain information
through direct observations by employees or agents of NMFS; and such
observations are not subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA).
However, observer programs also collect the following information that
requires clearance under the PRA: (1) Standardized questions of fishing
vessel captains/crew or fish processing plant managers/staff, which
include gear and performance questions, safety questions, and trip
costs, crew size and other economic questions; (2) questions asked by
observer program staff/contractors to plan observer deployments; (3)
forms that are completed by observers and that fishing vessel captains
are asked to review and sign; (4) questionnaires to evaluate observer
performance; and (5) a form to certify that a fisherman is the permit
holder when requesting observer data from the observer on the vessel.
The information collected will be used to: (1) Monitor catch and
bycatch in federally managed commercial fisheries; (2) understand the
population status and trends of fish stocks and protected species, as
well as the interactions between them; (3) determine the quantity and
distribution of net benefits derived from living marine resources; (4)
predict the biological, ecological, and economic impacts of existing
management action and proposed management options; and (5) ensure that
the observer programs can safely and efficiently collect the
information required for the previous four uses. In particular, these
biological and economic data collection programs contribute to legally
mandated analyses required under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act (MSA), the Endangered Species Act
[[Page 87754]]
(ESA), the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA),
as well as a variety of state statutes. The confidentiality of the data
will be protected as required by the MSA, Section 402(b).
This collection will be revised as follows. First is the expansion
of observers to include an additional fishery. The Southeast region
will begin sending observers out on Southeast reef fish fishery trips
and thus needs to add this fishery to this collection. Second, NOAA is
combining the Southeast observer efforts into one program. The third
change is the West Coast Groundfish Observer Program (WCGOP) would like
to start collecting the names of crew members within their observer
logbooks. The data will be recorded on paper, scanned in, and stored
according to vessel name. This information will only be accessed if
there is an enforcement issue. The final change is also within the West
Coast Groundfish Observer Program. They have introduced a new phone app
that captains are using to declare upcoming fishing trips and NMFS is
using to let them know if they have been selected for observer
coverage. Other observer programs are also working on converting to
smart phone apps, but they have not yet been implemented.
Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.
Frequency: On occasion.
Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
Legal Authority: The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act (MSA), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), Executive Order
12866 (E.O. 12866), and the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA).
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 0648-0593.
Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Under Secretary for
Economic Affairs, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2023-27834 Filed 12-18-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on December 19, 2023.
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