Notice2025-05350
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Expanding Industry-Collaborative Research Surveys in Untrawlable Habitats Along the Pacific Coast
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
March 28, 2025
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 59 (Friday, March 28, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 59 (Friday, March 28, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Page 14123]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-05350]
[[Page 14123]]
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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; Expanding Industry-Collaborative Research Surveys in
Untrawlable Habitats Along the Pacific Coast
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 March 5, 2024, 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: Expanding Industry-Collaborative Research Surveys in
Untrawlable Habitats along the Pacific Coast.
OMB Control Number: 0648-XXXX.
Form Number(s): None.
Type of Request: Regular submission [new information collection].
Number of Respondents: 200.
Average Hours per Response: 0.33.
Total Annual Burden Hours: 66.
Needs and Uses: This request is to initiate a new collection of
information from members of the recreational and commercial fishing
communities along the Pacific Coast to support expansion of fishery-
independent groundfish research surveys conducted by or in coordination
with the National Marine Fisheries Service's (NMFS) Northwest Fisheries
Science Center (NWFSC) and Southwest Fisheries Science Centers (SWFSC).
The two centers are working jointly on this collection. Statutory and
regulatory authority for the conduct of these surveys and their
expansion emanate from the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) and NMFS National
Standard (NS) 2. MSA Sec. 402(e) and NS 2 (50 CFR 600.315) authorize
resource assessments including research surveys as a means of
generating the best available scientific information for assessing and
managing fish stocks, including the groundfish stocks along the Pacific
Coast. MSA Sec. 404(b)(3) authorizes NMFS to conduct these surveys
aboard industry vessels.
This collection will generate information essential for the
expansion of existing industry-collaborative groundfish research
surveys in untrawlable habitats along the Pacific Coast. Survey
expansion will close spatial gaps in existing survey coverage and
provide information for the monitoring, assessment, and management of
ecologically and economically important groundfish stocks including
quillback rockfish (Sebastes maliger), copper rockfish (S. caurinus),
yelloweye rockfish (S. ruberrimus), lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus), and
many others. Due to the paucity of data for some of these species and
the resulting uncertainty surrounding the abundance and trajectory of
these stocks within stock assessments, large areas of the coast have
been closed to most fishing as a precautionary measure which has been
economically damaging to a considerable portion of the recreational and
commercial fishing communities. Partnering with these communities which
include some of the nation's most knowledgeable individuals about
groundfish biology and behavior will support NMFS' efforts to expand
surveys, close data gaps, reduce scientific uncertainty, and more
effectively manage the groundfish stocks along the Pacific Coast.
NMFS will generate a spreadsheet template that will be distributed
on a voluntary basis to members of the recreational and fishing
communities along the Pacific Coast to solicit information about the
most appropriate sampling locations to include in potential survey
expansion as well as the role habitat, gear type, and vessel platform
may play when targeting different species. Specifically, NMFS requests
GPS coordinates and depths for potential survey sampling locations as
well as the habitat type and target species associated with a
particular location, and the most appropriate gear type for each
location. Primary respondents will be identified by collaborating with
existing industry representatives and liaisons along the coast to
ensure broad spatial coverage, however, NMFS plans to place no
restrictions on broader, voluntary distributions by primary respondents
to other knowledgeable members of the fishing community. The
information generated through this collection will inform the expansion
of existing surveys including the specific gear type(s), target
species, and sampling locations of the expansion areas.
Affected Public: Individuals or households.
Frequency: Once.
Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
Legal Authority: Magnuson-Stevens Act (16 U.S.C. Ch. 38 sec. 1801
et seq.).
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 collection 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 the title of the collection.
Sheleen Dumas,
Departmental PRA Compliance Officer, Office of the Under Secretary for
Economic Affairs, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2025-05350 Filed 3-27-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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