Notice2026-09751
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget; Horseshoe Crab and Cooperative Fish Tagging Programs
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
May 15, 2026
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentFish and Wildlife Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are proposing to renew a currently approved information collection without change.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 94 (Friday, May 15, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 94 (Friday, May 15, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27975-27977]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-09751]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[Docket No. FWS-R5-FAC-2026-1684; FXFR13350500000-267-FF05F24400; OMB
Control Number 1018-0127]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the
Office of Management and Budget; Horseshoe Crab and Cooperative Fish
Tagging Programs
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA),
we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are proposing to
renew a currently approved information collection without change.
DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before
June 15, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of
this notice to <a href="https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>. Find this
particular information collection by selecting ``Currently under
Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.
Please provide a copy of your comments to the Service Information
Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB
(JAO/3W), 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803 (mail); or by
email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#fab3949c95a5b9959696ba9c8d89d49d958c"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="226b4c444d7d614d4e4e624455510c454d54">[email protected]</span></a>. Please reference ``1018-0127'' in the
subject line of your comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Madonna L. Baucum, Service Information
Collection Clearance Officer, by email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#460f2820291905292a2a0620313568212930"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="733a1d151c2c301c1f1f331504005d141c05">[email protected]</span></a>, or by
telephone at (703) 358-2503. Individuals in the United States who are
deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial
711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay
services. Individuals outside the United States should use the relay
services offered within their country to make international calls to
the point-of-contact in the United States. You may also view the
information collection request (ICR) at <a href="https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction
Act (PRA; 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) and its implementing regulations at 5
CFR part 1320, all information collections require approval under the
PRA. We may not conduct or sponsor, and you are not required to respond
to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number.
On February 11, 2026, we published in the Federal Register (91 FR
6245) a notice of our intent to request that OMB approve this
information collection. In that notice, we solicited comments for 60
days, ending on April 13, 2026. We also published the Federal Register
notice on <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a> (Docket No. FWS-R5-FAC-2025-1529). We
received the following comments in response to that notice:
Comment 1: Electronic comment received April 13, 2026 via
<a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a> (FWS-R5-FAC-2025-1529-0002) from Thomas Mullikin,
Director with the State of South Carolina Division of Natural Resources
(DNR). The South Carolina DNR supports continuation of the collection
and provided the following recommendation:
``Expand coastwide tagging studies to better define movement
(extent of range), population mixing among regions (including greater
tag and recapture effort in the Gulf of Mexico), mortality and maximum
age. Mortality estimates from tagging are particularly important when
other estimates are not available, and they should be emphasized in
future assessments. These data will support use of the MARK and JSC
models outside of Delaware Bay and inform applicability of management
zones.''
Agency Response to Comment 1: Currently, there are tagging efforts
from the Gulf around the east coast of Florida and up to Massachusetts.
The Service pays for over 20,000 tags that are distributed each year to
cooperating tagging programs. The Service's Maryland Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Office (MDFWCO) is currently without a tagging database
manager and the duties are split amongst the few permanent staff
remaining. Increasing tagging efforts requires additional funding, but
more
[[Page 27976]]
importantly, increased staff to assist in the processing of the rewards
and data. The Service will retain this recommendation for future
consideration should staffing and funding allow its implementation.
Comment 2: Electronic comment submitted anonymously on April 13,
2026, via <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a> (FWS-R5-FAC-2025-1529-0003). The commenter
encouraged the Service to continue to protect the species identified in
the collection.
Agency Response to Comment 2: The commenter did not address the
information collection requirements; therefore, no response is
required.
As part of our continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent
burdens, we are again soliciting comments from the public and other
Federal agencies on the proposed ICR that is described below. We are
especially interested in public comments addressing the following:
(1) Whether or not the collection of information is necessary for
the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including
whether or not the information will have practical utility;
(2) The accuracy of our estimate of the burden for this collection
of information, including the validity of the methodology and
assumptions used;
(3) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and
(4) How might the agency minimize the burden of the collection of
information on those who are to respond, including through the use of
appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological
collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g.,
permitting electronic submission of response.
Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of
public record. Before including your address, phone number, email
address, or other personally identifiable information in your comment,
you should be aware that your entire comment--including your personally
identifiable information--may be publicly available at any time. While
you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personally identifiable
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be
able to do so.
Abstract: The Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 (16 U.S.C. 742f)
requires the Department of the Interior to take steps ``required for
the development, advancement, management, conservation, and protection
of fish and wildlife resources.'' In addition, the Endangered Species
Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531-1544), the Fish and Wildlife Coordination
Act (16 U.S.C. 661--666c-1), and the Anadromous Fish Conservation Act
(16 U.S.C. 757a-757f) each authorize the Department of the Interior to
enter into cooperative agreements with stakeholders to protect and
conserve fishery resources. The Service's MDFWCO will collect
information on horseshoe crabs and fishes captured by the public. Tag
information provided by the public will be used to estimate
recreational and commercial harvest rates, estimate natural mortality
rates, and evaluate migratory patterns, length and age frequencies, and
effectiveness of current regulations.
Horseshoe crabs play a vital role commercially, biomedically, and
ecologically along the Atlantic coast. Horseshoe crabs are commercially
harvested and used as bait in eel and conch fisheries. Biomedical
companies along the coast also collect and bleed horseshoe crabs at
their facilities. Limulus amebocyte lysate, derived from horseshoe crab
blood, is used by pharmaceutical companies to test sterility of
products. Finally, migratory shorebirds also depend on the eggs of
horseshoe crabs to refuel on their migrations from South America to the
Arctic. One bird in particular, the rufa red knot (Calidris canutus
rufa), feeds primarily on horseshoe crab eggs during its stopover.
Effective January 12, 2015, the rufa red knot was listed as threatened
under the Endangered Species Act (79 FR 73706; December 11, 2014).
In 1998, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), a
management organization with representatives from each State on the
Atlantic coast, developed a horseshoe crab management plan. The ASMFC
plan and its subsequent addenda established mandatory State-by-State
harvest quotas and created the 1,500-square-mile Carl N. Shuster, Jr.,
Horseshoe Crab Sanctuary off the mouth of Delaware Bay.
Restrictive measures have been taken in recent years; however,
populations are increasing slowly. Because horseshoe crabs do not breed
until they are 9 years or older, it may take some time before the
population measurably increases. Federal and State agencies,
universities, and biomedical companies participate in a Horseshoe Crab
Cooperative Tagging Program. The Service's MDFWCO maintains the
information collected under this program and uses it to evaluate
migratory patterns, survival, and abundance of horseshoe crabs.
Members of the public who recover tagged crabs provide the
following information using Form 3-2310 (Horseshoe Crab Recapture
Report):
<bullet> Tag number;
<bullet> Whether or not tag was removed;
<bullet> Condition of crab;
<bullet> Date captured/found;
<bullet> Crab fate;
<bullet> Finder type;
<bullet> Capture method;
<bullet> Capture location;
<bullet> Reporter information; and
<bullet> Comments.
Agencies that tag and release the crabs complete Form 3-2311
(Horseshoe Crab Tagging) and provide the Service with:
<bullet> Organization name;
<bullet> Contact person name;
<bullet> Tag number;
<bullet> Sex of crab;
<bullet> Prosomal width; and
<bullet> Capture site, latitude, longitude, waterbody, State, and
date.
At the request of the public participant reporting the tagged crab,
we send data pertaining to the tagging program and tag and release
information on the horseshoe crab tag that was found.
Fish will be tagged with an external tag containing a toll-free
number for the Service's MDFWCO. Tagged species of fish include striped
bass (Morone saxatilis), Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus),
shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum), northern snakehead (Channa
argus), and American shad (Alosa sapidissima). Members of the public
reporting a tag will be asked a series of questions pertaining to the
fish that they are referencing. The Service uses the following four
forms to collect information used by fisheries managers throughout the
Atlantic Coast, depending on species:
<bullet> Form 3-2493, ``American Shad Recapture Report'';
<bullet> Form 3-2494, ``Snakehead Recapture Report'';
<bullet> Form 3-2495, ``Striped Bass Recapture Report''; and
<bullet> Form 3-2496, ``Sturgeon Recapture Report.''
American shad are tagged by the New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC), which retains all fish tagging
information. The public reports tags to the Service's MDFWCO, who
provides information on tag returns to NYS DEC. Tag return data are
used to monitor migration and abundance of shad along the Atlantic
coast.
Northern snakehead is an invasive species found in many watersheds
[[Page 27977]]
throughout the mid-Atlantic region. It has been firmly established in
the Potomac River since at least 2004 and is now in nearly every major
Chesapeake Bay tributary. Federal and State biologists within the
Chesapeake Bay watershed have been tasked with managing the impacts of
northern snakehead. Tagging of northern snakehead is used to learn more
about the species so that control efforts can be better informed.
Tagging is also used to estimate population sizes to monitor trends in
abundance. Recreational and commercial fishers' reporting tags provide
information on harvest rates and migration patterns as well.
Striped bass are cooperatively managed by Federal and State
agencies through the ASMFC. The ASMFC uses fish tag return data to
conduct stock assessments for striped bass. The database and collection
are housed within the Service's MDFWCO, while the tagging is conducted
by State agencies participating in striped bass management. Without
this data collection, striped bass management would likely suffer from
a lack of quality data. As required by Congress under the Atlantic
Striped Bass Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 5151-5158), striped bass
tagging data is used to manage the coast-wide stock.
Sturgeon are tagged by Federal, State, and university biologists
and nongovernmental organizations along the U.S. east coast and into
Canada, and throughout the United States and Canada. Local populations
of Atlantic sturgeon have been listed as either threatened or
endangered since 2012, and shortnose populations have been listed since
1973. The information collected provides data on tag retention and
sturgeon movement along the east coast. The data are also used to
address some of the management and research needs identified by
amendment 1 to the ASMFC's Atlantic Sturgeon Fishery Management Plan.
Data collected across these tagging programs are similar in nature,
including:
<bullet> Tag number;
<bullet> Date of capture;
<bullet> Waterbody of capture;
<bullet> Capture method;
<bullet> Fish length, weight, and fate (whether released or
killed); and
<bullet> Fisher type (e.g., commercial, recreational).
In addition, if the tag reporter desires more information on their
tagged fish or wants the modest reward that comes with reporting a tag,
we ask for their address so that we can mail them the information.
The public may request a copy of any form contained in this
information collection by sending a request to the Service Information
Collection Clearance Officer (see ADDRESSES).
Title of Collection: Horseshoe Crab and Cooperative Fish Tagging
Programs.
OMB Control Number: 1018-0127.
Form Number: Forms 3-2310, 3-2311, and 3-2493 through 3-2496.
Type of Review: Extension without change of a currently approved
collection.
Respondents/Affected Public: Respondents include Federal and State
agencies, universities, and biomedical companies who conduct tagging,
and members of the general public who provide recapture information.
Total Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 1,982.
Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 4,098.
Estimated Completion Time per Response: Varies from 5 minutes to 95
hours, depending on activity.
Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 2,352.
Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
Frequency of Collection: Respondents will provide information on
occasion, upon tagging or upon encounter with a tagged crab or fish.
Total Estimated Annual Nonhour Burden Cost: None.
The authority for this action is the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
Madonna Baucum,
Information Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service.
[FR Doc. 2026-09751 Filed 5-14-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P
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