[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 181 (Friday, September 18, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56445-56446]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-23450]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request
The Department of Commerce will submit to the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) for clearance the following proposal for collection of
information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44
U.S.C. Chapter 35).
Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Title: NMFS Observer Programs' Information That Can be Gathered
Only Through Questions.
[[Page 56446]]
OMB Control Number: 0648-0593.
Form Number(s): None.
Type of Request: Regular (extension of a currently approved
information collection).
Number of Respondents: 3,699.
Average Hours per Response: 51 minutes.
Burden Hours: 27,238.
Needs and Uses: This request is for extension of a currently
approved 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.
NMFS seeks to renew OMB PRA clearance for these information
collections.
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
(ESA), the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA),
Executive Order 12866 (E.O. 12866), as well as a variety of state
statutes. The confidentiality of the data will be protected as required
by the MSA, Section 402(b).
Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.
Frequency: On occasion.
Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
This information collection request may be viewed at reginfo.gov.
Follow the instructions to view Department of Commerce collections
currently under review by OMB.
Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information
collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice
to [email protected] or fax to (202) 395-5806.
Dated: September 15, 2015.
Sarah Brabson,
NOAA PRA Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2015-23450 Filed 9-17-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P