[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 97 (Thursday, May 21, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23843-23844]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-11901]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE


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: Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistics Survey.
    OMB Control Number: 0648-0052.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Regular submission.
    Burden Hours: 2,175 (new); 46,920 (current plus new).
    Number of Respondents: 16,630 (new); 741,305 (current plus new).
    Average Hours per Response: Pretest, 30 minutes; fishing effort 
screening

[[Page 23844]]

survey, 4 minutes; saltwater angler fishing diary, 30 minutes.
    Needs and Uses: This requested revision will address the National 
Research Council's (NRC) concerns regarding potential telephone 
coverage error by testing the effectiveness of mail screening surveys 
for contacting anglers and collecting recreational fishing data. Like 
current telephone surveys, mail surveys will target licensed anglers 
(state license databases), as well as random households within coastal 
states (United States Post Office (USPS), Delivery Sequence File 
(DSF)). It is expected that mail survey frames will provide more 
complete coverage of angling populations than telephone survey frames 
because anglers are required to provide an address and/or present a 
valid driver's license when purchasing a saltwater fishing license, and 
the DSF can provide a complete frame of residential addresses within 
the United States. The proposed mail survey will run concurrently with 
ongoing telephone surveys for benchmarking purposes, as well as to 
allow direct comparisons between the two methodologies.
    The NRC also identified potential problems with on-site surveys, 
which collect catch information at the conclusion of recreational 
fishing trips. Generally, these surveys are conducted by trained 
interviewers at publicly accessible fishing sites such as public piers, 
beaches, marinas and boat ramps. Because the coverage of onsite surveys 
is limited to public-access sites, estimates of total catch rely on 
assumptions about the behavior and success of anglers who access the 
water from private-access sites such as private residences, community 
beaches, marinas and docks, and private yacht clubs.
    To address these additional concerns, respondents to the effort 
survey/screener questionnaire will be sent a survey packet for the 
angler diary survey. Combining the two objectives into a single data 
collection effort will help minimize respondent burden.
    The collection of these data is necessary to fulfill statutory 
requirements of section 303 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1853 et seq.) as amended 
(MSA) and to comply with Executive Order 12962 on Recreational 
Fisheries. Section 303(a) of the MSA specifies data and analyses to be 
included in Fishery Management Plans (FMP), as well as pertinent data 
that shall be submitted to the Secretary of Commerce under the plan.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    OMB Desk Officer: David Rostker, (202) 395-3897.
    Copies of the above information collection proposal can be obtained 
by calling or writing Diana Hynek, Departmental Paperwork Clearance 
Officer, (202) 482-0266, Department of Commerce, Room 7845, 14th and 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230 (or via the Internet at 
[email protected]).
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice 
to David Rostker, OMB Desk Officer, FAX number (202) 395-7285, or 
[email protected].

    Dated: May 18, 2009.
Gwellnar Banks,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. E9-11901 Filed 5-20-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P