[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]
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