[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 71 (Monday, April 13, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20473-20475]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-07643]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Economic 
Surveys of Specific U.S. Commercial Fisheries

AGENCY: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 
Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort 
to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public 
and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed and/or

[[Page 20474]]

continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995. The purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 
days of public comment.

DATES: To ensure consideration, comments regarding this proposed 
information collection must be received on or before June 12, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Adrienne Thomas, PRA Officer, 
NOAA, 151 Patton Avenue, Room 159, Asheville, NC 28801 (or via the 
internet at [email protected]). All comments received are part of the 
public record. Comments will generally be posted without change. All 
Personally Identifiable Information (for example, name and address) 
voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly accessible. Do 
not submit Confidential Business Information or otherwise sensitive or 
protected information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the information collection instrument and instructions should 
be directed to Dr. Joe Terry, Office of Science and Technology, 1315 
East-West Hwy., Bldg. SSMC3, Silver Spring, MD 20910-3282, (858) 454 -
2547, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract

    The Office of Science and Technology is sponsoring this collection, 
which consists of economic surveys that will be conducted in selected 
commercial fisheries for the West Coast, the Southeast, Hawaii, and the 
U.S. Pacific Islands territories.
    The requested information will include different components of 
operating costs/expenditures, earnings, employment, ownership, vessel 
characteristics, effort/gear descriptors, employment, and demographic 
information for the various types of fishing vessels operating in the 
15 U.S. commercial fisheries listed below.

1. West Coast Limited Entry Groundfish Fixed Gear Fishery
2. West Coast Open Access Groundfish, Non-tribal Salmon, Crab, and 
Shrimp Fisheries
3. American Samoa Longline Fishery
4. Hawaii Longline Fishery
5. Hawaii Small Boat Fishery
6. American Samoa Small Boat Fishery
7. American Samoa (ESAS), Guam, and The Commonwealth of The Northern 
Mariana Islands (CNMI) Small Boat-Based Fisheries
8. Mariana Archipelago Small Boat Fishery
9. USVI Small-Scale Fisheries
10. Puerto Rico Small-Scale Fisheries
11. Gulf of Mexico Inshore Shrimp Fishery
12. Golden Crab Fisheries in the U.S. South Atlantic Region
13. West Coast Coastal Pelagic Fishery
14. West Coast Swordfish Fishery
15. West Coast North Pacific Albacore Fishery

    A variety of laws, Executive Orders (EOs), and NOAA Fisheries 
strategies and policies include requirements for economic data and the 
analyses they support. When met adequately, those requirements allow 
better-informed conservation and management decisions on the use of 
living marine resources and marine habitat in federally managed 
fisheries. Obtaining these data improves the ability of NOAA Fisheries 
and the Regional Fishery Management Councils (Councils) to monitor, 
explain and predict changes in the economic performance and impacts of 
federally managed commercial fisheries. Measures of economic 
performance include costs, earnings, and profitability (net revenue); 
productivity and economic efficiency; capacity; economic stability; the 
level and distribution of net economic benefits to society; and market 
power. The economic impacts include sector, community or region-
specific, and national employment, sales, value-added, and income 
impacts. Economic data are required to support more than a cursory 
effort to comply with or support the following laws, EOs, and NOAA 
Fisheries strategies and policies:

1. The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA)
2. The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA)
3. The Endangered Species Act (ESA)
4. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
5. The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA)
6. E.O. 12866 (Regulatory Planning and Review)
7. E.O. 13771 (Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs)
8. E.O. 12898 (Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in 
Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations)
9. E.O. 13840 (Ocean Policy to Advance the Economic, Security, and 
Environmental Interests of the United States).
10. The NOAA Fisheries Guidelines for Economic Reviews of Regulatory 
Actions
11. The NOAA Fisheries Strategic Plan 2019-2022 (Strategic Plan)
12. The NOAA Fisheries Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management (EBFM) Road 
Map
13. The NOAA Fisheries National Bycatch Reduction Strategy
14. NOAA's Catch Share Policy.

    Data collections will focus each year on a different set of the 15 
commercial fisheries. This cycle of data collection will facilitate 
economic data being available and updated for all those commercial 
fisheries.
    There will be an effort to coordinate the data collections in order 
to reduce the additional burden for those who participate in multiple 
fisheries. To further reduce the burden, the requested information for 
a specific fishery will be limited to that which is not available from 
other sources. Participation in these data collections will be 
voluntary.
    The proposed revisions to the information collection will: (a) 
Change the title of the currently approved information collection from 
``West Coast Limited Entry Groundfish Fixed Gear Economic Data 
Collection'' to ``Economic Surveys of Specific U.S. Commercial 
Fisheries''; (b) expand it to include an additional 14 fisheries, for 
which information had been collected under other previously approved 
information collections; (c) extend it for three years; and (d) 
increase the burden hours to the sum of the burden hours for the 15 
information collections.

II. Method of Collection

    The information will be collected by mail, internet, phone, and in-
person interviews. In general, respondents will receive a mailed copy 
of the survey instrument in advance of a phone or in-person interview. 
Where feasible, survey respondents will have the option to respond to 
an on-line survey. If phone and in-person interviews are not feasible 
or not desired by the potential respondents, the information will be 
collected by mail or internet.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0648-0773.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Review: Regular submission (revision of a currently 
approved collection).
    Affected Public: Individuals or households and business or other 
for-profit organizations.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 2,424.
    Estimated Time per Response:
    West Coast Open Access Groundfish, Non-tribal Salmon, Crab, and 
Shrimp Economic Data Collection: 3 hours.
    West Coast Limited Entry Groundfish Fixed Gear Economic Data 
Collection: 3 hours.

[[Page 20475]]

    American Samoa Longline Survey: 1 hour.
    Hawaii Longline Survey: 1 hour.
    Hawaii Small Boat Economic Survey: 45 minutes.
    American Samoa Small Boat Survey: 45 minutes.
    Economic Surveys of American Samoa (ESAS), Guam, and The 
Commonwealth of The Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Small Boat-Based 
Fisheries (an add-on to a creel survey): 10 minutes.
    Cost Earnings Survey of Mariana Archipelago Small Boat Fleet: 45 
minutes.
    Economic Expenditure Survey of Golden Crab Fishermen in the U.S. 
South Atlantic Region: 1 hour.
    USVI Fisheries Economic Survey (Socio-Economic Profile of Small-
Scale Commercial Fisheries (SSCF) in the U.S. Caribbean): 30 minutes.
    Puerto Rico Fisheries Economic Survey (Socio-Economic Profile of 
Small-Scale Commercial Fisheries (SSCF) in the U.S. Caribbean): 1 hour.
    Gulf of Mexico Inshore Shrimp Fishery Economic Survey: 30 minutes.
    West Coast Swordfish Fishery Cost and Earnings Survey: 1 hour.
    West Coast Coastal Pelagic Fishery Economic Survey: 1 hour, 40 
minutes.
    West Coast North Pacific Albacore Fishery Economic Survey: 1 hour.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 2,188.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $0.

IV. Request for Comments

    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden 
(including hours and cost) of the proposed collection of information; 
(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the 
collection of information on respondents, including through the use of 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of this information 
collection; they also will become a matter of public record.

    Dated: April 7, 2020.
Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2020-07643 Filed 4-10-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P