[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 105 (Monday, June 1, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33192-33193]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-11671]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R3-FAC-2020-N013; FF03F43100-XXXF1611NR; OMB Control Number 1018-
New]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Sea Lamprey Control 
Program

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, we, 
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are proposing a new 
information collection in use without Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) approval.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
July 31, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Send your comments on the information collection request 
(ICR) by mail to the Service Information Collection Clearance Officer, 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/PERMA, 5275 Leesburg Pike, 
Falls Church, VA 22041-3803 (mail); or by email to [email protected]. 
Please reference OMB Control Number ``1018-Sea Lampreys'' in the 
subject line of your comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information 
about this ICR, contact Madonna L. Baucum, Service Information 
Collection Clearance Officer, by email at [email protected], or by 
telephone at (703) 358-2503.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, we provide the general public and other Federal agencies 
with an opportunity to comment on new, proposed, revised, and 
continuing collections of information. This helps us assess the impact 
of our information collection requirements and minimize the public's 
reporting burden. It also helps the public understand our information 
collection requirements and provide the requested data in the desired 
format.
    We are soliciting comments on the proposed ICR that is described 
below. We are especially interested in public comment addressing the 
following issues: (1) Is the collection necessary to the proper 
functions of the Service; (2) will this information be processed and 
used in a timely manner; (3) is the estimate of burden accurate; (4) 
how might the Service enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (5) how might the Service minimize the 
burden of this collection on the respondents, including through the use 
of information technology.
    Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of 
public record. We will include or summarize each comment in our request 
to OMB to approve this ICR. Before including your address, phone 
number, email address, or other personal identifying information in 
your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment--including 
your personal identifying information--may be made publicly available 
at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your 
personal identifying information from public review, we cannot 
guarantee that we will be able to do so.
    Abstract: The Sea Lamprey Control Program is administered and 
funded by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC) and implemented by 
two control agents, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Fisheries 
and Oceans Canada, who often partner on larger projects. The sea 
lamprey (Petromyzon marinus), a parasitic fish species native to the 
Atlantic Ocean, parasitizes other fish species by sucking their blood 
and other bodily fluids. Having survived through at least four major 
extinction events, the species has remained largely unchanged for more 
than 340 million years. The sea lamprey differs from many other fishes, 
in that it does not have jaws or other bony structures, but instead has 
a skeleton made of cartilage. Sea lampreys prey on most species of 
large Great Lakes fish such as lake trout, salmon, lake sturgeon, 
whitefish, burbot, walleye, and catfish.
    In the 1800s, sea lampreys invaded the Great Lakes system via 
manmade locks and shipping canals. Their aggressive behavior and 
appetite for fish blood wreaked havoc on native fish populations, 
decimating an already vulnerable lake trout fishery. The first recorded 
observation of a sea lamprey in the Great Lakes was in 1835 in Lake 
Ontario. For a time, Niagara Falls served as a natural barrier, 
confining sea lampreys to Lake Ontario and preventing them from 
entering the remaining four Great Lakes. However, in the early 1900s, 
modifications were made to the Welland Canal, which bypasses Niagara 
Falls and provides a shipping connection between Lakes Ontario and 
Erie. These modifications allowed sea lampreys access to the rest of 
the Great Lakes system. Within a short time, sea lampreys spread 
throughout the system: Into Lake Erie by 1921, Lakes Michigan and Huron 
by 1936 and 1937, and Lake Superior by 1938. Sea lampreys were able to 
thrive once they invaded the Great Lakes because of the availability of 
excellent spawning and larval habitat, an abundance of host fish, a 
lack of predators, and their high reproductive potential--a single 
female can produce as many as 100,000 eggs.
    Service staff at the Marquette and Ludington biological stations 
fulfill U.S. obligations under the 1954 Convention on Great Lakes 
Fisheries between the United States and Canada and the Great Lakes 
Fishery Act of 1956. The Service works with State, Tribal, and other 
Federal agencies to monitor progress towards fish community objectives 
for sea lampreys in each of the Great Lakes, and also to develop and 
implement actions to achieve these objectives. Activities are closely 
coordinated with State, Tribal, and other Federal and provincial 
management agencies, nongovernmental organizations, private landowners, 
and the public. Our primary goal is to conduct ecologically sound and 
publicly acceptable integrated sea lamprey control.
    The Sea Lamprey Control Program (SLCP) maintains an internal 
database. In existence for more than 20 years, it contains information 
critical to the delivery and evaluation of an integrated control 
program to manage invasive sea lamprey populations in the five Great 
Lakes. The storage of data in this database not only documents the 
history of the SLCP since inception in 1953, but it also provides data 
to steer assessment and control of invasive sea lamprey populations in 
the Great Lakes in partnership with the GLFC. We provide annual 
population data to Federal and State regulatory agencies to inform 
critical evaluations used to issue permits to allow sea lamprey control 
actions. The SLCP database maintains the points of contact for 
landowners to request landowner permission to access their land for 
treatment. The Service collects basic contact information for the 
landowner (name, home address, phone number, cell phone number, and 
email address), along with whether they allow access to their land, 
methods of transportation allowed over the land, and whether the 
landowner irrigates the land.
    Title of Collection: Sea Lamprey Control Program.
    OMB Control Number: 1018-New.
    Form Number: None.
    Type of Review: Existing collection of information in use without 
an OMB Control Number.
    Respondents/Affected Public: Individuals, private sector, and 
State/local/Tribal governments.

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    Total Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 600.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 400.
    Estimated Completion Time per Response: 15 Minutes.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 150 hours.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Frequency of Collection: Annually.
    Total Estimated Annual Nonhour Burden Cost: None.
    An agency may not conduct or sponsor and a person is not required 
to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a 
currently valid OMB control number.
    The authority for this action is the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

    Dated: May 27, 2020.
Madonna Baucum,
Information Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-11671 Filed 5-29-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4333-15-P