[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 7 (Wednesday, January 11, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1562-1563]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-00402]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment 
Request; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Rationalization Social Study

    The Department of Commerce will submit the following information 
collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for 
review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995, on or after the date of publication of this notice. We invite the 
general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed, and 
continuing information collections, which helps us assess the impact of 
our information collection requirements and minimize the public's 
reporting burden. Public comments were previously requested via the 
Federal Register on August 4, 2022 during a 60-day comment period. This 
notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
    Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 
Commerce.
    Title: The Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Rationalization Social 
Study.
    OMB Control Number: 0648-0606.

[[Page 1563]]

    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Regular submission [Extension of a current 
information collection].
    Number of Respondents: 142.
    Average Hours per Response: Survey/Interview, 1 hour; Interview 
Only, 30 minutes; Meeting Only, 1 hour.
    Total Annual Burden Hours: 134.
    Needs and Uses: The Human Dimensions Team of the Conservation 
Biology Division at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC), 
Seattle, WA is requesting a renewal of its currently approved voluntary 
information collection 0648-0606. The data collected under this 
authorization supports the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 
the current Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation Act (MSA), 
contributes information to the Endangered Species Act requirements, and 
the Regulatory Flexibility Act. Information from this data collection 
has supported National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and Pacific 
Fisheries Management Council (PFMC) fisheries management actions. Data 
from this study has been included in broad resources to include the MSA 
mandated 5-year review of the West Coast Groundfish Trawl Catch Shares 
Program, in peer-reviewed documents, websites, and white papers. The 
collection of this data not only informs legal requirements for 
existing management actions, but also provides information for future 
management actions requiring equivalent information.
    Literature indicates fisheries rationalization programs have an 
impact on those individuals participating in the affected fishery. The 
PFMC implemented a rationalization program for the West Coast 
Groundfish limited entry trawl fishery in January 2011. This research 
aims to continue to study the individuals in the affected fishery over 
the long term. It aims to collect data on a five-year cycle, post 
initial data collection efforts. Prior data collection was related to 
program design elements. A baseline data collection occurred in 2010, 
followed by a second post-implementation collection in 2012, and a post 
quota-share trading collection in 2015/2016. The data collected has 
contributed to the five-year review of the program and highlighted 
several areas for continued research. Efforts have also identified the 
need for long term data collection as species recover and external 
factors affect fishermen in this fishery. Such challenges include 
underutilization, high costs of participation, difficulty finding 
qualified crew, Covid challenges and other challenges. The study has 
been able to highlight several issues such as `graying of the fleet' in 
smaller communities, changing women's roles in commercial fishing, and 
fishermen's adaptations under the new regulations. Continued research 
is needed to understand continued and long term social impacts. 
Combined with the ongoing mandatory Economic Data Collection (EDC) and 
biological data collection, this research provides the PFMC extensive 
information on concerns and impacts to fishing communities.
    This data collection not only supports the requirements of NEPA and 
NSA, but supports the NWFSC's Vivid Description of the Future (VDOF) 
priorities to include Healthy Coastal Communities. This research 
project also supports NOAA's 2022-2026 Strategic Plan contributing 
information to Strategic Objective 2.2: Support Underserved and 
Vulnerable Communities, and Strategic Objective 3.3: Improve Resilience 
of Coastal Communities and Economies.
    This study collects a broad swath of information from community 
members through a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. 
Questionnaire sections include Demographic Information, Individual 
Participation Information, Connections, Catch Shares Perspectives, 
Quota Owners & Vessel Account Manager Section, Fishermen Section, and a 
Processors Section. The questionnaire is primarily administered in 
person in communities where respondents live. Study participants 
include anyone who has a connection to the West Coast Groundfish Trawl 
Fishery. This includes fishermen, fishermen's wives, processing 
personnel, suppliers (ice, net, drydock, etc.), and others linked to 
the fishery.
    As previously indicated information from this study has broad 
applications. To date, this project has informed concerns of graying of 
the fleet--age disparities in some fisheries, has highlighted changing 
women's roles, has supported management to open Yelloweye fisheries, 
has reported on crew disparities, aims to understand processing 
challenges, and is contributing to Ecosystem Science Studies. Ongoing 
studies include infrastructure changes, vessel typology studies, and is 
contributing to fishing diversity knowledge as well as climate studies. 
Continued research will inform resilience and adaptation studies, will 
further inform infrastructure studies, and contribute to and further 
support efforts to understand underserved communities and build strong 
and healthy coastal communities.
    At this time there are no changes to the questionnaire, no changes 
to the frequency of the data collection, and no changes to the target 
population. It is critical to maintain consistent study parameters for 
the longitudinal and time series study of this fishery to result in 
accurate and consistent data and results.
    Affected Public: Fishermen, Fishing Community Members.
    Frequency: Once every 5 years.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: MSA, NEPA.
    This information collection request may be viewed at 
www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view the Department of 
Commerce collections currently under review by OMB.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be submitted within 30 days of the publication of 
this notice on the following website www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. 
Find this particular information collection by selecting ``Currently 
under 30-day Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search 
function and entering either the title of the collection or the OMB 
Control Number 0648-0606.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2023-00402 Filed 1-10-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P