[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 12 (Thursday, January 19, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3388-3389]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-00980]


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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; Reporting Requirements for Sea Otter Interactions With the 
Pacific Sardine Fishery; Coastal Pelagic Species Fishery Management 
Plan

    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 September 6, 2022 (87 FR 54484) 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: Reporting Requirements for Sea Otter Interactions with 
Coastal Pelagic Species Fisheries.
    OMB Control Number: 0648-0566.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Regular submission (extension of a current 
information collection).
    Number of Respondents: 2.
    Average Hours per Response: 15 minutes.
    Total Annual Burden Hours: 30 minutes.
    Needs and Uses: This request is for extension of a currently 
approved collection. On May 30, 2007, NMFS published a final rule (72 
FR 29891) implementing a requirement under the Coastal Pelagic Species 
(CPS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP) to report any interactions that may 
occur between a CPS vessel and/or fishing gear and sea otters. In 
accordance with the regulations implementing the Endangered Species Act 
(ESA), NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) initiated an ESA 
section 7 consultation with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service 
(USFWS) regarding the effects of implementing the final rule (72 FR 
29891), which codified Amendment 11 to the CPS FMP. USFWS determined 
that formal consultation was necessary on the possible effects to the 
threatened southern sea otter. USFWS completed a biological opinion for 
this action and although it was concluded that fishing activities were 
not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of the southern sea 
otter, that there remained the potential to incidentally take southern 
sea otters. USFWS determined that certain measures should be put in 
place to ensure the continued protection of the species, including 
certain reporting requirements.
    Specifically, these reporting requirements are:
    (1) If a southern sea otter is entangled in a net, regardless of 
whether the animal is injured or killed, the vessel operator must 
report this interaction within 24 hours to the Regional Administrator.
    (2) While fishing for CPS, vessel operators must record all 
observations of otter interactions (defined as otters within encircled 
nets or coming into contact with nets or vessels, including but not 
limited to entanglement) with their purse seine net(s) or vessel(s). 
With the exception of an entanglement, which must be initially reported 
as described in paragraph (1) of this section, all other observations 
must be

[[Page 3389]]

reported within 20 days to the Regional Administrator.
    (3) When contacting NMFS after an interaction, vessel operators 
must provide the location (latitude and longitude) of the interaction 
and a description of the interaction itself. If available, location 
information should also include water depth, distance from shore, and 
relation to port or other landmarks. Descriptive information of the 
interaction should include: whether or not the otters were seen inside 
or outside the net; if inside the net, had the net been completely 
encircled; whether any otters came in contact with either the net or 
the vessel; the number of otters present; duration of interaction; the 
otter's behavior during interaction; measures taken to avoid 
interaction.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.
    Frequency: As necessary.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: 50 CFR 660.520(a).
    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 0648-0566.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2023-00980 Filed 1-18-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P