[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 24 (Monday, February 6, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7689-7690]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-02392]


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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; West Coast Fisheries Participation Survey

    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 2, 2022 (87 FR 19080) 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: West Coast Fisheries Participation Survey.
    OMB Control Number: 0648-0749.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Regular submission (revision and extension of a 
current information collection).
    Number of Respondents: 2,725.
    Average Hours per Response: 15 minutes.
    Total Annual Burden Hours: 227.
    Needs and Uses: This is a request for a revision and extension of a 
currently approved information collection, approved under the authority 
and goals of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management 
Act.
    Fishing livelihoods are both centrally dependent on marine 
ecosystems and part of the set of forces acting on other components of 
these ecosystems, including the ecosystem's resident fish and marine 
species. Alongside social factors like economics and management 
actions, biophysical dynamics within the ecosystems, including 
fisheries population fluctuations, shape fishing livelihoods. However, 
the decisions fishermen make regarding which fisheries to access and 
when to access them are not fully understood, particularly within the 
holistic food web frameworks offered up by ecosystem-based approaches 
to research and management. Moreover, a full understanding and 
predictive capacity for these movements of fishermen across fisheries 
in the context of ecological and social variability presents a 
significant gap in management-oriented knowledge. Managing fisheries in 
a way that enhances their social and economic value, mitigates risks to 
ecosystems and livelihoods, and facilitates sustainable adaptation, 
requires this fundamental knowledge.
    For this reason, the Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC) 
seeks to conduct fisheries participation analyses which involve 
repeated follow-up surveys of United States (U.S.) West Coast 
commercial fishing participants. A U.S. mail survey will be conducted, 
replicating the survey administered during 2017 and 2020, with slight 
changes in questions about direct marketing of catch and community 
infrastructure. The survey will be voluntary, and contacted individuals 
may decline to participate. Respondents will be asked to answer 
questions about their motivations for fishing and other factors that 
affect participation in the suite of West Coast commercial fisheries. 
Fishing employment information will be collected so that responses can 
be organized based on a respondent typology. This survey is essential 
because data on smaller scale fishing practices, values, participation 
decisions and beliefs about fishing livelihoods are sparse; yet, they 
are critical to the development of usable fishery ecosystem models that 
account for non-pecuniary benefits of fishing, as well as the ways in 
which fishing practices shape individual and community well-being.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households.

[[Page 7690]]

    Frequency: One time.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act.
    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 0648-0749.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2023-02392 Filed 2-3-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P