[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 242 (Tuesday, December 19, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 87753-87754]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-27834]


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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; National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Observer Programs' 
Information That Can Be Gathered Only Through Questions

    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 31, 2023 (88 FR 60184) during a 60-day 
comment period. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public 
comments.
    Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Commerce.
    Title: NMFS Observer Programs' Information That Can Be Gathered 
Only Through Questions.
    OMB Control Number: 0648-0593.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Regular submission. Revision and extension of a 
current information collection.
    Number of Respondents: 2,155.
    Average Hours per Response: Northeast Fisheries Observer Program 
and At-Sea Monitors, 117 minutes; North Pacific Groundfish and Halibut 
Observer Program and Processing Plants, 56 minutes; Alaska Marine 
Mammal Observer Program, 15 minutes; West Coast Groundfish Observer 
Program, 31 minutes; Pacific Islands Region Observer Program, 86 
minutes; Southeast Fishery Observer Program, 55 minutes; West Coast 
Region Observer Program, 62 minutes. Information will be collected for 
observed fishing trips and deployments to fish processing plants; 
therefore, there will be multiple responses for some respondents, but 
counted as one response per trip or plant visit.
    Total Annual Burden Hours: 15,728.
    Needs and Uses: This is a request for revision and extension of an 
existing information collection.
    The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) deploys fishery observers on 
United States (U.S.) commercial fishing vessels and to fish processing 
plants in order to collect biological and economic data. NMFS has at 
least one observer program in each of its five Regions. These observer 
programs provide the most reliable and effective method for obtaining 
information that is critical for the conservation and management of 
living marine resources. Observer programs primarily obtain information 
through direct observations by employees or agents of NMFS; and such 
observations are not subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). 
However, observer programs also collect the following information that 
requires clearance under the PRA: (1) Standardized questions of fishing 
vessel captains/crew or fish processing plant managers/staff, which 
include gear and performance questions, safety questions, and trip 
costs, crew size and other economic questions; (2) questions asked by 
observer program staff/contractors to plan observer deployments; (3) 
forms that are completed by observers and that fishing vessel captains 
are asked to review and sign; (4) questionnaires to evaluate observer 
performance; and (5) a form to certify that a fisherman is the permit 
holder when requesting observer data from the observer on the vessel.
    The information collected will be used to: (1) Monitor catch and 
bycatch in federally managed commercial fisheries; (2) understand the 
population status and trends of fish stocks and protected species, as 
well as the interactions between them; (3) determine the quantity and 
distribution of net benefits derived from living marine resources; (4) 
predict the biological, ecological, and economic impacts of existing 
management action and proposed management options; and (5) ensure that 
the observer programs can safely and efficiently collect the 
information required for the previous four uses. In particular, these 
biological and economic data collection programs contribute to legally 
mandated analyses required under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act (MSA), the Endangered Species Act

[[Page 87754]]

(ESA), the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), 
as well as a variety of state statutes. The confidentiality of the data 
will be protected as required by the MSA, Section 402(b).
    This collection will be revised as follows. First is the expansion 
of observers to include an additional fishery. The Southeast region 
will begin sending observers out on Southeast reef fish fishery trips 
and thus needs to add this fishery to this collection. Second, NOAA is 
combining the Southeast observer efforts into one program. The third 
change is the West Coast Groundfish Observer Program (WCGOP) would like 
to start collecting the names of crew members within their observer 
logbooks. The data will be recorded on paper, scanned in, and stored 
according to vessel name. This information will only be accessed if 
there is an enforcement issue. The final change is also within the West 
Coast Groundfish Observer Program. They have introduced a new phone app 
that captains are using to declare upcoming fishing trips and NMFS is 
using to let them know if they have been selected for observer 
coverage. Other observer programs are also working on converting to 
smart phone apps, but they have not yet been implemented.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act (MSA), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), Executive Order 
12866 (E.O. 12866), and the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA).
    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 0648-0593.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Under Secretary for 
Economic Affairs, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2023-27834 Filed 12-18-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P