Gear-marking requirements will assist
NMFS in obtaining detailed information about which fisheries or
specific parts of fishing gear are responsible for the incidental
mortality and serious injury of right, humpback, and fin whales.
Generally, only a portion of gear is recovered from an entangled
whale and it is almost impossible to link that portion of gear to a
particular fishery. Therefore, requiring fishermen to mark surface
buoys and the buoy line will provide NMFS with an additional source
of information, which could then be used to determine the gear
responsible for and the location of the entanglement event. The
following fisheries will be affected by this information
collection: Northeast and Mid-Atlantic lobster trap/pot fisheries;
Atlantic blue crab trap/pot fisheries; Atlantic mixed species
trap/pot fisheries targeting crab (red, Jonah, and rock), hagfish,
finfish (black sea bass, scup, tautog, cod, haddock, pollock,
redfish, and white hake), conch/whelk, and shrimp; Northeast
anchored gillnet; Northeast drift gillnet; Mid-Atlantic gillnet;
Southeast Atlantic gillnet; and Southeastern U.S. Atlantic shark
gillnet.
US Code:
16 USC
31 Name of Law: Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972
Hours and costs will increase
due to additional gear marking requirements. NOTE: this revision
replaces the ICR submitted with the proposed rule. That revision
was withdrawn, pending IC requirement changes in the final
rule.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.