Change justification for online transfer of quota requirement

CHANGE REQUEST

WESTERN ALASKA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT QUOTA PROGRAM

OMB CONTROL NO. 0648-0269

The Western Alaska Community Development Quota (CDQ) Program is an economic development program associated with federally managed fisheries in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (BSAI). The purposes of the CDQ Program are to provide western Alaska communities the opportunity to participate and invest in BSAI fisheries, to support economic development in western Alaska, to alleviate poverty and provide economic and social benefits for residents of western Alaska, and to achieve sustainable and diversified local economies in western Alaska. The Program is implemented under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act as amended in 2006, the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area, and regulations at 50 CFR part 679.

The CDQ Program receives apportionments of the annual catch limits for a variety of commercially valuable species in the BSAI. These allocations are in turn allocated among six different non-profit managing organizations representing different affiliations of 65 different Western Alaska communities. CDQ groups use the revenue derived from the harvest of their fisheries allocations as a basis both for funding economic development activities and for providing employment opportunities.

This collection-of-information is revised to require online submittal as the only method for transfer requests of quota by CDQ groups.  The purpose of this action is to reduce paperwork burdens placed on industry.  Industry requested the option to submit transfer requests electronically in order to react quickly to changing conditions and to realize harvesting efficiencies.  When using the online submittal method, the respondent must enter the NMFS Person ID, password, and Transfer Key, previously provided by NMFS, instead of name, address, telephone number, fax number, and email address.  These three pieces of information are provided by NMFS after an applicant is approved for participation in the CDQ Program. The transfer application will be available at http://www.alaskafisheries.noaa.gov.

In order for an inter-CDQ group transfer to be approved, both parties must be already established and recognized by NMFS as a CDQ group prior to the transfer. This action provides for CDQ groups to transfer groundfish CDQ, halibut CDQ, and prohibited species quota (PSQ) online from one CDQ group to another, instead of each group submitting a transfer request directly to NMFS. Rather than NMFS reviewing each request prior to transfer to ensure that the group providing CDQ has adequate quota available to transfer, this check would be done automatically by NMFS’ catch accounting system. The CDQ or PSQ would be transferred as of the date NMFS approves the transfer request. Transfers will continue to be effective only for the remainder of the calendar year in which a transfer occurs. Six CDQ groups are in the CDQ Program, and all six have the hardware and software to accomplish online transfers.

Providing the CDQ groups with an online opportunity for transfers reduces the burden and cost for participants and increases accuracy of the data and efficiency of the process. This change results in a $106 decrease in total respondent miscellaneous cost: $479 down from $585. It also results in a 12 hr decrease in total respondent burden: 2,221 down from 2,233 hr; and a $300 decrease in total personnel costs: $207,725 down from $208,025.

The NMFS Alaska Region will submit a proposed rule, RIN 0648-AW56, Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Western Alaska Community Development Quota Program, Rockfish Program, the Amendment 80 Program, and the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization Program, coincident with this submission, requesting comments from the public.

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