30-Day Notice

Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 238 / Wednesday, December 10, 2008 / Notices
information from public review, we
cannot guarantee that we will be able to
do so.
Dated: November 6, 2008
Hope Grey,
Information Collection Clearance Officer,
Fish and Wildlife Service.
FR Doc. E8–29138 Filed 12–9–08; 8:45 am
BILLING CODE 4310–55–S

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R5-FHC-2008-N0330] [51320-13340000 L4]

Information Collection Sent to the
Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) for Approval; OMB Control
Number 1018-0127; Horseshoe Crab
Tagging Program
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

SUMMARY: We (Fish and Wildlife
Service) have sent an Information
Collection Request (ICR) to OMB for
review and approval. The ICR, which is
summarized below, describes the nature
of the collection and the estimated
burden and cost. This ICR is scheduled
to expire on December 31, 2008. We
may not conduct or sponsor and a
person is not required to respond to a
collection of information unless it
displays a currently valid OMB control
number. However, under OMB
regulations, we may continue to
conduct or sponsor this information
collection while it is pending at OMB.
DATES: You must send comments on or
before January 9, 2009.
ADDRESSES: Send your comments and
suggestions on this ICR to the Desk
Officer for the Department of the
Interior at OMB-OIRA at (202) 395-6566
(fax) or [email protected]
(e-mail). Please provide a copy of your
comments to Hope Grey, Information
Collection Clearance Officer, Fish and
Wildlife Service, MS 222-ARLSQ, 4401
Number of annual
respondents

Activity

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FWS Form 3-2310 ...................................................................
FWS Form 3-2311 ...................................................................
Totals ................................................................................

*Average time required per response
is dependent on the number of tags
applied by an agency in 1 year.
Agencies tag between 25 and 9,000
horseshoe crabs annually, taking
between 2 to 5 minutes per crab to tag.
Each agency determines the number of
tags it will apply.
Abstract: Horseshoe crabs play a vital
role commercially, biomedically, and
ecologically along the Atlantic coast.
Horseshoe crabs are commercially
harvested and used as bait in eel and
conch fisheries. Biomedical companies
along the coast also collect and bleed
horseshoe crabs at their facilities.
Limulus Amoebocyte Lysate is derived
from crab blood, which has no synthetic
substitute, and is used by
pharmaceutical companies to test
sterility of products. Finally, migratory
shorebirds also depend on the eggs of
horseshoe crabs to refuel on their
migrations from South America to the
Arctic. One bird in particular, the red
knot, feeds primarily on horseshoe crab
eggs during its stopover. That bird is
under a status review for listing under
the Endangered Species Act.
In 1998, the Atlantic States Marine
Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), a
management organization with
representatives from each State on the

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To
request additional information about
this ICR, contact Hope Grey by mail or
e-mail (see ADDRESSES) or by
telephone at (703) 358–2482.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
OMB Control Number: 1018-0127.
Title: Horseshoe Crab Tagging
Program.
Service Form Number(s): FWS Forms
3-2310 and 3-2311.
Type of Request: Extension of
currently approved collection.
Affected Public: Tagging agencies
include Federal and State agencies,
universities, and biomedical companies.
Members of the general public provide
recapture information.
Respondent’s Obligation: Voluntary.
Frequency of Collection: On occasion.
When horseshoe crabs are tagged and
when horseshoe crabs are found or
captured.

1,500
10
1,510

Atlantic Coast, developed a horseshoe
crab management plan. The ASMFC
plan and its subsequent addenda
established mandatory State-by-State
harvest quotas, and created the 1,500
square mile Carl N. Shuster, Jr.
Horseshoe Crab Sanctuary off the mouth
of Delaware Bay.
Although restrictive measures have
been taken in recent years, populations
are not showing immediate increases.
Because horseshoe crabs do not breed
until they are 9 years or older, it may
take some time before the population
measurably increases. Federal and State
agencies, universities, and biomedical
companies participate in a Horseshoe
Crab Cooperative Tagging Program. The
Maryland Fishery Resources Office, Fish
and Wildlife Service, maintains the
information that we collect under this
program and uses it to evaluate
migratory patterns, survival, and
abundance of horseshoe crabs.
Agencies that tag and release the crabs
complete FWS Form 3-2311 (Horseshoe
Crab Tagging) and provide the Service
with:
(1) Organization name.
(2) Contact person name.
(3) Tag number.
(4) Sex of crab.
(5) Prosomal width.

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North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA
22203 (mail) or [email protected] (email).

Number of annual
responses

500
10
510

75125

Completion time
per response
10 minutes .......
73 hours* .........
.....................

Annual burden
hours
250
730
980

(6) Capture site, latitude, longitude,
waterbody, State, and date.
Members of the public who recover
tagged crabs provide the following
information using FWS Form 3-2310
(Horseshoe Crab Recapture Report):
(1) Tag number.
(2) Whether or not tag was removed.
(3) Whether or not the tag was circular
or square.
(4) Condition of crab.
(5) Date captured/found.
(6) Crab fate.
(7) Finder type.
(8) Capture method.
(9) Capture location.
(10) Reporter information.
(11) Comments.
If the public participant who reports
the tagged crab requests information, we
send data pertaining to the tagging
program and tag and release information
on the horseshoe crab he/she found or
captured.
Comments: On June 24, 2008, we
published in the Federal Register (73
FR 35705) a notice of our intent to
request that OMB renew this ICR. In that
notice, we solicited comments for 60
days, ending on August 25, 2008. We
received one comment. The commenter
did not address the necessity, clarity, or
accuracy of the information collection,

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Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 238 / Wednesday, December 10, 2008 / Notices

but did oppose the use of horseshoe
crabs by biomedical companies and
proposed a ban on the use of horseshoe
crabs for any purpose. We have not
made any changes to our information
collection as a result of the comment.
We again invite comments concerning
this information collection on:
(1) Whether or not the collection of
information is necessary, including
whether or not the information will
have practical utility;
(2) The accuracy of our estimate of the
burden for this collection of
information;
(3) Ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and
(4) Ways to minimize the burden of
the collection of information on
respondents.
Comments that you submit in
response to this notice are a matter of
public record. Before including your
address, phone number, e-mail address,
or other personal identifying
information in your comment, you
should be aware that your entire
comment, including your personal
identifying information, may be made
publicly available at any time. While
you can ask OMB in your comment to
withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we
cannot guarantee that it will be done.
Dated: November 18, 2008
Hope Grey,
Information Collection Clearance Officer,
Fish and Wildlife Service.
FR Doc. E8–29139 Filed 12–9–08; 08:45 am
BILLING CODE 4310–55–S

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R9-MB-2008-N0325] [91200-123100AP-M4]

Information Collection Sent to the
Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) for Approval; OMB Control
Number 1018-0019; North American
Woodcock Singing Ground Survey

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AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
SUMMARY: We (Fish and Wildlife
Service) have sent an Information
Collection Request (ICR) to OMB for
review and approval. The ICR, which is
summarized below, describes the nature
of the collection and the estimated
burden and cost. This ICR is scheduled
to expire on December 31, 2008. We
may not conduct or sponsor and a
person is not required to respond to a

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16:49 Dec 09, 2008

Jkt 217001

collection of information unless it
displays a currently valid OMB control
number. However, under OMB
regulations, we may continue to
conduct or sponsor this information
collection while it is pending at OMB.
DATES: You must send comments on or
before January 9, 2009.
ADDRESSES: Send your comments and
suggestions on this ICR to the Desk
Officer for the Department of the
Interior at OMB-OIRA at (202) 395-6566
(fax) or [email protected]
(e-mail). Please provide a copy of your
comments to Hope Grey, Information
Collection Clearance Officer, Fish and
Wildlife Service, MS 222-ARLSQ, 4401
North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA
22203 (mail) or [email protected] (email).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To
request additional information about
this ICR, contact Hope Grey by mail or
e-mail (see ADDRESSES) or by
telephone at (703) 358–2482.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: OMB
Control Number: 1018-0019.
Title: North American Woodcock
Singing Ground Survey.
Service Form Number(s): 3-156.
Type of Request: Extension of
currently approved collection.
Affected Public: State, Provincial,
local, and tribal employees.
Respondent’s Obligation: Voluntary.
Frequency of Collection: Annually.
Estimated Annual Number of
Responses: 680.
Estimated Total Annual Burden
Hours: 1,206 hours. We believe 544
persons (80 percent of the respondents)
will enter data electronically, with an
average reporting burden of 1.8 hours
per respondent. For all other
respondents, we estimate the reporting
burden to be 1.67 hours per respondent.
Abstract: The Migratory Bird Treaty
Act (16 U.S.C. 703-712) and Fish and
Wildlife Act of 1956 (16 U.S.C. 742a 754j-2) designate the Department of the
Interior as the primary agency
responsible for:
(1) Wise management of migratory
bird populations frequenting the United
States, and
(2) Setting hunting regulations that
allow for the well-being of migratory
bird populations.
These responsibilities dictate that we
gather accurate data on various
characteristics of migratory bird
populations.
The North American Woodcock
Singing Ground Survey is an essential
part of the migratory bird management
program. State, Federal, Provincial,
local, and tribal conservation agencies
conduct the survey annually to provide

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the data necessary to determine the
population status of the woodcock. In
addition, the information is vital in
assessing the relative changes in the
geographic distribution of the
woodcock. We use the information
primarily to develop recommendations
for hunting regulations. Without
information on the population’s status,
we might promulgate hunting
regulations that (1) are not sufficiently
restrictive, which could cause harm to
the woodcock population, or (2) are too
restrictive, which would unduly restrict
recreational opportunities afforded by
woodcock hunting. The Service, State
conservation agencies, university
associates, and other interested parties
use the data for various research and
management projects.
Comments: On July 24, 2008, we
published in the Federal Register (73
FR 43254) a notice of our intent to
request that OMB renew this ICR. In that
notice, we solicited comments for 60
days, ending on September 22, 2008. We
received one comment. The commenter
expressed opposition to hunting and to
the Government, but did not address the
information collection requirements. We
did not make any changes to our
information collection requirements.
We again invite comments concerning
this information collection on:
(1) Whether or not the collection of
information is necessary, including
whether or not the information will
have practical utility;
(2) The accuracy of our estimate of the
burden for this collection of
information;
(3) Ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and
(4) Ways to minimize the burden of
the collection of information on
respondents.
Comments that you submit in
response to this notice are a matter of
public record. Before including your
address, phone number, e-mail address,
or other personal identifying
information in your comment, you
should be aware that your entire
comment, including your personal
identifying information, may be made
publicly available at any time. While
you can ask OMB in your comment to
withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we
cannot guarantee that it will be done.
Dated: November 26, 2008
Hope Grey,
Information Collection Clearance Officer,
Fish and Wildlife Service.
FR Doc. E8–29140 Filed 12–9–08; 8:45 am
BILLING CODE 4310–55–S

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10DEN1