Justification for change

JUSTIFICATION FOR CHANGE
ANNUAL ECONOMIC SURVEY OF FEDERAL SOUTH ATLANTIC
SHRIMP PERMIT HOLDERS
OMB CONTROL NO. 0648-0591

Request:
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Southeast Region would like to merge two
related data collections into one (with no content-related changes): OMB Control No. 06480476, Southeast Region Office Socioeconomic Survey of Gulf Shrimp Fishermen into 06480591, “Annual Economic Survey of Federal South Atlantic Shrimp Permit Holders.” The
resulting collection would be renamed: Annual Economic Survey of Federal Gulf and South
Atlantic Shrimp Permit Holders. Once this merger is approved, OMB Control No. 0648-0476
would be discontinued.
Background:
In 2007, NMFS initiated a new annual economic data collection for the federal shrimp fishery in
the Gulf of Mexico (a revision of OMB Control No. 0648-0476). If selected, participation in the
survey is a requirement for permit renewal. At the time, the federal shrimp fishery in the South
Atlantic was excluded from the data collection due to a lack of authority to make the collection
mandatory. As part of the Amendment 7 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Shrimp Fishery
of the South Atlantic Region, this authority was granted in 2009, and a new data collection
authorized (OMB Control No. 0648-0591). Effectively, the South Atlantic data collection is an
extension of the Gulf survey to the South Atlantic population, as the two data collections will be
implemented together by the Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC). The strong link and
similarities between the South Atlantic and Gulf fleets are exemplified by the large number of
vessels holding permits for both fisheries. Of the 694 vessels with South Atlantic shrimp permits,
293 vessels also possess a Gulf shrimp permit.
Reporting burden:
The Gulf survey (OMB Control No. 0648-0476) is authorized for 600 responses annually.
The South Atlantic survey (OMB Control No. 0648-0591) is authorized for 200 responses
annually.
The new combined collection---with the OMB Control No. 0648-0591---would collect up to 800
responses per year.
The public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 45 minutes
per response. Thus the new combined data collection will create an estimated annual burden of
up to 600 hours (45/60 minutes x 800).
There are no recordkeeping/reporting costs for either survey, so there will be none in this
combined information collection.