ARAF ss rev 071110

SUPPORTING STATEMENT
ALASKAN REGION
AMERICAN FISHERIES ACT (AFA) REPORTS
OMB CONTROL NO. 0648-NEW

INTRODUCTION
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) manages the groundfish fisheries in the Exclusive
Economic Zone (EEZ) off Alaska. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council prepared the
Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands
Management Area under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act, 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. (Magnuson-Stevens Act). The FMP is implemented
under regulations at 50 CFR part 679.
This collection-of-information supports the Chinook Salmon Bycatch Program (Program), a new
program created for the management of Chinook salmon prohibited species catch (PSC) in the
Bering Sea pollock fishery managed under the American Fisheries Act (AFA). The Program is
implemented under Amendment 91 to the FMP. This collection-of-information will be merged
into the Office of Management and Budget (OMB Control No. 0648-0401) as soon as possible.
JUSTIFICATION
1. Explain the circumstances that make the collection-of-information necessary.
The Program is established to promote reduction of Chinook salmon PSC in the Bering Sea
pollock fishery to the extent practicable while achieving optimum yield in the pollock fishery.
The focus of the Program is the Bering Sea pollock fishery because this trawl fishery catches up
to 95 percent of the Chinook salmon taken as PSC in the Bering Strait/Aleutian Islands (BSAI)
groundfish fisheries. Non-Chinook salmon PSC reduction measures will also remain in effect.
2. Explain how, by whom, how frequently, and for what purpose the information will be
used. If the information collected will be disseminated to the public or used to support
information that will be disseminated to the public, then explain how the collection
complies with applicable NOAA Information Quality Guidelines.
This information collection is necessary to obtain information that the industry is required to
submit if they participate in an Inter-cooperative Agreement (ICA) for management of nonChinook salmon (under Amendment 84) or an Incentive Plan Agreement (IPA) for the
management of Chinook salmon (under Amendment 91). Participation in both the ICA and the
IPA is voluntary. Industry members who participate in an approved ICA or an approved IPA are
either provided exemptions to certain other salmon bycatch management measures or are
provided access to a higher salmon PSC limit. In addition, information gathered through the
annual reports on these programs is necessary for the Council to evaluate these salmon bycatch
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management measures and to provide the public with information about how the programs
operate and bycatch reduction under these programs.
a. Non-Chinook Salmon Bycatch Reduction ICA
Amendment 84 to the FMP established the ICA which allows vessels participating in the Bering
Sea pollock fishery to utilize their internal cooperative structure to reduce Chinook and nonChinook salmon bycatch using a method called the voluntary rolling hotspot system (VRHS).
Through the VRHS, industry members provide each other real-time salmon bycatch information
so that they can avoid areas of high Chinook or non-Chinook salmon bycatch rates. With the
implementation of Amendment 91, non-Chinook salmon will continue to be managed under the
VRHS ICA, but Chinook salmon bycatch will be removed from that program and managed
instead under new regulations, which provide pollock industry members with the option of
joining an “incentive plan agreement” or IPA.
The ICA is a salmon bycatch management agreement among all of the AFA pollock cooperatives
and the Western Alaska Community Development Quota (CDQ) groups. The agreement is a
private, contractual agreement between the interested parties. The effectiveness of the Program
through the ICA is dependent upon rapidly gathering, analyzing, and disseminating accurate
bycatch data.
Once a non-Chinook salmon bycatch reduction ICA is approved by NMFS, it is not required to
be resubmitted annually and is only required to be resubmitted to NMFS if components of the
ICA covered by NMFS regulations are amended. The initial ICA was approved in January 2008
and NMFS has not received any amendments or revisions to the approved ICA since that date.
Although the ICA representative would not be required to resubmit the ICA when Amendment
91 is implemented in 2011, he or she may choose to do so because of changes made to the ICA
as a result of removing Chinook salmon from the ICA.
Non-Chinook Salmon Bycatch Reduction ICA
Participants
Names of the AFA cooperatives and CDQ groups
Name, business mailing address, business telephone number, business fax number, and business email address
of the ICA representative.
Name of entity retained to facilitate vessel PSC avoidance behavior and information sharing.
Name of at least one third party group. Third party groups include any organizations representing western
Alaskans who depend on non-Chinook salmon and have an interest in non-Chinook salmon PSC reduction
but do not directly fish in a groundfish fishery.
Vessel information
Names, Federal fisheries permit numbers, and USCG documentation numbers of vessels subject to the ICA
Provisions that dictate on-Chinook salmon PSC avoidance behaviors for vessel operators
Initial base rate
Inseason adjustments to the non-Chinook base rate calculation
ICA chum salmon savings area notices.
Fishing restrictions for vessels assigned to tiers 1, 2, and 3
Cooperative tier assignments.
PSC rates for Chinook salmon
Internal monitoring and enforcement
Provisions allowing any party of the ICA to bring civil suit or initiate a binding arbitration action against

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another for breach of the ICA.
Minimum annual uniform assessments for any violation of savings area closures
$10,000 for the first offense, $15,000 for the second offense, and $20,000 for each offense thereafter.
Annual compliance audit
Must be conducted by a non-party entity
Each party must have an opportunity to participate in selecting the non-party entity.
If the non-party entity hired to conduct a compliance audit discovers a previously undiscovered failure to
comply with the terms of the ICA, the non-party entity must notify all parties to the ICA and must
simultaneously distribute to all ICA parties the information used to determine the failure
Must include such notice(s) in the compliance report.
Data dissemination
If the entity retained to facilitate vessel PSC avoidance behavior and information sharing determines that an
apparent violation of an ICA chum salmon savings area closure has occurred, that entity must promptly
notify the Board of Directors of the cooperative to which the vessel involved belongs. If this Board of
Directors fails to assess a minimum uniform assessment within 180 days of receiving the notice, the
information used by the entity to determine if an apparent violation was committed must be disseminated to
all parties to the ICA.

Non-Chinook ICA, Respondent
Estimated number of respondents
AFA cooperatives
CDQ groups
Total annual responses
Estimated responses per respondent = 1
Total burden hours
Estimated hours per response = 40
Total personnel cost
Personnel cost per hour = 150
Total miscellaneous costs (1.82)
Photocopy (10 pp x .05 x 1=0.50)
Postage (1.32 x 1 = 1.32)
Non-Chinook ICA, Federal Government
Estimated number of respondents
Total annual responses
Estimated responses per respondent = 1
Total burden hours
Estimated hours per response = 10
Total personnel cost
Personnel cost per hour = 75
Total miscellaneous costs

1

1
40 hr
$6,000
$2

1
1
10 hr
$750
0

b. Non-Chinook Salmon ICA annual report
The non-Chinook salmon ICA annual report is a new annual report that is created by removing
several reporting requirements from the AFA cooperatives’ annual report to the Council that
were implemented under Amendment 84 and requiring them to be submitted as a single separate
report annual report submitted by the ICA representative. These reports provide information
about the performance of the non-Chinook salmon ICA as a whole. The ICA annual reports
submitted to the Council in previous years are available on the Alaska Region website at:
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http://www.alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/sustainablefisheries/afa/afa_sf.htm
The ICA representative must submit the ICA annual report to the Council by April 1. This
deadline would coincide with the deadline for the other AFA annual reporting requirements and
would allow the Council to discuss any of these annual reports at one time at its April Council
meeting.
The Council makes the annual report available to the public, and the report is posted on the
NMFS Alaska Region website at http://alaskafisheries.gov.
The ICA annual report must contain the following:
♦ Estimated number of Chinook salmon and non-Chinook salmon avoided as demonstrated
by the movement of fishing effort away from chum salmon savings areas, and
♦ The results of the compliance audit
While calculating the number of salmon avoided cannot be done with absolute precision, an
estimate will be provided for purposes of comparison with number of salmon caught by the fleet
under the new system. This will be accomplished by calculating the number of salmon that the
fleet would have caught in each “hot spot” had that area remained open for the time period of the
voluntary hot spot closure. This is based upon the bycatch rate just prior to enactment of the
closure and multiplied out by the cooperative’s vessels restricted from the area for the time
period of the closure according to their individual tier classification.
Non-Chinook ICA final report, Respondent
Estimated number of respondents
Total annual responses
Estimated responses per respondent = 1
Total burden hours
Estimated hours per response = 4
Total personnel cost
Personnel cost per hour =25
Total miscellaneous costs (1.82)
Photocopy (10 pg x .05 x 1 = 0.50)
Postage (1.32 x 1 = 1.32)

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1
1
4
$100
$2

Non-Chinook ICA final report, Federal Government
Total annual responses
Total burden hours
Estimated hours per response = 1 hr
Total personnel cost
Personnel cost per hour = 25
Total miscellaneous cost

1
1
$25
0

c. Application for an Incentive Plan Agreement (IPA) and List of IPA Participants
An IPA is a private contract among vessel owners or Community Development Quota (CDQ)
groups that establishes incentives for participants to reduce Chinook salmon bycatch. The
parties to an IPA, or the people who would sign the contract, would be the owners of AFA
eligible catcher vessels, catcher/processors, or motherships, or the representatives of CDQ
groups. The proposed rule would allow the representative of an AFA cooperative or a sectorlevel entity formed under Amendment 91 to sign an IPA on behalf of all vessel owners that are
members of that inshore cooperative or sector-level entity.
If NMFS approves at least one IPA, those participating in an IPA would receive an allocation of
the 60,000 Chinook salmon PSC limit. Those not participating in an IPA would be considered to
be “opting-out” of an IPA and would fish under a lower allocation of Chinook salmon. CDQ
groups may participate in an IPA with members of the other AFA sectors or they may develop an
IPA that applies only to vessels while they are fishing on behalf of a CDQ group. Vessel and
CDQ group participation in an IPA would be voluntary.
The owners of all vessels that are members of the entity may authorize a representative or agent
for service of process to sign a proposed IPA submitted to NMFS on their behalf and who is
authorized to receive and respond to any legal process issued in the United States with respect to
all owners and operators of vessels that are members of the sector. This provision must be
included in the contract submitted to NMFS to authorize the representative to sign a proposed
IPA on behalf of the members of the entity.
The deadline for an application for approval of a proposed IPA is October 1 of the year prior to
the year in which the IPA is proposed to be effective. This deadline is necessary to allow enough
time for NMFS to review the proposed IPA and to issue a decision on its approval or disapproval
prior to the start of the next fishing year.
NMFS will assign an IPA number to the approved IPA. This number must be used by the IPA
representative in amendments to the IPA or on the annual list of IPA participants. Proposed
amendments to an approved IPA may be submitted. Participation in an approved IPA may
change each year without requiring resubmission of the terms of the approved IPA, as long as
those terms have not changed. Participants may not apply to withdraw from an IPA or join an
IPA after December 1 of the year before each fishing year.
A critical element of Amendment 91 and the system of IPAs permitted by that action is the
latitude those measures provide to industry to address Chinook PSC. The IPAs are intended to
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allow flexibility to industry to develop innovative incentives to constrain Chinook PSC. In
providing that flexibility, it is important that industry also provide information that can be used
to verify the effectiveness of their actions.
The list of participants in an IPA must be submitted to NMFS:
♦ As part of the original IPA by October 1 of the year prior to the proposed fishing year.
♦ Separately by November 1 of each year following the year in which the IPA was
approved and for as long as the IPA is in effect. The annual list of participants in an IPA is
considered an amendment to an IPA.
The subsequent annual submission of the IPA list of participants will provide information about
the IPA membership; whether it is constant or whether it is changing, with participant(s) leaving
or joining the IPA effective January 1 of the following year.
The annual list of participants in the IPA must include the signature of any vessel owner or
representative of a CDQ group that is withdrawing from the IPA. The signature and a statement
to agree to comply with the terms of the IPA must be provided for any vessel owner or CDQ
group joining an already approved IPA.
The annual IPA list of participants is considered approved by NMFS unless the IPA
representative is notified by NMFS within 15 days of receipt of the list that a revision(s) to the
list of participants would cause the IPA to no longer meet the minimum participation
requirements.
NMFS would post a copy of any proposed IPA on its website so that the public is informed that a
proposed IPA is under review.
Application for an Incentive Plan Agreement (IPA) and List of IPA Participants
Type of application
IPA Name and number (issued by NMFS)
IPA contact information
Name of IPA representative and name of Agent for service of process (if different from representative)
Permanent and temporary (if applicable) business mailing address
Business telephone number, business fax number, and business e-mail address
Vessel identification
Name of vessel
ADF&G vessel registration number
Federal fisheries permit number
Attachment – Incentive Plan Agreement
Incentive(s) to ensure that the operator of each vessel governed by the IPA will avoid Chinook salmon
at all times while directed fishing for pollock;
Rewards for avoiding Chinook salmon, penalties for failure to avoid Chinook salmon at the vessel level,
or both;
How the IPA incentive measures are expected to promote reductions in a vessel’s PSC rates
relative to what would have occurred in absence of the IPA;
How the IPA incentive measures promote Chinook salmon savings in any condition of pollock abundance or
Chinook salmon abundance in a manner that is expected to influence operational decisions by vessel

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operators to avoid Chinook salmon PSC; and
How the IPA ensures that the operator of each vessel governed by the IPA will manage his or her PSC
to keep total PSC below the performance standard for the sector in which the vessel participates.
Names and signatures of the owner or representative for each vessel and CDQ entity that is a party to
the IPA. (Representative of an inshore cooperative, or the representative of the entity formed to
represent the AFA catcher/processor sector or the AFA mothership sector, may sign a proposed IPA on
behalf of all vessels that are members of that inshore cooperative or sector level entity.)
Chinook Salmon IPA, Respondent
Estimated number of respondents
Total annual responses
Response per respondent = 2
Total burden hours
Time per response = 40 hr
Total personnel cost = $150/hr
Total miscellaneous cost (7.28)
Photocopy (10 pp x .05 x 4 = 2)
Postage (1.32 x 4 = 5.28)
Chinook Salmon IPA, Federal Government
Total annual responses
Total burden hours
Time per response = 10 hr
Total personnel cost = $75
Total miscellaneous cost

2
4
160
$24,000
$7

4
40 hr
$3,000
0

d. Chinook Salmon IPA annual report
Each IPA representative would be required to submit an annual report to the Council by April 1
each year after the first full year of operation of an IPA. If an IPA is approved for 2011, the
Council would receive the first annual report on this IPA by April 1, 2012. The annual IPA
report would be the primary tool through which the Council would evaluate the effectiveness of
the ICA concept in reducing Chinook salmon bycatch in the Bering Sea pollock fishery.
Chinook Salmon IPA Annual Report
Incentive measures in effect in the previous year.
How incentive measures affected individual vessels, and
Evaluation of whether incentive measures were effective in achieving salmon savings beyond levels
that would have been achieved in absence of the measures.
Describe amendments to the IPA terms that were approved by NMFS since the last annual report and
the reasons that the IPA amendments were made.

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Annual IPA report, Respondent
Estimated number of respondents
Total annual responses
Response per respondent = 1
Total burden hours
Time per response = 8 hr
Total personnel cost = 75
Total miscellaneous costs (4.64)
Photocopy (10 pg x .10 x 2 = 2)
Postage ($1.32 x 2 = 2.64)
Annual IPA report, Federal Government
Total annual responses
Total burden hours = 1
Total personnel cost = 25
Total miscellaneous cost

2
2
16
$1,200
$5

2
2
$50
0

It is anticipated that the information collected will be disseminated to the public or used to
support publicly disseminated information. As explained in the preceding paragraphs, the
information gathered has utility. NOAA Fisheries will retain control over the information and
safeguard it from improper access, modification, and destruction, consistent with NOAA
standards for confidentiality, privacy, and electronic information. See Question 10 of this
Supporting Statement for more information on confidentiality and privacy. The information
collection is designed to yield data that meet all applicable information quality guidelines. Prior
to dissemination, the information will be subjected to quality control measures and a predissemination review pursuant to Section 515 of Public Law 106-554.
3. Describe whether, and to what extent, the collection of information involves the use of
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological techniques or other forms of
information technology.
The “fillable” form for the IPA application is available at the NMFS Alaska Region Home Page
at alaskafisheries.noaa.gov for downloading, completing and printing. Other submissions consist
of multiple documents. Documents may be sent by U.S. mail, fax, or as an attachment to an
email, except that the ICA and the plan attached to the IPA application require signatures, and
therefore these two sets of documents must be sent by mail.
4. Describe efforts to identify duplication.
None of the information collected as part of this information collection duplicates other
collections. This information collection is part of a specialized and technical program that is not
like any other.

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5. If the collection of information involves small businesses or other small entities, describe
the methods used to minimize burden.
The proposed action applies only to those entities that participate in the directed pollock trawl
fishery in the Bering Sea. The only small entities that are directly regulated by this action are the
six western Alaska CDQ organizations, and the impact is not significant.
6. Describe the consequences to the Federal program or policy activities if the collection is
not conducted or is conducted less frequently.
The purpose of the proposed action is to minimize Chinook salmon PSC to the extent practicable
while achieving optimum yield from the pollock fishery. The proposed action is necessary to
ensure long-term conservation and abundance of salmon, maintain a healthy marine ecosystem,
provide maximum benefit to fishermen and communities that depend on salmon and pollock, and
comply with the Magnuson–Stevens Act. If the information were not collected annually, NMFS
would be unable to achieve these goals.
7. Explain any special circumstances that require the collection to be conducted in a
manner inconsistent with OMB guidelines.
No special circumstances exist.
8. Provide information on the PRA Federal Register Notice that solicited public comments
on the information collection prior to this submission. Summarize the public comments
received in response to that notice and describe the actions taken by the agency in response
to those comments. Describe the efforts to consult with persons outside the agency to
obtain their views on the availability of data, frequency of collection, the clarity of
instructions and recordkeeping, disclosure, or reporting format (if any), and on the data
elements to be recorded, disclosed, or reported.
NMFS Alaska Region will submit a proposed rule (RIN 0648-AX89) coincident with this
submission, requesting comments from the public.
9. Explain any decisions to provide payments or gifts to respondents, other than
remuneration of contractors or grantees.
No payment or gift is provided under this program.
10. Assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents and the basis for this assurance in
statute, regulation, or agency policy.
All information collections by NMFS Alaska region are protected under confidentiality
provisions of section 402(b) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. It is also confidential under NOAA
Administrative Order 216-100, which sets forth procedures to protect confidentiality of fishery
statistics. However, none of the information in the applications, contracts, or reports submitted
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under this collection of information contains confidential business information. All of the
information in the ICA, IPA, and annual reports will be posted on the NMFS Alaska Region
webpage and made available to the public.
11. Provide additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual
behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered
private.
This information collection does not involve information of a sensitive nature.
12. Provide an estimate in hours of the burden of the collection of information.
Estimated total respondents: 3. Estimated total responses: 8. Estimated total burden: 220 hr.
Estimated total personnel costs: $31,300.
13. Provide an estimate of the total annual cost burden to the respondents or recordkeepers resulting from the collection (excluding the value of the burden hours in Question
12 above).
Estimated total miscellaneous costs: $16.
14. Provide estimates of annualized cost to the Federal government.
Estimated total burden: 53 hr. Estimated total personnel cost: $3,825. Estimated total
miscellaneous cost: $0.
15. Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments.
This is a new program.
16. For collections whose results will be published, outline the plans for tabulation and
publication.
NMFS will make all of the proposed, approved, and disapproved Chinook Salmon IPAs and the
IPA list of participants in each approved or disapproved IPA available to the public on the
Alaska Region website. The Council will make the IPA annual report and ICA annual report
available to the public.
17. If seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the
information collection, explain the reasons why display would be inappropriate.
Not applicable.
18. Explain each exception to the certification statement.
Not applicable.

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B. COLLECTIONS OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS
This collection does not employ statistical methods.

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