AHMS SS 120310 Part B

SUPPORTING STATEMENT
ATLANTIC HIGHLY MIGRATORY SPECIES
VOLUNTARY RELEASE REPORTS
OMB CONTROL NO. 0648-XXXX

B. COLLECTIONS OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS
(If your collection does not employ statistical methods, just say that and delete the following five
questions from the format.)
1. Describe (including a numerical estimate) the potential respondent universe and any
sampling or other respondent selection method to be used. Data on the number of entities
(e.g. establishments, State and local governmental units, households, or persons) in the
universe and the corresponding sample are to be provided in tabular form. The tabulation
must also include expected response rates for the collection as a whole. If the collection has
been conducted before, provide the actual response rate achieved.
The estimate of the potential respondent universe is 46,229. Assuming a 20 percent response
rate, the estimated annual number of responses would be 9,246, and a breakdown of the
respondents can be seen in the following table. This estimate is described in Question 12 of
Section A above. There are no actual response rates to date, or from previous collections,
because this is a new and different type of collection.
Affected Public
Individuals or Households
Business or other For-profit
Not-for-profit Institutions
Federal Government
State, Local, or Tribal Government
Total

Number of Responses
4,246
3,000
500
1,000
500
9,246

2. Describe the procedures for the collection, including: the statistical methodology for
stratification and sample selection; the estimation procedure; the degree of accuracy
needed for the purpose described in the justification; any unusual problems requiring
specialized sampling procedures; and any use of periodic (less frequent than annual) data
collection cycles to reduce burden.
Data submitted would not necessarily be representative of all possible results, and would not
claim to be; therefore, a statistical methodology is not needed. A NMFS employee would review
each data submission for quality control purposes to avoid posting duplicate entries or
submissions with possible errors. The collection is entirely voluntary; thus, the public can
choose to reduce the reporting burden by deciding not to participate in this collection.

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3. Describe the methods used to maximize response rates and to deal with nonresponse.
The accuracy and reliability of the information collected must be shown to be adequate for
the intended uses. For collections based on sampling, a special justification must be
provided if they will not yield "reliable" data that can be generalized to the universe
studied.
Data collected would not be claimed to be representative of all possible results, and thus
nonresponse bias is moot. Also, there is no practical way of contacting the many people who will
not respond. It is expected that we will receive as many responses as we do, due to the
interactive nature of the HMS release Web map: the general public can populate the map, and
can view the results. All data received would be reviewed by a NMFS employee to determine if
the data is accurate and reliable, by comparing with catch and catch/release data from other
reports, before it is posted on the Web map. All data that is determined to be not accurate and/or
reliable would not be used to populate the Web map.
4. Describe any tests of procedures or methods to be undertaken. Tests are encouraged as
effective means to refine collections, but if ten or more test respondents are involved OMB
must give prior approval.
No tests were conducted for this collection.
5. Provide the name and telephone number of individuals consulted on the statistical
aspects of the design, and the name of the agency unit, contractor(s), grantee(s), or other
person(s) who will actually collect and/or analyze the information for the agency.
The contact information for the collection and analysis of the information in this collection is as
follows:
NMFS Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Management Division (SF1)
1315 East West Highway (SSMC 3)
Silver Spring, MD 20910
POC: Peter Cooper
Phone: 301-713-2347 x112
Email: [email protected]

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