Justification for Change

JUSTIFICATION FOR CHANGE
FOREIGN FISHING VESSEL PERMITS, VESSEL AND GEAR
IDENTIFICATION, AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
OMB CONTROL NO. 0648-0075
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issues permits, under the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA), to foreign fishing vessels fishing or
operating in U.S. waters. MSA requires vessels be marked for identification purposes and for
permit holders to report their fishing effort and catch or, when processing fish, amount and
locations of fish received from U.S. vessels. These requirements apply to all foreign fishing
vessels fishing, transshipping, or processing fish in U.S. waters. NMFS proposes to modify
OMB Control No. 0648-0075 by merging multiple, related information collections under this
information collection.
NMFS will add the following collections to OMB Control No. 0648-0075 (Foreign Fishing
Reporting Requirements):
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•
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OMB Control No. 0648-0089 (Foreign Fishing Vessel Permit Application),
OMB Control No. 0648-0329 (Foreign Fishing Vessels Operating in Internal Waters),
and
OMB Control No. 0648-0356 (Foreign Fishing Vessel and Gear Identification
Requirements).

These collections will be discontinued once this change request is approved. All of these
collections are related to information from persons who operate a foreign fishing vessel in U.S.
waters to participate in a directed fishery or joint venture operation, transship fish harvested by a
U.S. vessel to a location outside the U.S. or process fish in internal waters. Each person may be
required to submit information for a permit, mark their vessels and gear, or submit information
about their fishing activities. For foreign fishing vessels that process fish in internal waters, the
information collected varies somewhat from other foreign fishing vessels that participate in a
directed fishery or a joint venture operation. In particular, these vessels may not be required to
provide a permit application or mark their vessels.
The merging of the collections will result in the summation of burden estimates into OMB
Control No. 0648-0075.
The respondents, response and burden estimates for OMB Control No. 0648-0075 are currently:
1 respondent, 196 responses, 56 hours, and $212.
The respondents, response and burden estimates for OMB Control No. 0648-0089 are: 7
respondents, 7 responses, 8 hours, and $2,878.
The respondents, response and burden estimates for OMB Control No. 0648-0329 are: 2
respondents, 24 responses, 12 hours, and $72.

The respondents, response and burden estimates for OMB Control No. 0648-0356 are: 8
respondents, 8 responses, 6 hours, and $175.
The new totals of respondents, response and burden estimate for OMB Control No. 0648-0075
will be 8 respondents (unduplicated), 235 responses, 82 hours, and $3,337.