Justification for change

JUSTIFICATION FOR CHANGE

ALASKA PROHIBITED SPECIES DONATION (PSD) PROGRAM

OMB CONTROL NUMBER 0648-0316

Change: Add stationary floating processor (SFP) as participant in the PSD Program (associated with a final rule, RIN 0648 BB24).

The Prohibited Species Donation (PSD) Program was initiated to reduce the amount of edible protein discarded under prohibited species catch (PSC) regulatory requirements (§ 679.21). If a person is a participant in the PSD Program under § 679.26, the incidentally caught salmon and Pacific halibut may be donated to the PSD program. Amendment 93 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) would apply exclusively to the directed pollock fishery in the Central and Western GOA pollock fisheries. The PSD Program allows permitted seafood processors to retain salmon and halibut bycatch for distribution to economically disadvantaged individuals through tax exempt hunger relief organizations.

The PSD program regulations would be modified to include stationary floating processors as eligible to receive and process donated halibut in the PSD Program. Stationary floating processors are generally located near shore and remain in one location and are therefore similar to shoreside processors for purposes of the halibut PSD Program. This addition would not impact the reporting burden or cost, because the recordkeeping and reporting responsibilities are required of the PSD distributor, not the participants. A list of current participants in the PSD Program is available from the NMFS Alaska Region website for salmon at http://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/ram/psd/salmon072011.pdf and for Pacific halibut at http://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/ram/psd/halibut072011.pdf.

NMFS would also revise PSD Program application requirements to become an authorized PSD distributor by removing the requirement for the distributor to report the fax number of each vessel or processor participant, as faxes are no longer used for communication between NMFS and the participants. This revision may result in a slightly reduced reporting burden for the PSD distributor. Only one participant has applied over the years, and this participant is still the only distributor in the PSD Program. The changes are not expected to impact the reporting burden or cost.

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