0212 Supporting Statement 010913 rev

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

NORTHEAST REGION LOGBOOK FAMILY OF FORMS

OMB CONTROL NO. 0648-0212

A. JUSTIFICATION

This request is for revision and extension of a current information collection.

1. Explain the circumstances that make the collection of information necessary.

Under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) has responsibility for the conservation and management of marine fishery resources off the coast of the United States. The majority of this responsibility has been delegated to the Regional Fishery Management Councils and the NOAA Fisheries Service. The Council develops management plans for fishery resources in New England.

The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires that conservation and management measures must prevent over fishing while achieving, on a continuing basis, the optimum yield from each fishery. These measures must be based on the best scientific information available. The use of an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system and vessel logbooks are essential tools in the management of fishery resources. Section 303(a)(5) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act specifically identifies the kinds of data to be collected for fishery management plans (FMPs), and the Northeast Regional Office (NERO) obtains much of this data through IVR, logbook, and vessel monitoring system (VMS) (which is approved under the 0648-0202 information collection) data.

International, federal, state, and local fishery management authorities recognize the value of IVR and logbook data and use the data as a part of their management systems. Resulting data are used by economists, biologists, and managers to develop, monitor, and enforce controls on fishery harvests.

Mandatory logbook reporting requirements are applied to all vessels permitted under the Atlantic mackerel, squid, butterfish, Atlantic sea scallop, Atlantic surf clam, ocean quahog, Northeast (NE) multispecies, monkfish, summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, Atlantic bluefish, spiny dogfish, Atlantic herring, tilefish, red crab and skate FMPs. If a vessel is permitted in more than one of these fisheries, only one report needs to be submitted to fulfill reporting requirements for all species. For vessels with NE multispecies, Atlantic herring limited access, and Atlantic mackerel Tier 3 permits, logbooks reporting fishing activity must be submitted weekly by Tuesday of the following week. For all other permits, logbooks reporting fishing activity must be submitted monthly within 15 days after the end of the reporting month. Vessels are required to submit "negative reports" if no fishing activity occurred in a reporting week or month. Submission of negative reports allows NMFS to accurately identify vessels that are not fishing versus those which have failed to submit required reports.

Currently, vessels with a tilefish Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) Permit and open access herring permits are required to submit IVR reports detailing their catch. A vessel fishing under a tilefish IFQ Allocation Permit must submit a tilefish catch report by using the IVR phone line system within 48 hours after returning to port and offloading. Vessels with an open access herring permit must submit IVR catch reports weekly for weeks in which herring were landed. An open access herring vessel does not need to submit zero reports if no fish were landed. IVR reporting is necessary to monitor catch levels in a timely manner, so that effort controls can be implemented before catch limits are attained. IVR reports are submitted using a toll-free telephone number.

Any Northeast fishery permit holder fishing under an exempted fishing permit (EFP) is required to report catch through the IVR system. An EFP is a permit issued by NMFS that exempts a vessel from specific regulations to conduct research. For quota monitoring purposes, catch under an EFP is treated as commercial landings and, therefore, EFP catch is accounted for under the normal commercial fishery. However, because EFPs exempt vessels from the regulations these landings need to be tracked separately. This allows NMFS to conduct additional project monitoring and enforcement oversight, ensuring that research is being conducted as proposed and exemptions from regulations aren’t being abused.

Similarly, Northeast permit holders participating in a research set-aside (RSA) program are required to report RSA catch through the IVR system. Typically, a portion of the overall fishery wide quota is set aside for RSA fishing. Researchers apply to obtain RSA quota through a grant process with NMFS. To monitor RSA catch and to ensure RSA quota grants are not exceeded, catch information is recorded and monitored through the IVR system. The general information collected under this requirement includes: state of landing; pounds landed and discarded by species; vessel permit number; and exempted fishing code. In addition, some RSA programs may have different reporting requirements based on management measures specific to that fishery.

This revision/extension removes the information collection for the halibut fishery, in which halibut participants were asked to make voluntary reports on the size of halibut caught and time of day caught. These reports are no longer collected, and so the information collection is being removed.

This revision/extension removes the information collection for Special Management Area Programs, including CA I Hook Gear Haddock SAP sector reporting. This information collection is currently being added to the OMB Control No. 0648-0605 family of forms, to combine this reporting requirement with the other NE multispecies sector reporting requirements.

This request also transfers two information collections from the 0648-0202 family of forms to this collection as these sources of information are collected through the IVR system. Moving these two collections allows all of the IVR reported information to be captured in one family of forms.

The two information collections are:

1. Declaration of days out of the gillnet fishery for NE multispecies and monkfish vessels.

This requirement is for NE multispecies vessels declaring their required 20-day spawning season block of time out of the NE multispecies fishery, and day gillnet vessels declaring their blocks of time out of the non-exempt gillnet fishery, and is used by NMFS as an enforcement tool.

2. Departure/Landing call-in for monkfish and occasional scallop vessels. The monkfish fishery is also required to use the IVR system to declare the start and end of a monkfish trip. The monkfish fishery is managed under a days-at-sea (DAS) management system. This system allocates a specific number of DAS per year to monkfish permit holders and allocated DAS are charged based on the fishing time. The DAS charge is calculated using the start and end time of a trip as called into the IVR system. To ensure DAS allocations are not exceeded, reporting trip start/end through the IVR system is required to calculate a vessel’s DAS balance. In addition to the primary DAS charging function, other supplemental data is required to be declared, such as: area fished; gear used; port code; phone number; permit number; monkfish overage adjustment notification; and name and operator number.

In addition, scallop vessels qualifying for a DAS allocation under the occasional category that have not elected to fish under VMS notification requirements (at §648.10(b)) and are not participating in the Sea Scallop Access Area program (listed at §648.60) are required to report through a “call-in” telephone system. Vessels allocated DAS in those fisheries must call in to declare the start and end dates and times of directed fishing trips (§648.10(c)).

Further, vessel monitoring system requirements often supersede and take the place of IVR reporting requirements. Therefore, any monkfish or scallop permit holder that holds another permit (commonly Northeast multispecies) requiring the use of a VMS, would report this information via VMS rather than through IVR. The VMS collection of information requirements is analyzed in collection 0648-0202.

The current regulations outlining the reporting requirements for vessel owners and operators are specified at 50 CFR 648.7(b).

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 all applicable Information Quality Guidelines.

The information collected using IVR and logbooks will be used by several offices of the NOAA Fisheries Service, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Councils, and state fishery enforcement agencies under contract to the NOAA Fisheries Service. The information is used to develop, implement, and monitor fishery management strategies.

Logbook data serve as inputs for a variety of uses, including biological analyses and stock assessments, regulatory impact analyses, quota allocation selections and monitoring, economic profitability profiles, trade and import tariff decisions, allocation of grant funds among states, and analysis of ecological interactions among species. NMFS would be unable to fulfill the majority of its scientific research and fishery management missions without these data.

IVR landings reports and logbook data are collected to quantify fishing effort. The landings data that the logbooks provide are critical to accurately monitor fishing mortality targets. Fishing effort information is needed to standardize differences in productivity among vessels or fishing grounds by establishing a rate of catch per unit time. This information allows comparisons over time and space of catches made by a variety of harvesters. Comparisons of catch and Catch per Unit Effort (CPUE) over time are significant indicators of the biological status of the fishery.

The IVR system is the only way we currently collect landing information under the Mid-Atlantic RSA program and for EFPs. The IVR reported data will allow the NOAA Fisheries Service to quantify landings under these two programs that aren’t tracked elsewhere. This information is critical to ensuring landings don’t exceed the allocation and research landings don’t count against other non-research quotas.

The two logbooks in use (NOAA Forms 88-30 and 88-140) generally collect the same information, with minor differences as shown below.

Fishing Vessel Trip Reports (VTRs) (NOAA Form 88-30)

Vessel name and permit number/documentation number. The vessel permit number is a unique number assigned to each vessel issued a Northeast federal permit. This information is needed to accurately identify each fishing vessel for which a logbook report has been submitted. Requiring both the vessel name and permit number allows NMFS staff to cross-check both pieces of information to confirm the correct identity. Permit numbers are especially important for monitoring compliance with the reporting regulations and for matching the logbook data submitted by the vessels with the reports of fish purchases provided by dealers.

Trip type, number of crew, and number of anglers. Trip type is used to differentiate between commercial, party, and charter trips. The number of crew and number of anglers is needed to assign economic values to both the commercial and recreational segments of the fishing industry. The collection of number of crew also allows for enforcement of crew size limits in particular fisheries. This data is also used in evaluating Catch per Unit Effort.

Date sailed/landed, number of hauls, duration of tows or sets, gear type, units and size of gear, and mesh size. This information is used to quantify actual fishing effort. Fishing effort is needed to standardize differences in productivity among vessels or fishing grounds by establishing a rate of catch per unit time. This information allows comparisons over time and space of catches made by a variety of harvesters. Comparisons of catch and CPUE over time are significant indicators of the biological status of the fisheries. Declining CPUE's can indicate over fishing beyond the level of harvest that is sustainable through natural growth and reproduction of the stock.

Chart area fished, depth, latitude/longitude. These variables are used to establish locations of fish capture, which can then be related to other biological and oceanographic information to predict species availability and likely future abundance. In addition, area fished is used to cross-reference locations where fishing is not permissible and monitor fish catch in particular areas.

Landings and discards, by species. Such species information is the basic measure of fishing success from which fishermen, biologists, and economists draw conclusions about the status of a fishery. Landings information is also needed because controlling the quantity of fish harvested is often the means for ensuring continued harvests of renewable resources over time.

Name of buyer, dealer number, date sold, and port of landings. These data are used in enforcing fishery regulations to cross-reference the quantity of fish appearing in the market. Enforcement officers conduct inspections at fish off-loading sites to ensure regulations are being met. These data elements are especially useful when monitoring quotas or when other constraints on harvest are used. It allows NMFS to track the resulting quantity of transactions on land between buyers and sellers.

Name of operator/owner. This information is used to identify the respondent and legal entity controlling the fishing practices of the vessel. Violations of quota regulations may be uncovered during an at-sea boarding and inspection, resulting in a fine, permit suspension, or catch seizure. As vessels may be owned by corporations, the identification of owner and operator on the logbook form allows NMFS to sanction the corporation as well as the operator as necessary. Information on the vessel and permit number is also used for further identification.

Signature of Operator and date. This is required so that the vessel trip report is official. It is important to know when the report was sent in so that we use all of the fields as mentioned above appropriately.

Shellfish Logbook (88-140)

Vessel name and permit number. The vessel permit number is a unique number assigned to each vessel holding a Federal Permit. This information is needed to accurately identify each fishing vessel for which a logbook report has been submitted. Requiring both the vessel name and permit number allows NMFS staff to cross-check both pieces of information to confirm the correct identity. Permit numbers are especially important for monitoring compliance with the reporting regulations and for matching the logbook data submitted by the vessels with the reports of fish purchases provided by dealers.

Date, area fished, time at sea and fishing. This information is all used to quantify actual fishing effort. Fishing effort is needed to standardize differences in productivity among vessels or fishing grounds by establishing a rate of catch per unit time. This information allows comparisons over time and space of catches made by a variety of harvesters. Comparisons of catch and CPUE over time are significant indicators of the biological status of the fisheries. Declining CPUEs can indicate over fishing beyond the level of harvest that is sustainable through natural growth and reproduction of the stock.

Catch and discards. Such species information is the basic measure of fishing success from which fishermen, biologists, and economists draw conclusions about the status of a fishery.

Port landed, buyer, date of sale. These data are used in enforcing fishery regulations to cross-reference the quantity of fish appearing on the market. Enforcement officers conduct inspection at fish off-loading sites to ensure regulations are being met. These data elements are especially useful to monitor quotas or when other constraints on harvest are used.

Ex-vessel prices. Prices and values are used in estimating the earnings and profitability of each fishing trip by the vessel operator and in regulatory impact reviews and economic input-output models requiring such data to estimate the economic effects of changes induced by the biology or management of the fishery. Special economic studies are conducted to obtain detailed information on specific issues or fisheries when resources are available.

Allocation number and tag numbers. The allocation number is used on the shellfish log to track quota that has been harvested against the amount allocated to that vessel. The allocation number also provides a way to cross-check the information reported by a vessel with the information reported by the dealer purchasing the product. Each vessel is assigned a range of tag numbers within their allocation number. Tag numbers are used to accurately determine the number of bushels that have been harvested by a given vessel, and provide additional confirmation of accurate reporting.

Signature of Captain/Operator and date. This is required so that the vessel trip report is official. It is important to know when the report was sent in so that we use all of the fields as mentioned above appropriately.

Vessel IVR

Species Code. In order to differentiate between species, vessels will be required to report a species code.

Vessel Permit Number. Fishery management plans (FMPs) have varying annual quotas. In order to monitor each quota, it is necessary to collect vessel catch data on a per trip basis. In order to ensure that vessels are meeting their reporting requirements, it is necessary to collect the Federal permit numbers from vessels. This also allows staff to match IVR reported catch information with catch information reported on vessel trip reports (logbooks) and to minimize reporting errors.

VTR Serial Number. To match IVR data with VTR data, tilefish IFQ Permit holders must input their unique VTR serial number for each trip. This allows for more accurate matching of data, thus allowing reports to be produced in a more timely fashion.

Federal Dealer Number. To match IVR data with Federal dealer data, tilefish IFQ Permit holders must the Federal dealer number for the dealer who purchased the tilefish. This allows for more accurate matching of data, thus allowing reports to be produced in a more timely fashion.

Project Code. To associate research (RSA and EFP) catch with a vessel permit number vessels participating in research projects must enter a project code. This allows for research projects to be monitored at the project level and ensures research landings are appropriately attributed to research projects.

Total Landings, Trip, Date, and State. Landings data collected by trip, week and by state are necessary in order to monitor catch levels in a timely manner. Landings data is used in order to close a particular fishery or reduce possession limits if landings have reached the specified quota.

Fishing Area. Information on the area fish were caught is critical for accurately attributing landings or catch to the correct management unit or area. For those fisheries that are managed by area, it is imperative to know in which area the fish were caught.

Total Discards, Date. Discard information is necessary for open access Atlantic herring permits, as NMFS is required to monitor total herring catch, which includes both landings and discards of Atlantic herring. The data on total catch is used in order to reduce possession limits in the herring fishery if herring catch reaches the specified quota threshold.

Trip Start/End. Trip start and end time and day are necessary for calculating DAS usage for monkfish and NE multispecies vessels.

State Code. The state code is necessary for the scallop state exemption program.

Gear type, Spawning Area, Sector or Common Pool vessel selection. Vessels are required to enter the gear type, spawning area, and whether they are in the sector or common pool program as a part of the DAS program for monkfish and NE multispecies vessels.

It is anticipated that the information collected will be disseminated to the public or used to support publicly disseminated information. The NOAA Fisheries Service 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 response #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 pre-dissemination 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 IVR system is an automated electronic call-in system that is used to monitor fish catch from individual vessels, track DAS use, and collect supplemental trip information. The IVR system mitigates the paperwork burden on both the fisherman and NMFS, as it makes it easier to collate the catch reports and monitor landings. In addition, while the majority of fishing vessels still use paper vessel logbooks and send them in via mail, there is a small group of vessels that have moved to an electronic vessel trip reporting (EVTR) system. Presently, only 25 vessels are using the EVTR system, but more vessels are expected to opt into electronic logbook reporting in the next three years. As a part of the move to using more electronic media to reduce the paperwork burden on fishing vessels, individual vessels may also submit “Did not fish” vessel logbooks electronically for weeks when they did not fish. While all permitted vessels are not yet submitting “Did not fish” reports electronically, this option reduces the public burden on vessels that opt into the program, as it eliminates mailing costs when a fishing vessel is not active. Every effort will continue to be made in the future to utilize computer technology to reduce the public burden as the opportunity and technology allow.

4. Describe efforts to identify duplication.

Some of the information provided in the IVR reports by vessel owners or operators will be duplicated in vessel logbooks. This duplication is unavoidable and is purposely required so that data from IVR reports can be matched with logbooks to ensure there are no reporting errors. IVR and logbook reports can be matched by date and vessel permit number.

5. If the collection of information involves small businesses or other small entities, describe the methods used to minimize burden.

The majority of fishermen that are required to submit information as a part of this collection are considered small businesses. In order to minimize burden, only the minimum data to meet the IVR and logbook objectives are requested from respondents. While respondents are asked to fill out the entire logbook, they are not required to do so. The logbook instructions note which fields are mandatory and which are voluntary. In addition, the logbook format has been developed in cooperation with the respondents to ensure ease of use and to obtain feedback on the variables to be maintained. The result is that some fishermen use the logbook as their personal business record, which increases business efficiency and reduces overall burden related to reporting requirements. In response, NMFS provides multiple copy logbook forms, where the top page is provided to NMFS, and subsequent pages can be retained by fishermen for business purposes. In addition, the efforts to move to more electronic reporting as described in question 3, will reduce burden to small businesses as the electronic reporting programs expand in the future.

6. Describe the consequences to the Federal program or policy activities if the collection is not conducted or is conducted less frequently.

Without the fundamental data collected from vessel operators through logbooks and the IVR, NMFS would be unable to meet its statutory requirements under the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

IVR reporting captures catch and discard information for golden tilefish and Atlantic herring, allowing the NOAA Fisheries Service to accurately monitor fishing mortality and catch rates on these species. Without catch information, these quotas may be exceeded, which could result in closure of certain fishery management areas for the remainder of that fishing year and a reduction of that species’ quota for the following fishing year. In addition, exceeding the fishery quota could result in fishing mortality rates rising above legal limits and reaching levels that may compromise the objectives of the fisheries management plan. The IVR system is the only method in which research landings are reported to NMFS. Without the IVR system for research landings, NMFS would be unable to monitor research landings and deduct them from the overall quota for a particular species. Therefore, the research landings would count against the overall quota, and may cause a particular fishery to shutdown unnecessarily due to research landings.

Logbooks are required to be submitted on a weekly basis for vessels with Northeast multispecies permits, Atlantic herring limited access permits, and Atlantic mackerel Tier 3 permits. Logbooks are required to be submitted monthly for all other species. The weekly requirement is necessary to ensure that fishery quotas are monitored on a real-time basis in order to avoid a quota overage and compromising the health of the fish species population. Logbooks provide confirmation of other catch reports including dealer data, IVR reports, and reports submitted electronically through the vessel monitoring system (VMS) and provide additional information on catch locations, gear type, discards, etc., necessary to manage the fisheries. The frequency of reports has been kept to the minimum required for effective management. However, less frequent collection would jeopardize the value of the vessel logbooks as a crosscheck on the information provided by seafood dealers and would render other NERO data collection programs useless. Without this frequency of response, NMFS would be unable to accomplish in-season management of fisheries. If the collection were not conducted, more conservative management alternatives which protect the stock would have to be chosen, which would adversely affect fishermen’s income and employment.

7. Explain any special circumstances that require the collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with OMB guidelines.

The data collection is fully consistent with OMB guidelines.

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.

A Federal Register Notice was published August 8, 2012 (77 FR 47370), soliciting public comment on this revision/extension. No comments were received.

The vessel logbook forms were created in consultation with the fishing industry and as stated in Question 5, vessel logbooks are often used by fishing businesses as a regular part of their business practices. The IVR call-in system burdens are estimated by staff calling into the system and entering the data during system testing. NMFS Northeast region staff is routinely in contact with fishing industry members who have ample opportunity to comment on the burdens estimated as a part of this information collection.

In addition, the VMS and Enforcement Committee of the New England Fishery Management Council reviewed the Federal Register notice for this information collection and presented their comments to the New England Fishery Management Council as a whole. An official comment was received from the New England Fishery Management Council which suggested moving from an IVR based reporting system to relying more on reporting electronically through vessel monitoring systems (VMS). While NMFS agrees that moving towards more VMS monitoring and reducing the burden of the IVR system may be appropriate, any change would have to be completed through a separate rulemaking associated with either the herring or tilefish fishery management plans. No comments were received that indicate the burden estimates for this information collection are incorrect or should be modified. NMFS has been moving towards more electronic reporting and will continue to do so in the future as noted in Question 5.

9. Explain any decisions to provide payments or gifts to respondents, other than remuneration of contractors or grantees.

Neither payments nor gifts are given to the respondents.

10. Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents and the basis for assurance in statute, regulation, or agency policy.

As stated on the forms and in the IVR system instructions, all data will be kept confidential as required by NOAA Administrative Order 216-100, Confidentiality of Fisheries Statistics, and will not be released for public use except in aggregate statistical form (and without identifying the source of data, i.e., vessel name, owner, etc.). Confidentiality is also required by Section 402(b) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Logbooks are also considered confidential under the Trade Secrets Act.

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.

There are no questions of sensitive nature.

12. Provide an estimate in hours of the burden of the collection of information.



Report	No. of Respondents	No. of Annual Responses per Respondent	Total No. of Annual Responses	Response Time	Total Public Burden (Hours)	Public Labor Cost ($)
FVTR (88-30) Mandatory (NE Multispecies Vessels)	2,570	52	133,640	5 minutes	11,137	$210,266
FVTR (88-30) Mandatory (Herring permits that don't also have multispecies permits)	141	52	7,332	5 minutes	611	$11,536
FVTR (88-30) Mandatory (Mackerel Tier 3 permits that don't also have multispecies and/or herring permits)	63	52	3,276	5 minutes	273	$5,155
FVTR (88-30) Mandatory (All other permits)	1,572	12	18,864	5 minutes	1,572	$29,680
Shellfish Log (88-140)	78	52	4,056	12.5 minutes	845	$15,954
Herring IVR	91	4	364	4 minutes	24	$453
Tilefish IVR	9	19	171	5 minutes	14	$264
EFP IVR	14	4	56	5 minutes	5	$95
RSA IVR	182	21	3,822	5 minutes	319	$6,023
DAS Credit
IVR Call	1,063	1	1,063	5 minutes	89	$1,681
Declaration of days out of gillnet fishery (Multispecies and Monkfish Vessels)	400	5	2,000	3 minutes	100	$1,888
Departure/Landing call-in for Monkfish and Occasional Sea Scallop Vessels
Monkfish	170	9	1,530	2 minutes	51	$954
Sea Scallops (Limited Access Occasional)	25	20	500	2 minutes	17	$312
TOTALS	6,378		176,674		15,057	$284,261

Vessels required to complete and submit VTRs (Form 88-30) include those permitted in the Atlantic mackerel, squid, butterfish, Atlantic sea scallop, NE multispecies, monkfish, summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, Atlantic bluefish, spiny dogfish, Atlantic herring, red crab, tilefish or skate fisheries. Vessels that have a NE multispecies permit, Atlantic herring limited access permit, and Atlantic mackerel Tier 3 permit are required to submit VTRs on a weekly basis. For those vessels that have more than one permit, the number of respondents reflects the total number of individual vessels permitted, and not the sum of all permit holders. There are 2,570 estimated NE multispecies permit holders, 141 vessels that have Atlantic herring limited access permits and don’t have NE multispecies permits, and 63 estimated vessels that have Atlantic mackerel Tier 3 permits and don’t have NE multispecies or Atlantic herring limited access permits. There are 1,572 vessels that have permits in other fisheries and are required to submit VTRs monthly instead of weekly.

The estimated response time for the reporting burden for VTRs is 5 minutes. Some of the information being provided by the respondents, such as fishing location and catch, are already collected and recorded in the normal course of fishing activity; therefore that time is excluded from the calculation. While the fishing vessel logbook information is collected on a trip-by-trip basis, the burden calculation is based on the required weekly or monthly submission.

Vessels required to complete and submit Shellfish Logs (Form 88-140) include those permitted in the ocean quahog or surf clam fisheries. Approximately 78 of the vessels permitted in the surf clam and ocean quahog fisheries submit Form 88-140. The estimated response time for the Shellfish Log is 12 and half minutes.

Atlantic herring open access and tilefish permitted vessels are required to report catch through the IVR system, as well as vessels participating in RSA and EFP projects. Approximately 91 Atlantic herring open access permitted vessels and 9 tilefish permitted vessels are estimated to submit IVR catch reports annually. There are approximately 182 vessels that participate in the RSA program and 14 vessels that are issued EFPs annually. The IVR burden is estimated to be 2 minutes for each tilefish IVR call, 4 minutes for each herring call, and 5 minutes for each RSA or EFP call.

A wage and overhead rate of $18.88 per hour is used in calculation of the labor cost associated with all vessel reporting.

13. Provide an estimate of the total annual cost burden to the respondents or record-keepers resulting from the collection (excluding the value of the burden hours in Question 12 above).

Report	Total No. of Annual Responses	Cost per Response	Total Public Cost
FVTR (88-30) Mandatory (NE Multispecies Vessels)	133,640	$0.45	$60,138
FVTR (88-30) Mandatory (Herring permits that don't also have multispecies permits)	7,332	$0.45	$3,300
FVTR (88-30) Mandatory (Mackerel Tier 3 permits that don't also have multispecies and/or herring permits)	3,276	$0.45	$1,475
FVTR (88-30) Mandatory (All other permits)	18,864	$0.45	$8,489
Shellfish Log (88-140)	4,056	$0.45	$1,826
Herring IVR	364		$0
Tilefish IVR	171		$0
EFP IVR	56		$0
RSA IVR	3,822		$0
DAS Credit
IVR Call	1,063		$0
Declaration of days out of gillnet fishery (Multispecies and Monkfish Vessels)	2,000		$0
Departure/Landing call-in for Monkfish and Occasional Sea Scallop Vessels
Monkfish	1,530		$0
Sea Scallops (Limited Access Occasional)	500		$0
TOTALS	176,674		$75,228

No special equipment or technology is needed to comply with the reporting requirements reflected in this submission. The IVR system requires a telephone to call-in reports and the IVR call-in line is a toll free phone number so there is no monetary burden to respondents.

The cost associated with logbook collection is the cost of postage. The number of FVTRs submitted weekly or monthly is variable and dependent upon the number of fishing trips made by a vessel. Logbook reports are submitted monthly, with some packages containing one form and some containing dozens of forms. Respondent costs for the FVTRs are calculated based on an average mailing cost for logbooks of $0.45 per submission.

Respondents are required to retain copies of the logbook reports for a period of three years after the date of the last entry on the report for purposes of enforcement investigations, and to serve as the official records for establishing individual vessel allocations. Enforcement investigations may take up to three years before agents interview the respondents. Retention of a copy of the records submitted removes the possible excuse for non-reporting that the original was mailed to but not received by NMFS. Records may also be used to determine historical participants, in the case of limited-entry fisheries. Business records are normally retained for 3 years and some fishermen use these forms for that purpose. Thus, there is minimal impact on public burden by this requirement.

14. Provide estimates of annualized cost to the Federal government.

Report	No. of Respondents	No. of Annual Responses per Respondent	Total No. of Annual Responses	Response Time	Total Burden (Hours)	Total Government Cost
FVTR (88-30) Mandatory (NE Multispecies Vessels)	2,570	52	133,640	5 minutes	11,137	$278,425
FVTR (88-30) Mandatory (Herring permits that don't also have multispecies permits)	141	52	7,332	5 minutes	611	$15,275
FVTR (88-30) Mandatory (Mackerel Tier 3 permits that don't also have multispecies and/or herring permits)	63	52	3,276	5 minutes	273	$6,825
FVTR (88-30) Mandatory (All other permits)	1,572	12	18,864	5 minutes	1,572	$39,300
Shellfish Log (88-140)	78	52	4,056	12.5 minutes	845	$21,125
Herring IVR	91	4	364	4 minutes	24	$600
Tilefish IVR	9	19	171	5 minutes	14	$350
EFP IVR	14	4	56	5 minutes	5	$125
RSA IVR	182	21	3,822	5 minutes	319	$7,975
DAS Credit – IVR Call	1,063	1	1,063	5 minutes	89	$2,225
Declaration of days out of gillnet fishery (Multispecies and Monkfish Vessels)	400	5	2,000	3 minutes	100	$2,500
Departure/Landing call-in
Monkfish	170	9	1,530	2 minutes	51	$1,262
Sea Scallops (Limited Access Occasional)	25	20	500	2 minutes	17	$413
TOTALS	6,378		176,674		15,057	$376,400

The government cost is based on a constant rate of $25 per hour.

15. Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments.

Program changes:

Removal of the voluntary halibut logbook reporting: removes 474 responses, 4 hours and $209 in recordkeeping/reporting costs.

Transfer of Special Management Area Programs to OMB Control No. 0648-0605 (revision/extension pending): removes 25,160 responses, 6,369 hours and $22,100.

Transfer of Departure/Landing call-in for Monkfish and Occasional Sea Scallop Vessels through IVR reporting from OMB Control No. 0648-0202: adds 2,030 responses and 68 hours.

Transfer of Declaration of days out of gillnet fishery (Multispecies and Monkfish Vessels) through IVR reporting from OMB Control No. 0648-0202: adds 2,000 responses and 100 hours.

Adjustments: Changes in respondent numbers since the last request and after removal of halibut logbook reporting above:

Logbooks: 167,168 responses, down from 203,512, and 14,438 hours, down from 18,196 = decrease of 36,344 responses and 3,778 hours. Reporting/recordkeeping costs decreased from $90, 824 to $75,226, a decrease of $15,598.

IVR: 4,413 responses, up from 696, and 362 hours, up from 41 = increase of 3,717 responses and 321 hours.

16. For collections whose results will be published, outline the plans for tabulation and publication.

Results from this collection may be used in scientific, management, technical or general informational publications such as the annual Fisheries of the United States reports, which follows prescribed statistical tabulations and summary table formats. Data are available to the general public on request in summary form only; data are available to NMFS employees in detailed form on a need-to-know basis only.

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.

Because part of this collection involves an IVR system and not a written form, there is no form on which to display an expiration date. However, an expiration date will be displayed in the instructions and/or cover letter that will be mailed to each permit holder who is required to report purchases through the IVR system. All logbook forms will display the OMB Control number and expiration date along with information relevant to the PRA.

18. Explain each exception to the certification statement.

There are no exceptions.

B. COLLECTIONS OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS

This collection does not employ statistical methods.

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