Justification for change

JUSTIFICATION FOR CHANGE

SOUTHEAST REGION IFQ PROGRAMS

OMB CONTROL NO. 0648-0551

The legislative authority to collect data from the various sectors of the economy that harvest marine resources in the exclusive economic zone is the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Act). The individual transferable quota (ITQ) system as defined at CFR 622.15 for the wreckfish fishery is based on percentage shares. The size of a person's percentage share and the available total allowable catch (TAC) determine how many pounds of wreckfish a shareholder may harvest each year. Percentage shares in the wreckfish fishery are issued for an indefinite duration and can be sold. Sales of percentage shares are not final until the sale had been recorded by the Regional Administrator, Southeast Region, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).

The wreckfish ITQ program manages wreckfish shares through a wreckfish share transfer data collection program. The purpose of this data collection is to provide the information necessary to transfer ownership of percentage shares. The transfer form is printed on the back of the percentage shares certificate. With each transfer of ownership, the certificate will be reissued. The certificate identifies the seller, but the buyer’s name, address, corporate (employer’s) Federal tax identification number, and telephone number must be provided. The sale price is necessary for economic analysis. The signatures of buyer, seller, and a notary will secure the transaction. If the party purchasing shares is a shareholder, the share certificate must be surrendered so that it can be reissued.

With the revision of the wreckfish ITQ program through the final rule implementing Amendment 20A to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region, per RIN 0648-AY74, effective October 26, 2012, NMFS implemented a cap on the number of wreckfish quota shares a single entity may own. The share cap is 49 percent. This would prevent any one entity from holding the majority of wreckfish quota shares. NMFS would determine a corporation’s total ITQ share by adding the corporation’s ITQ shares to any other ITQ shares the corporation owns in another corporation. If an individual ITQ shareholder is also a shareholder in a corporation that holds ITQ shares, the applicable ITQ shares held by the individual is added to the applicable IFQ shares equivalent to the corporate share the individual holds in a corporation. A corporation must provide the Regional Administrator (RA) the identity of the shareholders of the corporation and their percent shares in the corporation, and provide updated information to the RA within 30 days of when changes occur.

This change request would make two changes to the wreckfish share certificate. The additions include: 1) collecting the officer and shareholder information associated with a business and 2) having the certificate notarized when shares are being transferred. Requesting signature of two witnesses has been removed and a section for the notary to complete is added.

This change would result in the estimated time per response increasing by 5 minutes, so it would take approximately 20 minutes to complete the share transfer form instead of 15 minutes. This would increase the reporting burden by a total of 20 minutes, because there are approximately 4 respondents and they would each take 20 minutes for a total of 1 hour and 20 minutes. The $5 notary fee times 4 would add a total of $20 to the information collection cost.

There would be only 20 minutes added, so no change to hours. There are no additional respondents. Cost would be increased by a total of $20. The overall cost would increase from $980,504 to $980,524.

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