Justification for change

JUSTIFICATION FOR CHANGE

FEDERAL FISHERIES LOGBOOKS SOUTHEAST FAMILY OF FORMS

OMB CONTROL NO. 0648-0016

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has been delegated the authority and

responsibility for stewardship of the marine resources for the Nation. This authority was first

granted in the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) of 1976. The reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act in 2006 continued and in some ways extended this authority. Under this authority the Secretary of Commerce, and his designee, NMFS, has promulgated separate rules that require specific types of record keeping and data submissions. These data collection/submission regulations are intended to provide reliable and accurate information from the fishing industry and communities that support scientifically viable management actions to achieve the stewardship responsibilities. Data reported by South Atlantic wreckfish fishermen is reported on the wreckfish logbook form.

The South Atlantic wreckfish individual transferable quota (ITQ) program, implemented in 1992, requires fishermen (and dealers) to submit 100 lb and 500 lb coupons to help NMFS track shareholders’ individual quotas and the overall wreckfish quota. Coupons are distributed to wreckfish shareholders before the beginning of each fishing year. Shareholders give part of the coupon to the fishermen and part to the dealer. The fishermen must submit their portion of the coupon with their wreckfish logbook report and the dealers must submit their portion of the coupon with their monthly wreckfish dealer report. These coupons have not been included in this PRA collection as of yet because they are attached to the reporting form which is covered by this collection. However, because NMFS proposes some revisions to these coupons in this change request, NMFS also proposes to add them to this PRA collection.

This change request would modify the portion of the South Atlantic wreckfish ITQ coupons fishermen must provide to NMFS with their wreckfish logbook form. A change request is also submitted for OMB control no. 0648-0013 for the portion of the wreckfish ITQ coupons dealers must provide to NMFS with their monthly wreckfish dealer report. The 100 lb and 500 lb wreckfish ITQ coupons are proposed to be revised to add the vessel identification number instead of the vessel permit number (to match the vessel with the permit number identified on the wreckfish logbook form), remove the bar codes (because SEFSC staff is entering the data themselves), and add an additional row for the Federal dealer permit number (because there are now more Federal dealer permits being issued than there were numbers on the coupons). The fishing season dates, tracking number, and color of the coupons change on an annual basis. NMFS is seeking approval of these revisions for the 2014-2015 fishing year.

These revisions would not result in a change to the estimated time per response for the wreckfish logbook form.

Therefore, the respondent, response, burden and cost estimate, for OMB Control No. 0648-0016 would not change and remain at 4,161 (unduplicated) respondents, 111,831 responses, 15,946 hours, and $0 cost.