Justification for change

JUSTIFICATION FOR CHANGE

ALASKA COST RECOVERY & FEE PROGRAMS

OMB CONTROL NO. 0648-0711

This request is to make minor changes in the text and format of the First Wholesale Volume and Value Report form and to show that reporting of rock sole has two reporting periods. In addition, it is necessary to remove two incorrect fields and to renumber the fields thereafter.  This form was created using the Pacific Cod Ex-Vessel Volume and Value Report (which has two fields not applicable to this form) as a sample.  The two extra fields were incorrectly not removed when making the first wholesale form.  

Under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. (Magnuson-Stevens Act), the Secretary of Commerce is responsible for the conservation and management of marine fishery resources within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the United States through National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/National Marine Fisheries Service. NMFS Alaska Region manages the groundfish fisheries in the EEZ of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area and Gulf of Alaska under fishery management plans for groundfish in the respective areas by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council). The Council prepared, and NMFS approved, the Fishery Management Plan for BSAI King and Tanner Crabs. Regulations implementing the FMPs appear at 50 CFR part 679 and part 680.

Wholesale Volume and Value reports are used for directed fisheries where fish are harvested exclusively, or almost exclusively, by catcher/processors and where insufficient ex-vessel prices data are available. These species include all groundfish species (except Pacific cod, pollock, and fixed-gear sablefish) allocated to the Amendment 80 and the Western Alaska Community Development Quota (CDQ) Program. Each catcher/processor is required to submit this report electronically to NMFS for the reporting period January 1 to October 31 each year -- except for rock sole which is only required to be reported from January 1 through March 31 and April 1 through October 31.

Rock sole is allocated to and harvested by vessels participating in Amendment 80 cooperatives. Rock sole volume and value reports must be reported once each year, but fees would be assessed based on the volume and value of landings of rock sole that occur in the first quarter of the year (January 1 through March 31), and fees would be assessed based on the aggregated volume and value of landings in the last three quarters of the year (April 1 through December 31). The difference in reporting requirements for rock sole arises from the need to capture significant differences in price and value in the rock sole that are landed in the first quarter of the year compared to the price and value in the remaining part of the year. The first reporting period for rock sole shall extend from January 1 to March 31, and the second reporting period shall extend from April 1 to October 31.

This change request supports adding the text to the form, which was inadvertently omitted, to describe the rock sole reporting periods. The two non-applicable fields are also removed. Other small corrections to the form and instructions are shown with changes tracked.

No change in burden or cost is anticipated from this change.

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