0212 resub Supporting Statement 062617

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

NORTHEAST REGION LOGBOOK FAMILY OF FORMS

OMB CONTROL NO. 0648-0212

A. JUSTIFICATION

This is a resubmission, with the final rule, of a request for a revision to the current information collection as a result of a proposed rule to implement measures under the Mid-Atlantic Unmanaged Forage Fish Omnibus Amendment adopted by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (RIN 0648-BG42). Revisions to existing information collections are listed under the appropriate section for each measure that is being revised by this action.

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 Fishery Conservation and Management 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 trip reports (VTR, or 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 Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO) obtains much of this data through IVR, VTR, 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 VTR 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 VTR 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, VTRs reporting fishing activity must be submitted weekly by Tuesday of the following week. For all other permits, VTRs reporting fishing activity must be submitted monthly within 15 days after the end of the reporting month.

This revision would require operators of vessels issued a Federal permit by GARFO for any of the aforementioned FMPs that catch a set of previously unmanaged forage species (see list below) and Atlantic chub mackerel within Mid-Atlantic Federal waters to report the catch of these species or species groups in their trip-level VTRs. New species or species group codes would be created to facilitate the reporting of these species and species groups on VTRs.

MID-ATLANTIC FORAGE SPECIES:

• Anchovies

• Argentines

• Greeneyes

• Halfbeaks

• Round herring

• Scaled sardine

• Atlantic thread herring

• Spanish sardine

• Lanternfish

• Pearlsides

• Sand lances

• Silversides

• Cusk-eels

• Atlantic saury

• Pelagic mollusks

• Pelagic crustaceans

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.

Two other regulations require reporting through the IVR system; declaration of days out of the gillnet fishery for NE multispecies and monkfish vessels and Departure/Landing call-in for monkfish and occasional scallop vessels. The first requirement, declaring out of the gillnet fishery (aka spawning blocks), stipulates that NE multispecies vessels declare their required 20-day spawning season block of time out of the NE multispecies fishery. NE multispecies vessels who are day gillnetters must declare their blocks of time out of the non-exempt gillnet fishery.

Monkfish permit holders who are not required to have a VMS system along with occasional scallop vessels that have elected not 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), must use the IVR system to declare the start and end of their trips. Both of these fisheries are managed under a days-at-sea (DAS) system whereby a specific number of DAS per year is allocated to monkfish\occasional scallop permit holders.

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 covered in OMB Control No. 0648-0202, Greater Atlantic Region Permit Family of Forms.

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 VTRs 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.

VTR 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 VTR data are collected to quantify fishing effort. The landings data that the VTRs 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.

Regardless of whether the IVR is being used by vessels to notify NMFS that they are fulfilling their requirement to take a specified amount of time out of the multispecies or the non-exempt gillnet fisheries, or providing start and end trip times in a DAS fishery, the same basic process is used. The permit holder logs into the IVR system using credentials provided by NMFS. They then follow prompts to select spawning blocks or the monkfish\occasional scallop DAS fishery. Additional prompts collect the start and end date\times. This information is then used to calculate the length of time of their spawning block or DAS charge as appropriate.

The two VTRs 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 VTR 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 VTR 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 VTR 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.

Revised VTR instructions, including new forage species and species group codes that would be required to be reported under this proposed action, will be included in the submission associated with the final rule for this action.

Shellfish VTR (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 VTR 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 VTR 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 VTRs 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 use paper VTRs 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, 100 vessels are using the EVTR system, but more vessels are expected to opt into electronic VTR reporting in the next three years. 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 VTRs. This duplication is unavoidable and is purposely required so that data from IVR reports can be matched with VTRs to ensure there are no reporting errors. IVR and VTR 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 VTR objectives are requested from respondents. While respondents are asked to fill out the entire VTR, they are not required to do so. The VTR instructions note which fields are mandatory and which are voluntary. In addition, the VTR 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 VTR as their personal business record, which increases business efficiency and reduces overall burden related to reporting requirements. In response, NMFS provides multiple copy VTR 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 VTRs 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.

VTRs 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. VTRs 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. VTRs 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 VTRs as a crosscheck on the information provided by seafood dealers and would render other GARFO 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 proposed rule seeking public comment on the measures included in the Mid-Atlantic Unmanaged Forage Fish Omnibus Amendment, including the information collections associated with the proposed permit, VTR, and dealer reporting requirements, published in the Federal Register on April 24, 2017 (82 FR 18882), coincident with this revision. Notices soliciting public input on these information collections will also be placed in the “Status Report of Greater Atlantic Region Actions” report for the April 18-20, 2017, New England Fishery Management Council and April 11-13, and June 6-8, 2017, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Council Meetings.

Three organizations, one individual and 11,484 respondents to a form letter organized by Pew Charitable Trusts supported the proposed reporting requirements. Another individual indicated that the proposed reporting requirements would not collect acceptable data, but did not indicate why. In our response to these comments, we stated that the proposed reporting requirements are necessary to collect information to effectively monitor and manage the catch of forage species. We approved the proposed reporting requirements and will implement them through the final rule.

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. VTRs 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.

No changes in burden are expected due to this revision.



Report	No. of Respondents	No. of Annual Responses per Respondent	Total No. of Annual Responses	Response Time (Hours)	Total Public Burden (Hours)	Public Labor Cost ($) 18.88
Fishing Vessel Trip Reports (NOAA Form 88-30)	2,320	52	120,640	0.083	10,013	$189,045
Shellfish Log (NOAA Form 88-140)	58	72	4,176	0.21	877	$16,558
Herring IVR	91	4	364	0.07	25	$472
Tilefish IVR	14	19	266	0.083	22	$415
EFP IVR	14	4	56	0.083	5	$94
RSA IVR	182	21	3,822	0.083	317	$5,985
DAS Credit IVR	1,063	1	1,063	0.083	88	$1,661
Declaration of days out of gillnet fishery (Multispecies and Monkfish Vessels)	400	5	2,000	0.05	100	$1,888
Departure/Landing call-in for Monkfish and Occasional Sea Scallop Vessels
Monkfish	170	9	1,530	0.03	46	$868
Sea Scallops (Limited Access Occasional)	25	20	500	0.03	15	$283
TOTALS	4,337	N/A	134,417	N/A	11,508	$217,269

Using the production Vessel Trip Report database, we retrieved the average number of respondents and the average number of reports submitted over the previous three years (2012 – 2014 in this case). We intend to use this rolling three year window on subsequent renewals.

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 VTR 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 (NOAA Form 88-140) include those permitted in the ocean quahog or surf clam fisheries. Approximately 58 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 twelve 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 14 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.

DAS IVRs are estimated at 5 minutes.

Declaration of days out of gillnet fishery is estimated to be 9 minutes; departure/landing call-ins are 2 minutes.

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).

No changes in cost are expected due to this revision.

Report	No. of Respondents	No. of Annual Responses per Respondent	Total No. of Annual Responses	Response Time (Hours)	Total Public Burden (Hours)	Total Public Cost ($)
Fishing Vessel Trip Reports (NOAA Form 88-30)	2,320	52	120,640	0.083	10,013	$59,114
Shellfish Log (NOAA Form 88-140)	58	72	4,176	0.21	877	$2,046
Herring IVR	91	4	364	0.07	25	$0
Tilefish IVR	14	19	266	0.083	22	$0
EFP IVR	14	4	56	0.083	5	$0
RSA IVR	182	21	3,822	0.083	317	$0
DAS Credit IVR	1,063	1	1,063	0.083	88	$0
Declaration of days out of gillnet fishery (Multispecies and Monkfish Vessels)	400	5	2,000	0.05	100	$0
Departure/Landing call-in for Monkfish and Occasional Sea Scallop Vessels
Monkfish	170	9	1,530	0.03	46	$0
Sea Scallops (Limited Access Occasional)	25	20	500	0.03	15	$0
TOTALS	4,337	N/A	134,417	N/A	11,508	$61,160

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. Vessel owners opting to use the eVTR system must have computer equipment, but because that reporting method is optional at this time, those costs have not been estimated.

The cost associated with VTR 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. VTR 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 VTRs of $0.49 per submission.

Respondents are required to retain copies of the VTR 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 (Hours)	Total Burden (Hours)	Public Labor Cost ($)
Fishing Vessel Trip Reports (NOAA Form 88-30)	2,320	52	120,640	0.083	10,013	$250,325
Shellfish Log (NOAA Form 88-140)	58	72	4,176	0.21	877	$21,925
Herring IVR	91	4	364	0.07	25	$625
Tilefish IVR	14	19	266	0.083	22	$550
EFP IVR	14	4	56	0.083	5	$125
RSA IVR	182	21	3,822	0.083	317	$7,925
DAS Credit IVR	1,063	1	1,063	0.083	88	$2,200
Declaration of days out of gillnet fishery (Multispecies and Monkfish Vessels)	400	5	2,000	0.05	100	$2,500
Departure/Landing call-in for Monkfish and Occasional Sea Scallop Vessels
Monkfish	170	9	1,530	0.03	46	$1,150
Sea Scallops (Limited Access Occasional)	25	20	500	0.03	15	$375
TOTALS	4,337	N/A	134,417	N/A	11,508	$287,700

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

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

No changes or adjustments to previously estimated burdens or costs associated with the VTR requirements are made as a result of this action to implement the Mid-Atlantic Unmanaged Forage Fish Omnibus Amendment. While this action would add a new requirement for the operators of federally permitted vessels to report catch of forage species and species groups on VTRs, it is unlikely that the number of respondents will change as a result because these species are rarely caught in Federal waters. Further, although this action would also add new species codes to facilitate the reporting of forage species and species groups on VTRs, because the previously-approved burden estimate included the time necessary to read the instructions, determine the correct species code, and record catch amounts by species.

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 VTR 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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