Supporting Statement Part A

New England Fishery Stakeholder Communications Survey

1. Supplemental Questions for DOC/NOAA Customer Survey Clearance
   (OMB Control Number 0648-0342)

1. Explain who will be conducting this survey. What program office will be conducting the survey? What services does this program provide? Who are the customers? How are these services provided to the customer?

GARFO will be conducting this survey to glean stakeholder input and preferences regarding outreach and communications products. GARFO customers include fishermen, sector managers, dealers/buyers, monitoring services, and other fishing industry related stakeholders. GARFO provides several services to their customers including providing information on regulations. These services are generally provided by mail or online. This survey is intended to gather feedback on stakeholder-preferred methods of communication, frequency, and type of information preferred.

2. Explain how this survey was developed. With whom did you consult during the development of this survey on content? statistics? What suggestions did you get about improving the survey?

This survey was developed by Vision Planning and Consulting with input and guidance from GARFO and reviewed by a focus group of Sector Managers for efficacy and to incorporate stakeholder preferences.

3. Explain how the survey will be conducted. How will the customers be sampled (if fewer than all customers will be surveyed)? What percentage of customers asked to take the survey will respond? What actions are planned to increase the response rate?

The survey will be opened to anyone in or related to the fishing industry including buyers, fishermen, sector managers, dealers/buyers, monitoring services, and any other interested stakeholders. The survey will be provided online with links distributed by email to mailing lists, by kiosk as well as on paper for stakeholders preferring to walk in to local offices. Announcements, flyers, online, Navigator, and social media notices will be distributed to encourage survey participation.

4. Describe how the results of this survey will be analyzed and used. If the customer population is sampled, what statistical techniques will be used to generalize the results to the entire customer population? Is this survey intended to measure a GPRA performance measure? (If so, please include an excerpt from the appropriate document.)

The results will not be sampled. All of the responses will be reviewed to determine preferences for stakeholders. Responses may be sorted by sector, state, or area fished to look for patterns or trends, but all responses will be included in the analysis.

B. Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods

1. Describe (including a numerical estimate) the potential respondent universe and any sampling or other respondent selection method to be used. Data on the number of entities (e.g. establishments, State and local governmental units, households, or persons) in the universe and the corresponding sample are to be provided in tabular form. The tabulation must also include expected response rates for the collection as a whole. If the collection has been conducted before, provide the actual response rate achieved.

Responses will be collected through Survey Monkey. Respondents preferring a paper survey will return the survey to GARFO to be entered into the Survey Monkey system. The survey will be made available to all stakeholders (online, paper). We expect response rates around 15-20 percent based on response rates to other regional surveys conducted by the Communications teams and Social Science branch. There are roughly 400 active participants in the groundfish fishery.

2. Describe the procedures for the collection, including: the statistical methodology for stratification and sample selection; the estimation procedure; the degree of accuracy needed for the purpose described in the justification; any unusual problems requiring specialized sampling procedures; and any use of periodic (less frequent than annual) data collection cycles to reduce burden.

Responses will be collected through Survey Monkey. Respondents preferring a paper survey will return the survey to GARFO to be input in to the Survey Monkey system. There is no statistical sampling to be conducted based on the responses. This is a preference survey and the number of respondents will be small, therefore all responses will be documented and reviewed to develop future outreach strategies and actions.

3. Describe the methods used to maximize response rates and to deal with nonresponse. The accuracy and reliability of the information collected must be shown to be adequate for the intended uses. For collections based on sampling, a special justification must be provided if they will not yield "reliable" data that can be generalized to the universe studied.

Announcements, flyers, online, Navigator, and social media notices will be distributed to encourage survey participation. There is no statistical sampling to be conducted on the responses. As this is a preference survey, there is no “incorrect” answer. Working collaboratively with sector managers and port agents we hope to encourage participation.

4. Describe any tests of procedures or methods to be undertaken. Tests are encouraged as effective means to refine collections, but if ten or more test respondents are involved OMB must give prior approval.

The survey was reviewed by a focus group of five key stakeholders. Their comments and recommended edits were incorporated in to the final survey where relevant and feasible.

5. Provide the name and telephone number of individuals consulted on the statistical aspects of the design, and the name of the agency unit, contractor(s), grantee(s), or other person(s) who will actually collect and/or analyze the information for the agency.

Ashley Samonisky

Vision Planning and Consulting

[email protected]

888-872-9626 x 710