0648-0678 Supporting Statement Part A

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

U.S. Department of Commerce

National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration

Alaska Council Cooperative Annual Reports

OMB Control No. 0648-0678

Abstract

This request is for revision of an existing information collection due to an associated rule (RIN 0648-BJ73) to implement Amendment 111 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska and a regulatory amendment to reauthorize the Central Gulf of Alaska Rockfish Program.

The rule also effects information collection requirements approved under OMB Control No. 0648-0545, Alaska Rockfish Program: Permits and Reports. Concurrent with this request to revise 0648-0678, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is submitting a separate request to revise and extend 0648-0545.

The cooperative annual reports covered by this collection are part of the following fishery programs: Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization Program, the Central Gulf of Alaska Rockfish Program, the Amendment 80 Program, and the American Fisheries Act.

The purpose of the annual cooperative reports is to provide information to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) and the public about the operations and performance of the cooperatives. This information is used by the Council to inform the public, to evaluate the performance of the cooperatives, and to identify problems or issues that may need to be addressed by the cooperatives or the Council in the future.

The revisions to this information collection remove unnecessary reporting requirements. The rule removes the requirement that the Annual Rockfish Cooperative Report be submitted to NMFS. NMFS staff who monitor and manage the Rockfish Program fisheries already have access to the information from internal NMFS databases and do not need the cooperative managers to submit this information to NMFS. Additionally, a non-rule-related revision is made to remove the American Fisheries Act Catcher Vessel Intercooperative Agreement as a separate component of this collection. The Council does not request the cooperatives to provide a copy of the agreement, and Industry voluntarily provides it to the Council as an appendix of the American Fisheries Act Annual Catcher Vessel Intercooperative Report, which is included in this collection.

Justification

1. Explain the circumstances that make the collection of information necessary. Identify any legal or administrative requirements that necessitate the collection. Attach a copy of the appropriate section of each statute and regulation mandating or authorizing the collection of information.

The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. (Magnuson-Stevens Act) authorizes the Council to prepare and amend fishery management plans for any fishery in waters under its jurisdiction. The groundfish and crab fisheries in the Exclusive Economic Zone off Alaska are managed under the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska, the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area, and the Fishery Management Plan for Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands King and Tanner Crab. The groundfish fishery management plans are implemented by regulations at 50 CFR part 679, and the crab fishery management plan is implemented by regulations at 50 CFR part 680.

The cooperative annual reports covered by this collection are part of the following fishery programs:

• Crab Rationalization (CR) Program. In 2005, NMFS implemented the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) CR Program. Based on participation in the industry within a set of qualifying years, NMFS issued crab quota share (QS) to vessel owners and captains, as well as processor quota share to processors in all federally managed crab fisheries except the Norton Sound Red king crab and the Pribilof Islands golden king crab. The CR Program was designed to allocate crab resources among harvesters, processors, and coastal communities for nine BSAI crab fisheries. This program also allowed for the voluntary formation of cooperatives.

• Central Gulf of Alaska (GOA) Rockfish Program (Rockfish Program). The Rockfish Program was designed to enhance resource conservation and improve economic efficiency in the Central GOA rockfish fisheries by establishing cooperatives that receive exclusive harvest privileges. NMFS assigns rockfish QS to eligible License Limitation Program licenses for rockfish primary and secondary species. QS holders form cooperatives to pool the harvest of the cooperative quota on fewer vessels to minimize operational costs and to provide additional flexibility in harvesting operations. The Rockfish Program also provides greater stability for processors by spreading out production over a greater period of time. Halibut prohibited species catch (PSC) is allocated to participants based on historic halibut mortality rates in the primary rockfish species fisheries.

• Amendment 80 (A80) Program. The A80 Program was established as a limited access privilege program to reduce excessive fishing capacity, end the race to fish, reduce bycatch, and reduce discards for commercial fishing vessels using trawl gear in the non-pollock groundfish fisheries in the BSAI. The A80 Program encourages the formation of harvesting cooperatives in the non-American Fisheries Act (non-AFA) trawl catcher/processor sector among all persons holding A80 QS permits. The cooperatives that receive allocations of cooperative quota allow vessel operators to make operational choices to improve fishery returns, reduce PSC usage, and reduce fish discards.

• American Fisheries Act (AFA). The purpose of the AFA was to tighten U.S. ownership standards for U.S. fishing vessels under the Anti-Reflagging Act, and to provide the BSAI pollock fleet the opportunity to conduct their fishery in a more rational manner while protecting non-AFA participants in other fisheries.The AFA eliminated the race for pollock through the establishment of cooperatives with specific provisions for their allocations, structure, and participation by catcher vessels and processing plants, as well as annual reporting requirements and excessive share limits. In response to a directive in the AFA, the Council added measures to protect other fisheries from adverse effects arising from the exclusive pollock allocation.

The Council has authorized the formation of cooperatives in several of the catch share programs in the federally managed fisheries off Alaska. For catch share programs with cooperatives, the Council has either recommended that NMFS require the cooperative managers to submit an annual written report detailing various activities of the cooperative, or the Council has requested that cooperative managers voluntarily submit an annual report to the Council. These reports are intended to be a resource for the Council and the public to evaluate the effectiveness of the cooperative and its ability to meet the Council’s goals. Additionally, they are a tool for the cooperatives to provide feedback on a catch share program and how the cooperative element is functioning.

In general, the cooperative managers present the cooperative reports during either the December or April Council meetings. Regulations do not require cooperative managers to present cooperative reports to the Council; however, the Council has requested them to do so, and most of the cooperative managers have presented their annual reports in oral testimony to the Council. The Amendment 80 bycatch related reports are presented to the Council at its December meeting. The remaining annual reports usually are presented at the April Council meeting, unless the Council has to reschedule the reports due to other scheduling needs. Public dissemination of the annual cooperative reports and presentation of an overview of the reports at the Council meetings allow stakeholders and members of the public the opportunity to provide public comment to the Council about the cooperatives and the catch share programs. The cooperative annual reports also are published on the Council’s website.

As noted above, some of the cooperative annual reports are required in Federal regulation and others are requested by the Council as a voluntary annual submission. NMFS provided an interpretation to the Council by letter dated March 29, 2013, that the Council’s requests to cooperative managers and representatives to voluntarily provide information to the Council in annual reports was an information collection subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act. Therefore, this information collection covers both the mandatory and voluntary components of the cooperative annual reports.

The regulations and uses for the instruments in this information collection are provided in the table in question #2 below.

Revision due to associated rule (RIN 0648-BJ73)

This information collection is revised due to the associated rule to implement Amendment 111 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska and a regulatory amendment to reauthorize the Central Gulf of Alaska Rockfish Program. This rule would retain the conservation, management, safety, and economic gains realized under the existing Rockfish Program and make minor revisions to improve administration of the Rockfish Program. This rule removes the requirement for an annual Rockfish Program cooperative report to be submitted to NMFS. This revision is necessary to remove unnecessary reporting requirements. NMFS staff who monitor and manage the Rockfish Program fisheries already have access to the information from internal NMFS databases and do not need the Rockfish Program cooperative managers to submit this information to NMFS.

Other revision

This information collection is revised to remove the AFA Catcher Vessel Intercooperative Agreement as a separate component of this collection because the Council does not request the cooperatives to provide a copy of the agreement. Industry voluntarily provides it to the Council as an appendix of the AFA Annual Catcher Vessel Intercooperative Report, which is approved under this collection. This revision is not due to the rule and is necessary to correct this information collection.

2. Indicate how, by whom, and for what purpose the information is to be used. Except for a new collection, indicate the actual use the agency has made of the information received from the current collection.

The purpose of the annual cooperative reports is to provide information to the Council and the public about the operations and performance of the cooperatives. This information is used by the Council to inform the public, to evaluate the performance of the cooperatives, and to identify problems or issues that may need to be addressed by the cooperatives or the Council in the future. This information is submitted as a written report, and there are no associated forms.

All 0648-0678 information collection components are submitted annually. The following table lists each element of the collection, whether the report is mandatory or voluntary, the purpose of the report, and whether the information is disseminated to the public. Additional information about the specific data collected under each component, the use of these data, and a description of the how these collections have changed over time is provided below.

Information Requirements and Needs and Uses of Information Collected

Item #	Requirement	Statute	Regulation	How and by whom is this submitted?*	Needs and Uses	Disseminated to the Public?
1	Alaska Crab Rationalization Program Cooperative Annual Report	16 U.S.C. ch. 38 § 1801 et seq.	n/a	Voluntary: Cooperative managers submit a written report to the Council.	Used by the public, Council, and NMFS to review program performance.	Yes
2	Annual Rockfish Cooperative Report	16 U.S.C. ch. 38 § 1801 et seq.	n/a	Voluntary: Cooperative managers submit a written report to the Council.	Used by the public, Council, and NMFS for program evaluation and feedback to NMFS and the Council.	Yes
3	Annual Amendment 80 Cooperative Report	16 U.S.C. ch. 38 § 1801 et seq.	50 CFR 679.5(s)	Mandatory: Cooperative managers submit a written report to NMFS. Voluntary: Cooperative managers submit a written report to the Council.	Used by the public, Council, and NMFS for program evaluation and feedback to NMFS and the Council.	Mandatory report submitted to NMFS – No Voluntary report submitted to the Council –Yes
4	Amendment 80 Halibut Prohibited Species Catch (PSC) Management Plan	16 U.S.C. ch. 38 § 1801 et seq.	n/a	Voluntary: Cooperative managers submit a written report to the Council.	Used by the public, Council, and NMFS for program evaluation and feedback to NMFS and the Council.	Yes
5	Amendment 80 Halibut Bycatch Avoidance Progress Report	16 U.S.C. ch. 38 § 1801 et seq.	n/a	Voluntary: Cooperative managers submit a written report to the Council.	Used by the public, Council, and NMFS for program evaluation and feedback to NMFS and the Council.	Yes
6	American Fisheries Act Annual Catcher Vessel Intercooperative Report	16 U.S.C. ch. 38 § 1801 et seq.	n/a	Voluntary: Intercooperative managers submit a written report to the Council.	Used by the public, Council, and NMFS for program evaluation and feedback to NMFS and the Council.	Yes
7	American Fisheries Act Cooperative Annual Report	16 U.S.C. ch. 38 § 1801 et seq.	50 CFR 679.61(f)	Mandatory: Cooperative managers submit a written report to the Council.	Used by the public, Council, and NMFS for program evaluation and feedback to NMFS and the Council.	Yes

* There are no forms for the information requirements in this collection.

Section 515 of Public Law 106-554 (the Information Quality Act) requires NMFS to ensure the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of information it publicly disseminates. Public dissemination of these reports is governed by NOAA's information quality guidelines, which were issued on October 30, 2004. The voluntary cooperative annual reports fall under NOAA’s information quality category “Natural Resource Plans,” which are information products that are prescribed by law and have content, structure, and public review processes that are based upon published standards (e.g., statutory or regulatory guidelines). These plans are a composite of several types of information (e.g., scientific, management, stakeholder input, policy) from a variety of internal and external sources.

NMFS does not disseminate the Annual Amendment 80 Cooperative Report that is required to be submitted to NMFS, because this report contains information that is confidential under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

The cooperative annual reports submitted to the Council are posted on the Council’s website, which makes them available to the public. They are accepted by the Council as they are prepared by industry, provided to the public in that form, and clearly identified as information products prepared by industry.

1. Alaska Crab Rationalization Program Cooperative Annual Report [No Change]

In a motion passed at its February 2013 meeting:

The Council requests that each of the BSAI crab rationalization cooperatives voluntarily provide an annual report detailing measures the cooperative is taking to facilitate the transfer of quota share to active participants, including crew members and vessel owners, and available measures which affect high lease rates and crew compensation. The annual reports should convey to the Council the effectiveness of the measures implemented through the cooperatives and the estimated level of member participation in any voluntary measures and include supporting information and data.

The Council further addressed its request in a subsequent motion at its April 2014 meeting, after receiving the crab cooperative’s annual reports:

The Council’s preferred reporting format for crab cooperatives answer the seven questions asked by the Council, as exemplified by the ICE (Inter-Cooperative Exchange) report of 2013. Additionally, the Council encourages all coops’ answers to be as quantitative as possible, as well as encourage 100% compliance with filing the reports by March 1 of each year.

This voluntary, non-regulatory collection summarizes the reported effectiveness of each measure and estimates the number of participants using each measure. This allows the Council to determine if the cooperatives are taking adequate action to facilitate the transfer of QS to active participants and control QS lease rates, or if potential future regulatory action may be needed to address these concerns.

The seven questions addressed in the ICE annual report of 2013 that the Council referenced in its April 2014 motion are the voluntary information collection elements listed below.

Report contents:

Voluntary information

1. What measures are the cooperative taking to facilitate the transfer of QS to active participants, including crew members and vessel owners?

2. What is the level of participation from cooperative members regarding these measures?

3. How effective have these measures been?

4. What measures are the cooperative taking to address the issue of high lease rates, as they affect crew compensation?

5. What is the level of participation from cooperative members regarding these measures?

6. How effective have these measures been?

7. What future measures does the cooperative plan to take to address the Council concerns about active participation and lease rates as they affect crew compensation?

In addition, the Council also has requested that the CR cooperatives

• Use consistent terminology with terms defined under the CR Program regulations.

• Provide a glossary of key terms used in the reports.

• Provide a comparison of the current year’s lease rates to previous year’s lease rates.

• Presentation of report at April Council meeting.

Regarding the Council’s request for information about crew compensation, in the annual report submitted to the Council in April 2019 by the Inter-Cooperative Exchange (ICE), ICE stated that “[G]iven the complexity and sensitivity of crew compensation arrangements, ICE has decided that it is not appropriate to collect or report that data. ICE believes that Council concerns regarding crab fishery crewmember compensation should be evaluated in light of crewmember “daily rate of pay” information that is collected from vessel owners through the Economic Data Reports (EDRs).”

The table below shows the number of voluntary CR cooperative annual reports received by the Council in recent years.

Cooperative	Number of Members/1	Did the cooperative submit an annual report to the Council this year?
		2020 (for 2019)	2019 (for 2018)	2018 (for 2017)	2017 (for 2016)
Inter-Cooperative Exchange (ICE)	183	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Alternative Crab Exchange (ACE)	151	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Trident Affiliated Crab Harvesting Cooperative	27	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
CPH Association	25	Yes	Yes	No	No
Dog Boat Cooperative	19	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Aleutian Island Cooperative	11	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Coastal Villages Crabbing Cooperative	7	No	Yes	Yes	No
R&B Cooperative	13	Yes	No	No	No
AK King Crab Harvesters	4	No	No	No	No

^/1 Source: NMFS Crab Harvesting Cooperatives and Membership, 2020.

2. Annual Rockfish Cooperative Report [Revised]

This rule removes the requirement that an annual Rockfish Cooperative Report be submitted to the NMFS.

In January 2020, the Council took action to reauthorize the Rockfish Program (RP). As part of this action and in response to recommendations from NMFS, the Council recommended removing regulations that required the submission of an annual Rockfish Cooperative Report to NMFS. The Council retained the request that the RP cooperative managers can voluntarily submit and present an annual report to the Council each year. NMFS had recommended that the Council consider removing regulations requiring submission of an annual cooperative report to NMFS because NMFS cannot release the report to the public, and NMFS does not need the information in the Annual Rockfish Cooperative Report to manage the RP fisheries.

NMFS does not disseminate the Annual Rockfish Cooperative Reports that are submitted in compliance with 50 CFR 679.5(r) because these reports contain information about harvests, retained catch, and discarded catch on a vessel-by-vessel basis and by cooperative that is confidential under the Magnuson-Stevens Act. NMFS staff who monitor and manage the RP fisheries already have access to all of this information from internal NMFS databases and do not need the RP cooperative managers to submit this information additionally to NMFS.

The Council did not provide additional information about the requested elements of the voluntary annual cooperative report once the mandatory elements are removed from Federal regulations. The Council generally discusses the elements of its voluntary cooperative reports at its April meetings. However, the April 2020 Council meeting was cancelled due to the COVID-19 virus pandemic. The information provided in the first bullet below is NMFS’s general understanding of what the Council will request in the voluntary Annual Rockfish Cooperative Report once the final rule for this action is effective in 2021.

Report contents:

Voluntary information

• A description of the allocations, participation, harvests, and prohibited species catch in the year covered by the annual report; how the previous year generally compared to past years; and any problems or concerns that occurred in the RP cooperative fisheries

3. Annual Amendment 80 Cooperative Report [No Change]

An A80 cooperative issued a cooperative quota (CQ) permit must submit annually to the NMFS AKR Regional Administrator an A80 Cooperative Annual Report detailing the use of the cooperative’s CQ, including the actual retained and discarded catch of CQ species and GOA sideboard species. In addition, the A80 Cooperative Annual Report provides voluntary, non-regulatory information on Program activities by each cooperative, including a summary of the report presented at the April Council meeting. This provides information to the Council and NMFS about how the catch share program is functioning, and if potential future changes may be needed.

Report contents:

Required information (50 CFR 679.5(s)(6)(iii))

• Actual retained and discarded catch of CQ and GOA sideboard limited fisheries (if applicable) by statistical area and on a vessel-by-vessel basis.

• A description of the method used by the cooperative to monitor fisheries in which cooperative vessels participated.

• A description of any actions taken by the cooperative against specific members in response to a member that exceeded the amount of CQ that the member was assigned to catch for the Amendment 80 cooperative.

• For each A80 cooperative, the percent of groundfish retained by that A80 cooperative of the aggregate groundfish retained by all A80 vessels assigned to that A80 cooperative according to the equations specified at § 679.5(s)(6)(iii)(D).

• For each A80 cooperative, a third party must audit the A80 cooperative's annual groundfish retention calculations and the A80 cooperative must include the finding of the third party audit in its A80 annual cooperative report.

Voluntary information

• Catch information from the Northern Bristol Bay Trawl Area.

• A retrospective indication of A80 catch capacity.

• Intertemporal harvest information.

• Information on cooperatives or other measures implemented to reduced bycatch in the BSAI yellowfin sole Trawl Limited Access Sector fishery.

• Presentation of report at April Council meeting.

The information required to be reported to NMFS about retained and discarded catch of CQ and GOA sideboard limited fisheries by statistical area and on a vessel-by-vessel basis is confidential under the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Therefore, NMFS does not release the Annual Amendment 80 Cooperative Report to the Council or public. The A80 cooperative prepares a modified annual report for the Council that excludes the confidential information.

NMFS does not need the information about retained and discarded catch and some of the other information provided in the annual report to manage the Amendment 80 fisheries; however,

NMFS cannot change the annual reporting requirements without consulting the Council and plans to at a future meeting.

4. Amendment 80 Halibut Prohibited Species Catch (PSC) Management Plan [No Change]

A80 cooperatives provide a Halibut PSC Management Plan to the Council to inform it of their plan to use voluntary, non-regulatory methods to avoid halibut bycatch in the BSAI groundfish fisheries.

The Council requested participants describe methods their fleets or cooperatives are currently developing or have undertaken to implement measures in their cooperative and intercooperative agreements to minimize the incidental catch of halibut. Obtaining this information through a voluntary collection is expected to provide the fleet with more flexibility to adapt fishing operations to changing environmental and market conditions than would result from placing specific requirements in regulation.

Report contents:

Voluntary information

• Halibut avoidance practices on the grounds

• Increased communication between participating harvesters

• Sharing data for performance tracking

• Use and development of excluders

• Deck sorting

• Performance measurement and assessment at the boat and company level

• Incentives for continuous efforts to minimize bycatch

• Consequences for substandard performance

5. Amendment 80 Halibut Bycatch Avoidance Progress Report [No Change]

The A80 Progress Report allows each sector in the BSAI groundfish fisheries to inform the Council of their progress on voluntary, non-regulatory methods used within their fishery cooperatives to avoid halibut bycatch in the BSAI groundfish fisheries.

The Council requested participants describe the methods their fleets or cooperatives are currently developing or have undertaken to implement measures in their cooperative and intercooperative agreements to minimize the incidental catch of halibut. The voluntary information is expected to provide the fleet with more flexibility to adapt fishing operations to changing environmental and market conditions than would result from placing the information as a regulatory requirement.

Report contents:

Voluntary information

• Development of effective and verifiable measures for halibut avoidance

• Performance measurement and assessment at the boat and company level.

• Voluntary presentation at December Council meetings

6. American Fisheries Act Annual Catcher Vessel Intercooperative Report [No Change]

The AFA Annual Catcher Vessel Intercooperative Report summarizes the activity of catcher vessel cooperatives under an intercooperative agreement. While the individual cooperative reports track the annual activities of each cooperative at the vessel level, the Intercooperative Report is a summary of AFA catcher vessel harvests in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska fisheries. This is useful to the Council and NMFS because catcher vessel sideboard limits and PSC caps are allocated to the AFA Program, not by individual cooperatives. As a result, this information collection provides detailed information about how sideboard limits and PSC are being utilized to determine if program objectives are being satisfactorily met.

The AFA Annual Catcher Vessel Intercooperative Report provides the Council and the public, with a simple means of evaluating the AFA catcher vessel fleets’ aggregate fishing performance under the AFA regulations. Additionally, this voluntary report contains information requested by the Council beyond the required regulatory elements of the individual cooperative reports to provide a broader understanding of catcher vessel cooperative activities.

Report contents:

Voluntary information

• Bering Sea pollock fishery allocations and harvest

• Salmon bycatch reduction measures

• Sideboard fishery groundfish sideboards

• PSC catch

Although the Council has not explicitly requested this information, the intercooperative manager includes a copy of the AFA Catcher Vessel Intercooperative Agreement as an appendix to the intercooperative’s report. The agreement provides information about the contract under which the AFA cooperatives operate. The agreement provides information to the Council and the public about intercooperative fishery allocations, PSC allocations, transfers of allocations and PSC, monitoring methods, and bycatch reduction methods.

7. American Fisheries Act Cooperative Annual Report [No Change]

The AFA Cooperative Annual Report is required to provide information to the Council about how each cooperative allocated pollock, other groundfish species, and prohibited species among the vessels in the cooperative; the catch of these species by area by each vessel in the cooperative; information about how the cooperative monitored fishing by its members; and a description of any actions taken by the cooperative to penalize vessels that exceeded the catch and prohibited species catch allocations made to the vessel by the cooperative. The purpose of this report is to provide the Council with information about the on-going operations and performance of the cooperatives on which to base its decisions about management of the Bering Sea pollock fishery.

Report contents:

Required information (50 CFR 679.61(f)(2))

• Cooperative’s allocated catch of pollock and sideboard species.

• Any sub-allocations of pollock and sideboard species made by the cooperative to individual vessels on vessel-by-vessel basis.

• Cooperative’s actual retained and discarded catch of pollock, sideboard species, and PSC on an area-by-area basis and on a vessel-by-vessel basis.

• Method used to monitor fisheries in which cooperative vessels participated.

• Actions taken in response to any vessels that exceed their allowed catch and bycatch in pollock and all sideboard fisheries.

• Total weight of pollock landed outside the State of Alaska on a vessel-by-vessel basis.

• Number of salmon taken by species and season.

• List each vessel's number of appearances on the weekly “dirty 20” lists for non-Chinook salmon.

Voluntary information

• Information on cooperatives or other measures implemented to reduced bycatch in the BSAI yellowfin sole trawl limited access sector fishery.

3. Describe whether, and to what extent, the collection of information involves the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g. permitting electronic submission of responses, and the basis for the decision for adopting this means of collection. Also, describe any consideration of using information technology to reduce burden.

With the exception of required elements of the Annual Amendment 80 Cooperative Report, which may be submitted by fax to NMFS, all other responses to these collections are submitted electronically via e-mail.

4. Describe efforts to identify duplication. Show specifically why any similar information already available cannot be used or modified for use for the purposes described in Question 2

In the analysis prepared for reauthorization of the Rockfish Program, NMFS identified to the Council the potential duplication involved in requiring the Rockfish Program cooperatives to submit an annual report to NMFS that NMFS cannot release to the public and does not need to manage the Rockfish Program fisheries. The rule (RIN 0648-BJ73) removes the mandatory Annual Rockfish Cooperative Report that was identified by NMFS as a potential duplication, and this revision is revised to remove that requirement. A possibly similar situation exists with the Annual Amendment 80 Cooperative Report submitted to NMFS, although some of the information requirements are different from the Annual Rockfish Cooperative Report. Otherwise, NMFS has reviewed the annual cooperative reporting requirements and requests for voluntary information from the Council and has not identified other areas of potential duplication.

5. If the collection of information impacts small businesses or other small entities, describe any methods used to minimize burden.

The cooperatives submitting information under this OMB collection are not small businesses or small entities as defined under the Regulatory Flexibility Act.

6. Describe the consequence to Federal program or policy activities if the collection is not conducted or is conducted less frequently, as well as any technical or legal obstacles to reducing burden.

The cooperative reports are required by NMFS or requested by the Council annually. These reports provide the Council and the public an opportunity to routinely assess program performance and to be informed about emerging issues or problems. Annual reporting is a standard reporting period for many government and private sector reports and the Council recommended that this time schedule bet fit its needs and the public’s needs. If the collection was not conducted or was conducted less frequently, less information would be available to the Council and the public to inform the management of fishery programs. Emerging conservation or management concerns may go unnoticed for longer.

7. Explain any special circumstances that would cause an information collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with OMB guidelines.

This collection of information will be conducted in a manner consistent with OMB guidelines.

This collection requires the submission of confidential information and NMFS has instituted procedures to protect the information's confidentiality to the extent permitted by law.

8. If applicable, provide a copy and identify the date and page number of publications in the Federal Register of the agency's notice, required by 5 CFR 1320.8 (d), soliciting comments on the information collection prior to submission to OMB. Summarize public comments received in response to that notice and describe actions taken by the agency in response to these comments. Specifically address comments received on cost and hour burden.

A proposed rule (RIN 0648-BJ73) soliciting public comments will be published coincident with this submission.

9. Explain any decision to provide any payment or gift to respondents, other than remuneration of contractors or grantees.

No payment or gift is provided under this program.

10. Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents and the basis for the assurance in statute, regulation, or agency policy. If the collection requires a systems of records notice (SORN) or privacy impact assessment (PIA), those should be cited and described here.

The annual reports submitted to NMFS are confidential under section 402(b) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. They are also confidential under NOAA Administrative Order 216-100, which sets forth procedures to protect confidentiality of fishery statistics. The Privacy Impact Assessment that covers this information collection is NOAA NMFS Alaska Region Local Area Network (NOAA4700).

The annual reports submitted to the Council are not confidential. They are posted on the Council’s website and available to the public. Most of the cooperative managers present their annual reports in oral testimony to the Council.

11. Provide additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior or attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private. This justification should include the reasons why the agency considers the questions necessary, the specific uses to be made of the information, the explanation to be given to persons from whom the information is requested, and any steps to be taken to obtain their consent.

This information collection does not involve information of a sensitive nature.

12. Provide estimates of the hour burden of the collection of information.

Information Collection	Type of Respondent (Occupational Title)	# of Respondents (a)	Annual # of Responses / Respondent (b)	Total # of Annual Responses (c) = (a) x (b)	Burden Hrs / Response (d)	Total Annual Burden Hrs (e) = (c) x (d)	Mean Hourly Wage Rate/1 (for Type of Respondent) (f)	Total Annual Wage Burden Costs (g) = (e) x (f)
1. Alaska Crab Rationalization Program Cooperative Annual Report	Cooperative manager	1 (ICE)	1	1	296	296	Varies/2	$35,700
	Cooperative managers	6 (other CR coops)	1	6	5	30	$93.20	$2,796
2. Annual Rockfish Cooperative Report	Cooperative managers	1 catch/processor cooperative report to Council	1	1	40	40	$32	$1,280
		1 respondent for 6 catcher vessel cooperatives report to Council	1	1	25	25	$36	$900
3. Annual Amendment 80 Cooperative Report	Cooperative manager	1	1	1	18	18	$45	$810
4. Amendment 80 Halibut Prohibited Species Catch (PSC) Management Plan	Cooperative managers	1	1	1	12.5	12.5	$45	$563
5. Amendment 80 Halibut Bycatch Avoidance Progress Report	Cooperative managers	1	1	1	12.5	12.5	$45	$563
6. American Fisheries Act Annual Catcher Vessel Intercooperative Report	Intercooperative manager	1	1	1	40	40	$100	$4,000
7. American Fisheries Act Cooperative Annual Report	Cooperative managers	8	1	8	16	128	$75	$9,600
Totals				23		602		56,212

^/1 The hourly wage rate for the six non-ICE cooperative managers that submit the Alaska Crab Rationalization Program Cooperative Annual Report is based on the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics wage for occupational code 11-1011, Chief Executives, May 2019. All other rates in this column are from previous respondent comment.

^/2 The wage burden costs are from a letter of comment submitted by Inter-Cooperative Exchange (ICE), during the 2019 renewal for this collection. NMFS was unable to discern the wage rates. See the response to Question 8 in the 2019 renewal for information on how NMFS determined the cost estimates for ICE. NMFS will adjust these cost estimates in the future if ICE provides additional detail to more accurately associate costs with the various burden hour categories.

13. Provide an estimate for the total annual cost burden to respondents or record keepers resulting from the collection of information. (Do not include the cost of any hour burden already reflected on the burden worksheet).

Information Collection	# of Respondents (a)	Annual # of Responses / Respondent (b)	Total # of Annual Responses (c)=(a) x (b)	Cost Burden / Response* (h)	Total Annual Cost Burden (i) = (c) x (h)
1. Alaska Crab Rationalization Program Cooperative Annual Report	ICE – 1	1	1	Operating costs - $5 Travel and lodging expenses - $3,000 Legal and other contractors $3,500	$6,505
	Other Cooperatives 6	1	6	Operating costs - $5	$30
2. Annual Rockfish Cooperative Report	2	1	2	Operating costs - $5 Travel and lodging expenses (1 person only)	$10 $1,400
3. Annual Amendment 80 Cooperative Report	1	1	1	Operating costs - $5 Report audit - $200	$205
4. Amendment 80 Halibut Prohibited Species Catch (PSC) Management Plan	1	1	1	Operating costs - $5	$5
5. Amendment 80 Halibut Bycatch Avoidance Progress Report	1	1	1	Operating costs - $5	$5
6. American Fisheries Act Annual Catcher Vessel Intercooperative Report	1	1	1	Operating costs - $5	$5
7. American Fisheries Act Cooperative Annual Report	8	1	8	Operating costs - $5	$40
Totals			21		$8,205

* Operating costs account for the typical inclusive general office services packages that include expenses for email, fax, copying, mailing, printing, and internet.

14. Provide estimates of annualized cost to the Federal government. Also, provide a description of the method used to estimate cost, which should include quantification of hours, operational expenses (such as equipment, overhead, printing, and support staff), and any other expense that would not have been incurred without this collection of information.

Cost Descriptions	Grade/Step	Loaded Salary /Cost	% of Effort	Fringe (if Applicable)	Total Cost to Government
Federal Oversight
Fishery Management Specialist	GS12 step 10	$169,545	1 hr or 0.05% of effort		$81
Contractor Cost					$0
Travel					$0
Other Costs:					$0
TOTAL					$81

GS 12 step 10 salary (capped out ZP-3) = $111,543. Loaded salary add 52% of salary ($111,543 * 1.52 = $169,545).

Assuming 2,087 hours in a Federal work year, the loaded hourly salary is $81.24 ($169,545 / 2,087).

To calculate % of effort: hrs/2,087 hrs = 0.0005 or about 0.05% of effort.

15. Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments reported in ROCIS.

Information Collection	Respondents		Responses		Burden Hours		Reason for change or adjustment
	Current Renewal / Revision	Previous Renewal / Revision	Current Renewal / Revision	Previous Renewal / Revision	Current Renewal / Revision	Previous Renewal / Revision
Alaska Crab Rationalization Program Cooperative Annual Report	7	7	9	9	326	326	No change
Annual Rockfish Cooperative Report	2	2	2	3	65	110	Program change: The rule associated with this revision removed the requirement for a Rockfish Cooperative to submit this report to NMFS.
Annual Amendment 80 Cooperative Report	1	1	1	1	18	18	No change
Amendment 80 Halibut Prohibited Species Catch (PSC) Management Plan	1	1	1	1	12.5	12.5	No change
Amendment 80 Halibut Bycatch Avoidance Progress Report	1	1	1	1	12.5	12.5	No change
American Fisheries Act Catcher Vessel Intercooperative Agreement	0	1	0	1	0	48	Adjustment: Removed as a separate component because the Council does not request the cooperatives to provide a copy of the agreement. Industry voluntarily provides it to the Council as an appendix of the AFA Annual Catcher Vessel Intercooperative Report.
American Fisheries Act Annual Catcher Vessel Intercooperative Report	1	1	1	1	40	40	No change
American Fisheries Act Cooperative Annual Report	8	8	8	8	128	128	No change
Total for Collection	19 (unique)	19	21	23	602	695
Difference	0		- 2 (-1 Change) (-1 Adjustment)		- 93 (-$45 Change) (-$48 adjustment)

Information Collection	Labor Costs		Miscellaneous Costs		Reason for change or adjustment
	Current	Previous	Current	Previous
Alaska Crab Rationalization Program Cooperative Annual Report	$38,496	$38,291	$6,535	$6,535	Program Change: Updated the labor costs that are based on Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data.
Annual Rockfish Cooperative Report	$2,180	$3,620	$1,410	$1,415	The rule associated with this revision removes the requirement for a Rockfish Cooperative to submit this report to NMFS
Annual Amendment 80 Cooperative Report	$810	$810	$205	$205	No change
Amendment 80 Halibut Prohibited Species Catch (PSC) Management Plan	$563	$563	$5	$5	No change
Amendment 80 Halibut Bycatch Avoidance Progress Report	$563	$563	$5	$5	No change
American Fisheries Act Catcher Vessel Intercooperative Agreement	$0	$4,800	$0	$2,105	Adjustment: Removed as a separate component because the Council does not request the cooperatives to provide a copy of the agreement, and Industry voluntarily provides it to the Council as an appendix of the AFA Annual Catcher Vessel Intercooperative Report.
American Fisheries Act Annual Catcher Vessel Intercooperative Report	$4,000	$4,000	$5	$5	No change
American Fisheries Act Cooperative Annual Report	$9,600	$9,600	$40	$40	No change
Total for Collection	$56,212	$62,247	$8,205	$10,315
Difference	- $6,035		- $2,110 (-$5 Change) (-$2,105 Adjustment)

16. For collections of information whose results will be published, outline plans for tabulation and publication. Address any complex analytical techniques that will be used. Provide the time schedule for the entire project, including beginning and ending dates of the collection of information, completion of report, publication dates, and other actions.

The reports are posted on the Council’s website at http://www.npfmc.org/cooperative-reporting/ or https://www.npfmc.org/council-meeting-archive/.

17. If seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection, explain the reasons that display would be inappropriate.

There are no forms for this information collection. The reports are produced as a letter and no specific format is required. In addition, they are presented in person at the Council meeting and a copy of the document is provided for posting.

18. Explain each exception to the certification statement identified in “Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions."

The agency certifies compliance with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).

3