Justification - Sturgeon Salvage Network

Project Title: Sturgeon Salvage Network

Program Office Sponsoring or Conducting this CSC Project: NMFS/SERO

Authority for this CSC Project: ESA (ESA)

Purpose of this CSC Project: This project helps NMFS track the deaths of ESA-listed species.

Type(s) of Information Collected and From Whom It Is Collected: Individuals report information on location, species, date, body condition (fresh dead, dried carcass), disposition (alive/dead), tag information, and size of ESA-listed species.

Use of the Information: NMFS uses this information to collect the carcasses of ESA-listed species for genetic analysis and population monitoring.

Method(s) of Information Collection: telephone or email

Affected Public: Individuals

Estimated Average Annual Number of Participants: 50

Estimated Average Annual Number of Responses per Participant: 1.12

Estimated Average Minutes per Response: 10

Estimated Average Annual Burden Hours: 9

Estimated Total Annual Cost to Participants in this CSC Project: $0

Estimated Average Annual Costs to the Federal Government: $6,837

Estimated Average Annual Number of Federal Government Employees (FTEs): 0.04

Recruitment and Retention Methods for Voluntary Participants (SSA item 1): Recruitment is achieved via the deployment of signage requesting voluntary reporting. Because this project is based on opportunistic data reporting, no minimum number of voluntary participants has been set.

Gifts or Payments (SSA Item 9): Members of the public that report sturgeon information via this hotline are asked if they would like to receive a "Save Endangered Sturgeon" sticker, at no cost to them, as a thank you for reporting. If they agree, stickers are sent to them.

Annual and Multi-Year Schedules (SSA Item 16): This action is ongoing. No reports, publications, or other actions are scheduled. Reported data is categorized by calendar year, Jan 1 - Dec 31.

Display OMB Control No. and Expiration Date (SSA Item 17): Existing signage requesting voluntary reporting does not include OMB Control No. Future designs of the signs will include that information. Because shared information originates from the public and is shared voluntarily, it is unclear how this information could be shared prior to receiving the information from the public.

Statistical Methods: This CSC project will not employ statistical methods.

Approval for Pretesting: This CSC project will not require additional pretesting with more than nine members of the public.

Supplemental Documents: There are two supplemental documents for this CSC project. One includes screenshots from the webpage volunteers use to enter information for sturgeon sightings off Connecticut. Similar information is requested for sightings off other states. The other is a promotional flyer used for recruitment purposes.

CERTIFICATION: I certify the following are true.

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The collection will not include highly influential scientific information, which is information NOAA or OMB determines: (i) could have a potential impact of more than $500 million in any year, or (ii) is novel, controversial, or precedent-setting or has significant interagency interest.

5. The collection complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).

6. The collection will provide qualitative and quantitative data that help inform scientific research and monitoring, validate models or tools, support STEM learning, and enhance the quantity and quality of data collected to support NOAA’s mission.

Name: Andy Herndon