Justification - Hawaiian Monk Seal Sighting Reporting

Project Title: Hawaiian monk seal sighting reporting

Program Office Sponsoring or Conducting this CSC Project: NMFS/PIFSC and PIRO

Authority for this CSC Project: ESA, MMPA and CCSA

Purpose of this CSC Project: A major source of our stock assessment data for monk seals that reside in the main Hawaiian Islands region (MHI) comes from sighting reports made by the general public, volunteer networks, and other citizen scientists. This information is used to measure the abundance and health of the MHI monk seal population over time.

Type(s) of Information Collected and From Whom It Is Collected: This project collects monk seal sightings information including date, time, and location of the sighting, as well as identifying information about an individual seal such as seal size, sex, presence of applied flipper tags or pelage dye marks, other identifying characteristics, seal behavior, injuries or other concerns. NMFS collects this information from independent individuals who call a NOAA hotline as well as form volunteers within multiple organizations.

Use of the Information: NMFS uses this information to assist in monitoring the MHI monk seal population and for the stock assessment of the species. Additionally, reports of injuries and other concerns inform threat assessments and recovery interventions and provide information for annual serious injury determinations.

Method(s) of Information Collection: The volunteers provide the information by phone (reporting Hotline), e-mail and electronically using web-based platforms.

Affected Public: Individuals, Non-governmental organizations, State volunteers

Estimated Average Annual Number of Participants: 2,100

Estimated Average Annual Number of Responses per Participant: 7.57

Estimated Average Minutes per Response: 21.5

Estimated Average Annual Burden Hours: 5,700

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

Estimated Average Annual Costs to the Federal Government: $70,385

Estimated Average Annual Number of Federal Government Employees (FTEs): 0.21

Recruitment and Retention Methods for Voluntary Participants (SSA item 1): This ongoing project has solicited information from the general public, the local community and volunteer networks for over 20 years. Volunteer network recruitment and engagement is managed by various NGO organizations and partner agencies who have an interest and/or mandate to support monk seal conservation. Public and community support is encouraged by providing a toll-free reporting hotline and email system, and through community engagement and information feedback.

Gifts or Payments (SSA Item 9): We do not plan to provide a gift or payment to the voluntary participants.

Annual and Multi-Year Schedules (SSA Item 16): Our project is ongoing/year round and does not have a foreseeable end date. While we do not produce scheduled reports or publications based solely on the information collected from this CSC project, we do use this data to help inform our population abundance estimates and annual Stock Assessment Reports.

Display OMB Control No. and Expiration Date (SSA Item 17): This information will be provided when individuals sign up to participate in this CSC project.

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 CASC project. One is the web-based Google Form used to collect a portion of the information for this CSC project. The other is a screenshot of NOAA Fisheries website with instructions on how to report information on Hawaiian monk seal sightings and injured or distressed monk seals. Should more information be needed please contact [email protected].

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: Tracy Mercer