This request is for a revision and extension of a current information collection. The revision, pursuant to proposed rule 0648-BN08, will add a new permit application for directed groundfish open access fishing; no other revisions are requested.
This collection of information is required by National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), West Coast Region â Seattle (WCR-SEATTLE). This supporting statement addresses data collections authorized by the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP), developed by the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC or Council) under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, U.S.C. 1801 et seq. (Magnuson-Stevens Act or MSA). The FMP governs the groundfish fishery off Washington, Oregon, and California (WOC).
Section 303(b)(1) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act specifically recognized the need for permit issuance. Almost every international, federal, state, and local fishery management authority recognizes the value of and uses permits as an integral part of their management systems. Identification of the participants, their gear types, descriptions of their vessels, and expected activity levels are needed to measure the consequences of management controls, and is an effective tool in the enforcement of other fishery regulations. Experience has shown that fines for violations of specific fishery regulations are not as effective as the threat of a permit revocation that would exclude the vessel from the fishery altogether.
Management of and regulations for Pacific halibut in the Pacific are developed on the international, Federal, and state levels by the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC), the Council, the NMFS West Coast Region, and the states of Washington, Oregon, and California. The IPHC and NMFS manage fishing for Pacific halibut through regulations established under authority of the Convention between the United States Halibut Fishery of the Northern Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea (Convention), the Northern Pacific Halibut Act of 1982, 16 U.S.C. 773c (Halibut Act), and Section 303(b) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Regulations for the guided sport fishery for Pacific halibut (recreational charter halibut fishery) on the West Coast are determined annually by the Council and the IPHC. NMFS publishes these regulations each year as part of the IPHC annual management measures. Regulations for the Pacific halibut fisheries are at 50 CFR 300 subpart E.
Responses to the items in the supporting statement are broken out by the various type of permit function: 1) application and reporting requirements for an exempted (experimental) fishing permits (EFPs) including Letters of Acknowledgement (LOAs) for EFPs and Exempted Educational Activity Authorizations (EEAAs); 2) transfer and renewal of Pacific Coast Groundfish limited entry permits (LEPs), including other information collections necessary for the sablefish permit stacking program; (3) application and renewal of a permit for Pacific halibut commercial and recreational charter halibut fisheries in IPHC Regulatory Area 2A off of WOC; (4) application and renewal of a permit for the directed groundfish open access fishery off of WOC. For each section of the information collection, we have presented the total number of burden hours and cost burden. Currently, there are 395 LEPs, of which 164 permits have a sablefish endorsement. The number of EFPs varies from year to year depending upon the number of applications submitted to and approved by PFMC and NMFS. The number of Pacific halibut permits is 550 permits each year. The number of directed open access groundfish (DOAG) fishery permits per year is 400.
Pursuant to upcoming rule 0648-BN08 a new form was added to this IC, increasing the responses, burden, and cost. This permit is needed to help better delineate directed versus incidental open access participation, to improve communication with the sectorâs participants, and to enhance availability of reliable predictive metrics to estimate future participation for modeling purposes.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Limited Entry Permit Renewal
0648-0203 Supporting Statement A.docx
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP).pdf
Limited Entry Permit Renewal