0648-0677 Supporting Statement A

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

U.S. Department of Commerce

National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration

Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Individual Bluefin Quota (IBQ) Tracking and Appeals

OMB Control No. 0648-0677

Abstract

This request is for the renewal and extension of a currently approved information collection. This information collection consists of tracking IBQ allocation trading among individuals with Atlantic Tunas Longline category vessel permits. An online system managed by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) will track allocations and allocation trades, and reconcile trades with landings for bluefin tuna quota monitoring. The information collected through this program is essential for the United States to implement the IBQ program implemented by Amendment 7, and modified under Amendment 13, to the 2006 Consolidated Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP), and to meet its reporting obligations to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) by ensuring that the catch of bluefin tuna remains within ICCAT required quotas and landings limits.

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 United States (U.S.) Secretary of Commerce is authorized to regulate fisheries for Atlantic highly migratory species (HMS) under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act¹ (MSA; 16 U.S.C. 1801 et. seq.) and the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act of 1975² (ATCA; 16 U.S.C. 971 et. seq.), as amended. ATCA authorizes the Secretary to promulgate regulations as may be necessary and appropriate to carry out the binding recommendations from ICCAT.

ICCAT manages the international fisheries that catch the highly valued, internationally pursued Atlantic bluefin tuna. ICCAT recommendations allocate a limited portion of the western Atlantic bluefin tuna quota to the United States for distribution among domestic user groups. NMFS regulations at 50 CFR part 635³ per the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP govern domestic allocation of the ICCAT recommended bluefin tuna quota.

Amendment 7 to the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP implemented IBQ shares and allocations to vessels fishing in the Atlantic Tunas Longline category. Amendment 13 to the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP reaffirmed the need for IBQs and, among other things, made adjustments to the vessel allocation process. IBQs are intended to efficiently allocate limited quota for incidental capture of bluefin tuna among vessels in the Longline category, while minimizing dead discards and discouraging interactions with bluefin tuna. An online system (IBQ Online System) developed by NMFS tracks allocations and allocation leases, and reconciles leases with bluefin tuna catch for quota monitoring. This collection of information includes reporting of IBQ allocation leases among pelagic longline (PLL) vessels, and the creation of online accounts on pay.gov by IBQ participants to process cost recovery fee payments.

Cost Recovery

Section 304(d)(2) of the MSA requires a cost recovery plan to recover management and enforcement costs for fisheries with individual fishing quotas (IFQ). The IBQ program falls within this category of program. The 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP was amended by Amendment 13 in 2022 (87 FR 59966) to include a flexible cost recovery program, under which NMFS would make an annual determination whether a cost recovery fee paid by Atlantic tunas longline permit holders for a particular year is warranted. Annually, NMFS estimates its incremental costs associated with the IBQ Program (including costs associated with the cost recovery program) and the total ex-vessel value of bluefin sold from the PLL fishery, and notifies the public whether a cost recovery fee will be charged for the year. If NMFS determines the annual cost recovery fee is warranted, NMFS would send bills to permit holders that sold bluefin to dealers (based on dealer landings data). IBQ permit holders are then be required to submit a cost recovery payment via a pre-existing Federal payment system called pay.gov⁴, which is also used by the Greater Atlantic, Alaska, and Southeast Regions. Information submitted via the internet would require the user to establish an online account, including personal and financial information. This requirement was necessary in order to comply with the provisions of the MSA and to collect payments from individuals that have been granted an allocation to a public resource. Permit holders are able to access pay.gov through the IBQ Catch Shares Online System.

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.

Eligible Atlantic Tunas Longline category permit holders must have an IBQ Catch Shares Online System account in order to be issued IBQ shares and resultant allocation, or lease IBQ. NMFS sets up the IBQ Catch Shares Online System account for eligible IBQ participants based on information provided in the application for the Atlantic Tunas Longline permit (Collection 0648-0327). The information is updated as needed.

The lease monitoring information collected by the IBQ Catch Shares Online System will be used by eligible permit holders in the PLL fishery in accounting for their respective IBQ category allocations, and documenting allocation leases with other IBQ participants. Participants (lessors) will enter the amount of quota they wish to lease, the price per pound, and the account number receiving the lease. NMFS will use these data to ensure proper accounting of allocations among participants, and to track use of quota allocations and reconcile allocation usage with bluefin tuna catch and landings. Eligible IBQ participants will also use the system to monitor their IBQ allocations and catch data.

Figure 1. Screen shot of allocation leasing webpage

None of these data will be released for public review, except in aggregate form. NMFS will retain control over the information and safeguard it from improper access, modification, and destruction, consistent with NOAA standards for confidentiality, privacy and electronic information. See response to Question 10 of this Supporting Statement for more information on confidentiality and privacy. The information collection is designed to yield data that meet all applicable information quality guidelines. Prior to dissemination, the information will be subjected to quality control measures and a pre-dissemination review pursuant to Section 515 of Public Law 106-554⁵.

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.

IBQ Transfers

NMFS developed, and now maintains, the IBQ Catch Shares Online System to track IBQ shares and allocations. All data entry is via the internet-based webpage https://atlhmscatchshares.fisheries.noaa.gov/home⁶. Shareholders use the system to track their IBQ and lease allocations with other shareholders. Shareholders sign into the system to monitor their IBQ allocations, and to indicate the amount of quota allocation they would like to lease, and identify the other shareholder to whom they will transfer the allocation (lessee). The system tracks the amount of allocation leased and the cost of allocations. Along with the bluefin tuna dealer reporting system, it is used to monitor the status of the Longline category quota.

Cost Recovery

Vessel owners submit payment via the secure internet site: www.pay.gov, accessible through the IBQ Catch Shares Online System, if warranted based on annual assessment.

NMFS collects all other information from vessel owners and/or operators through completed forms and/or instructions. Forms may be sent by mail, fax, or scanned and emailed.

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

The IBQ program covered under this collection of information is implemented by NMFS, which is the sole authority responsible for managing the domestic Atlantic bluefin tuna fishery, on behalf of the Secretary of Commerce. No other agency has authority to implement an IBQ system for bluefin tuna fisheries. The Atlantic HMS management program includes a high degree of internal coordination across NMFS regions, science centers, and headquarters offices. The distributed nature of the HMS staff throughout the agency helps the program avoid duplication and leverage other NMFS assets.

During the development of both Amendments 7 and 13, which established the regulations for the IBQ system, NMFS coordinated closely with the HMS Advisory Panel (AP). The HMS AP includes citizens from HMS commercial and recreational fishing interests, environmental interests, academia, state fishery agencies, and federal fishery management councils. These individuals provide significant input and direction to NMFS, including the status of other fishery management or research programs and any potential for duplication of or similar reporting requirements in other fisheries. NMFS also coordinates directly with the states of the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts, and the fishery management councils and interstate marine fisheries commissions operating in these geographic areas

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

This collection of information will affect Atlantic Tunas Longline category vessel owners/participants, all of whom are small businesses. The IBQ system minimizes burden on vessel captains by allowing for quarterly accounting of IBQ shares. This provides vessels greater flexibility to continue fishing while they secure leases of additional IBQ to resolve low IBQ balances or quota debt.

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.

If this IBQ information tracking was not conducted, NMFS would not be able to effectively implement the IBQ tracking and leasing required under HMS regulations at 50 CFR part 635⁷. Without the tracking component of the IBQ Catch Shares Online System, NMFS and IBQ shareholders would not be able to effectively track the amount of IBQ allocation used by vessel owners/participants. Without the leasing component, the management program would be less effective, in part because of the small relative size of the IBQ shares and resulting allocations that will be available to each Longline category vessel. The catch of bluefin among Longline category vessels is not evenly distributed geographically or among the fleet. It would be very difficult to award IBQ shares and resultant allocation to permit holders in a way that would provide the IBQ allocation necessary to account for their bluefin catch (landings and dead discards). Without transferability, a permit holder’s IBQ allocation could severely constrain their potential fishing effort.

Real-time data collection is required to provide leasing functionality for the limited IBQ allocations and Longline category quota. Without real-time tracking of IBQ allocations, vessels might not be able to meet the minimum allocation requirement to be able to lawfully proceed on a fishing trip. Further, overages by the Longline category could impact other domestic user groups or result in an annual quota overage. ICCAT could assess a penalty to the United States for overharvesting its quota.

If warranted based on the annual assessment, the cost recovery requirements are critical to administer the cost recovery program and collect payment from IBQ permit holders. The minimum amount of information would be collected to effectively administer this program.

7. Explain any special circumstances that require the collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with OMB guidelines.

OMB guidelines state that respondents should not be required to report information more often than quarterly. However, the IBQ Catch Shares Online System requires information regarding IBQ tracking and leasing to be entered in real-time. Without real-time data entry, NMFS and vessel owners/fishery participants would not be able to monitor the status of IBQ allocations in real-time. Further, vessel owners/participants would not be able to conduct IBQ allocation leases in real-time and the IBQ Catch Shares Online System would not be useful to the respondents.

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 notice was published in the Federal Register on July 16, 2024 (89 FR 57876) requesting public comment on the information collection requirements. Although no comments were received as a result of the Federal Register notice, NMFS routinely communicates with the users of the IBQ system and other affected members of the public about its HMS management programs in general, and the IBQ system.

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

There are no payments or other remunerations to respondents.

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.

All data submitted under this collection will be handled as confidential in accordance with the MSA, Section 402b, and NOAA Administrative Order 216-100⁸, Protection of Confidential Fishery Statistics. Respondents are given this assurance as part of the initial information received upon enrollment to use the IBQ Catch Shares Online System. The initial information will either be mailed or emailed to the applicant, or available for download from the IBQ website.

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.

No questions of a sensitive nature are asked.

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

For 2021, 2022, and 2023 new vessel accounts totaled 22, 19, and 27 respectively per year, for an average of 22.7 per year, which NMFS is rounding up to 30 per year to account for potential future increases. NMFS estimates that it takes 12 minutes for each respondent to request and set up their account, for a total of 6 hours (30 new accounts x 12 minutes per account = 300 minutes/60 minutes/hour = 6 hours). Reporting burden for IBQ System request and set up is given in Table 1.

The annual amount of IBQ allocation leasing varies based on IBQ allocation size and the needs of permit holders or fishery participants. For 2020, 2021, and 2022, there were 38, 78, and 108 leases, respectively, for an average of 75 per year. NMFS is rounding up to 120 per year to account for potential future increases. At 120 leases per year, the greatest possible number of respondents would be 240 (120 lessors and 120 lessees). NMFS estimates that each lease will take approximately 15 minutes per party (lessor/lessee) to complete. NMFS increased this estimate from 2 minutes in our initial supporting statement based on feedback from constituents who used the system. At 120 leases per year and 15 minutes per lease for the lessor and 15 minutes per lease for the lessee, the total reporting burden would be 100 x 15 x 2 = 3600/60 minutes/hour = 60 hours (see Table 1).

All Atlantic tuna Longline permit holders that land bluefin could be subject to cost recovery requirements, if warranted based on annual assessment. NMFS estimates that this number is not likely to exceed 60 vessels, based on recent IBQ Program data. However, NMFS is rounding up this number to 120 per year to account for potential future increases. Public reporting burden for cost recovery is estimated to average 15 minutes per individual response, including the time for logging onto the relevant online website, reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. The total burden is estimated to be 30 hours.

Table 1. Annual reporting requirements, respondents, burden estimates, and associated wage burden costs.

Information Collection	Type of Respondent (e.g., 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)	Hourly Wage Rate (for Type of Respondent) (f)	Total Annual Wage Burden Costs (g) = (e) x (f)
Initial Application for IBQ Account	Ship Captain	30	1	30	0.2	6	$29.23	$175.38
IBQ Lease of Allocation	Ship Captain	240	1	240	0.25	60	$29.23	$1,753.80
IBQ Cost Recovery	Ship Captain	120	1	120	0.25	30	$29.23	$876.90
Totals				390		96		$2,806.08

Occupational Code used: 45-1011 First-Line Supervisor of Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Workers. https://www.bls.gov/bls/blswage.htm

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).

There is no additional cost burden to the public as a result of this information collection. All IBQ allocation leasing is done electronically, and electronic submission will not result in any additional cost to the public, since small businesses are already set up with computers and internet service as part of their regular business operations.

Table 2. Annual cost burden per respondent and overall.

Information Collection	# of Respondents (a)	Annual # of Responses / Respondent (b)	Total # of Annual Responses (c) = (a) x (b)	Cost Burden / Respondent (h)	Total Annual Cost Burden (i) = (c) x (h)
Initial Application for IBQ Account	30	1	30	$0	$0
IBQ Lease of Allocation	240	1	240	$0	$0
IBQ Cost Recovery	120	1	120	$0	$0
TOTALS			390		-

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.

The Federal government costs for this information collection include contractor costs to build and maintain the electronic IBQ Catch Shares Online System to account for trade, program administration, and processing any requested appeals. FTE-associated costs are for program oversight by the Fisheries Information and Monitoring Branch Chief in the Atlantic HMS Management Division, and customer service calls fielded by HMS Management Division staff.

NMFS expects annual maintenance costs of $73,000 per year. Additional contractual support for the IBQ system will now be provided through the Automated Fishery Management Support System contract which estimates IBQ related costs to be $57,000 annually. Finally, we estimate $12,927 in ODC costs associated with data storage for the IBQ program.

Table 3. Estimated federal costs associated with support of the Individual Bluefin Quota program.

Cost Descriptions	Grade/Step	Loaded Salary /Cost	% of Effort	Fringe (if Applicable)	Total Cost to Government
Federal Oversight	ZA - 4/5	$228,405	5.00%		$11,420.25
Other Federal Positions	ZP-4/3	$210,002	1.50%		$3,150.03
Other Federal Positions	ZP-3/2	$134,294	2.50%		$3,357.35
Other Federal Positions	ZP-3/2	$134,294	2.50%		$3,357.35
Other Costs:
IBQ System Administration					$72,828.00
AFMSS Contract					$57,255.96
Catch Share ODC					$12,926.59
TOTAL					$164,295.53

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

There are no program changes in this renewal. Adjustments were made to each information collection to reflect recent increases in leasing activity and new accounts in recent years.

Table 4. Changes and adjustments to respondent burden estimates.

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
Initial Application for IBQ Account	30	20	30	20	6	4	Adjusted to reflect increase in applications
IBQ Lease of Allocation	240	200	240	200	60	50	Adjusted to reflect increased leasing activity
IBQ Cost Recovery	120	100	120	100	30	25	Adjusted to reflect increased leasing activity
Total for Collection	390	320	390	320	96	79
Difference	70		70		17

Table 5. Changes and adjustments to respondent labor and miscellaneous costs.

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 results from the collection are not planned for statistical publication, although NMFS may distribute the results in reports or other publications. Prior to publication, data would be aggregated, as needed, to maintain confidentiality, and any report would comply with the Information Quality Act guidelines.

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.

The expiration date is displayed on the IBQ Catch Share Program – Public Home page.

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

The agency certifies compliance with 5 CFR 1320.9⁹ and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3)¹⁰.

1 https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/topic/laws-policies/magnuson-stevens-act

2 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/16/chapter-16A

3 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-50/chapter-VI/part-635?toc=1

4 https://www.pay.gov/public/home

5 https://www.noaa.gov/organization/information-technology/policy-oversight/information-quality/information-quality-guidelines

6 https://atlhmscatchshares.fisheries.noaa.gov/home

7 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-50/chapter-VI/part-635?toc=1

8 https://www.noaa.gov/organization/administration/nao-216-100-protection-of-confidential-fisheries-statistics

9 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-5/chapter-III/subchapter-B/part-1320/section-1320.9

10 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-5/chapter-III/subchapter-B/part-1320/section-1320.8