The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrationâs (NOAAâs) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is seeking to revise and extend the information collections currently approved under Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Control No. 0648-0016 pursuant to proposed rule 0648-BN11. The proposed rule would require electronic logbook reporting for commercial fisheries currently reporting in the Gulf of America (Gulf) Reef Fish, South Atlantic Snapper-Grouper, King and Spanish Mackerel, Shark, Atlantic Dolphin and Wahoo logbook (coastal logbook).
The proposed rule includes modifications to questions asked in the coastal logbook, including trip start date and time, trip end date and time, primary area fished, and trip type. These additional questions are necessary to prevent overlapping and duplicative trip submissions and to be compatible with the Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics (ACCSP) database. The Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics program is an independent NOAA partner that gathers data on Atlantic fisheries (state and federal) to share with the scientific community. As a part of the larger Fisheries Information Network (FIN), ACCSP houses a data-gathering system called the Standard Atlantic Fisheries Information System (SAFIS) to promote state-federal collaboration and data dissemination.
Some data fields would be removed, including state trip ticket number and payment of catch. The signature field in the paper form would be replaced with a perjury statement that the submitter (an owner or operator) acknowledges and affirms the accurate and truthful data entry before submission can occur. Other data fields that may be modified include âhours/days,â which would default to hours to be consistent with the ACCSP database. In addition, the âsales dispositionâ data field would default to âsold to dealerâ to be consistent with the ACCSP database. The retained catch (landings) would require an entry into the catch disposition category, which would default to âgeneral: food.â Those selected to submit information on discards would be required to declare the disposition of both retained catch and discards.
NMFS does not expect the previously approved estimates of time burden for the coastal logbook information collection to change, due to the number of questions remaining relatively the same and the format of the application (dropdowns, toggles, calendars). NMFS will reevaluate the time burden for this collection once users become better acquainted with the electronic logbook applications. The proposed revision would not affect other information collections in 0648-0016 currently approved by OMB.
PL:
Pub.L. 94 - 265 303
Name of Law: Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Management and Conservation Act
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.
Wreckfish Logbook - Trip Report Form
0648-0016 Supporting Statement A re BN11.docx
NOAA4400 PIA FY25- SAOP Approved Delegated.pdf
Headboat Logbook