Agency Information Collection Activities; Sea Lamprey Control Program, 41414-41415 [2023-13435]

Agencies

• Fish and Wildlife Service
• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 121 (Monday, June 26, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41414-41415]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-13435]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Docket No. FWS-R3-FAC-2023-0096; FF03F43100-XXXF1611NR; OMB Control 
Number 1018-0179]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Sea Lamprey Control 
Program

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we, 
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are proposing to renew an 
information collection, without change.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
August 25, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Send your comments on the information collection request 
(ICR) by one of the following methods (please reference 1018-0179 in 
the subject line of your comments):
     Internet (preferred): https://www.regulations.gov. Follow 
the instructions for submitting comments on Docket No. FWS-R3-FAC-2023-
0096.
     Email: [email protected].
     U.S. mail: Service Information Collection Clearance 
Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 5275 Leesburg Pike, MS: PRB 
(JAO/3W), Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Madonna L. Baucum, Service Information 
Collection Clearance Officer, by email at [email protected], or by 
telephone at (703) 358-2503. Individuals in the United States who are 
deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 
711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay 
services. Individuals outside the United States should use the relay 
services offered within their country to make international calls to 
the point-of-contact in the United States.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 (PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) and 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1), we 
provide the general public and other Federal agencies with an 
opportunity to comment on new, proposed, revised, and continuing 
collections of information. This helps us assess the impact of our 
information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting 
burden. It also helps the public understand our information collection 
requirements and provide the requested data in the desired format.
    As part of our continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent 
burdens, we are again soliciting comments from the public and other 
Federal agencies on the proposed ICR that is described below. We are 
especially interested in public comment addressing the following:
    (1) Whether or not the collection of information is necessary for 
the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including 
whether or not the information will have practical utility;
    (2) The accuracy of our estimate of the burden for this collection 
of information, including the validity of the methodology and 
assumptions used;
    (3) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
    (4) How might the agency minimize the burden of the collection of 
information on those who are to respond, including through the use of 
appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., 
permitting electronic submission of response.
    Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of 
public record. Before including your address, phone number, email 
address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you 
should be aware that your entire comment--including your personal 
identifying information--may be made publicly available at any time. 
While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal 
identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we 
will be able to do so.
    Abstract: Service staff at the Marquette and Ludington biological 
stations fulfill U.S. obligations under the Convention on Great Lakes 
Fisheries Between the United States of America and Canada, Washington, 
1954, and the Great Lakes Fishery Act of 1956 (16 U.S.C. 931 et seq.). 
The Service works with State, Tribal, and other Federal agencies to 
monitor progress towards fish community objectives for sea lampreys in 
each of the Great Lakes, and also to develop and implement actions to 
achieve these objectives. Activities

[[Page 41415]]

are closely coordinated with those of State, Tribal, and other Federal 
and provincial management agencies, nongovernmental organizations, 
private landowners, and the public. Our primary goal is to conduct 
ecologically sound and publicly acceptable integrated sea lamprey 
control.
    The Sea Lamprey Control Program is administered and funded by the 
Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC) and implemented by two control 
agents, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Fisheries and Oceans 
Canada, who often partner on larger projects. The sea lamprey 
(Petromyzon marinus), a parasitic fish species native to the Atlantic 
Ocean, parasitizes other fish species by sucking their blood and other 
bodily fluids. Having survived through at least four major extinction 
events, the species has remained largely unchanged for more than 340 
million years. The sea lamprey differs from many other fishes, in that 
it does not have jaws or other bony structures, but instead has a 
skeleton made of cartilage. Sea lampreys prey on most species of large 
Great Lakes fish such as lake trout, salmon, lake sturgeon, whitefish, 
burbot, walleye, and catfish.
    In the 1800s, sea lampreys invaded the Great Lakes system via 
manmade locks and shipping canals. Their aggressive behavior and 
appetite for fish blood wreaked havoc on native fish populations, 
decimating an already vulnerable lake trout fishery. The first recorded 
observation of a sea lamprey in the Great Lakes was in 1835 in Lake 
Ontario. For a time, Niagara Falls served as a natural barrier, 
confining sea lampreys to Lake Ontario and preventing them from 
entering the remaining four Great Lakes. However, in the early 1900s, 
modifications were made to the Welland Canal, which bypasses Niagara 
Falls and provides a shipping connection between Lakes Ontario and 
Erie. These modifications allowed sea lampreys access to the rest of 
the Great Lakes system. Within a short time, sea lampreys spread 
throughout the system: into Lake Erie by 1921, Lakes Michigan and Huron 
by 1936 and 1937, and Lake Superior by 1938. Sea lampreys were able to 
thrive once they invaded the Great Lakes because of the availability of 
excellent spawning and larval habitat, an abundance of host fish, a 
lack of predators, and their high reproductive potential--a single 
female can produce as many as 100,000 eggs.
    The Sea Lamprey Control Program (SLCP) maintains an internal 
database. In existence for more than 20 years, it contains information 
critical to the delivery and evaluation of an integrated control 
program to manage invasive sea lamprey populations in the five Great 
Lakes. The storage of data in this database not only documents the 
history of the SLCP since inception in 1953, but it also provides data 
to steer assessment and control of invasive sea lamprey populations in 
the Great Lakes in partnership with the GLFC. We provide annual 
population data to Federal and State regulatory agencies to inform 
critical evaluations used to receive the appropriate permits to allow 
us to conduct sea lamprey control actions.
    The SLCP database maintains the points of contact for landowners to 
request landowner permission to access their land for treatment. The 
Service collects basic contact information for the landowner (name, 
home address, phone number, cell phone number, and email address), 
along with alternate contact information, whether they allow access to 
their land, methods of transportation allowed on property, whether a 
gate key or gate combination is needed to access the land, whether the 
landowner irrigates the land, and an opportunity to ask additional 
questions about treatment or sea lamprey management.
    Title of Collection: Sea Lamprey Control Program.
    OMB Control Number: 1018-0179.
    Form Number: None.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents/Affected Public: Individuals, private sector, and 
State/local/Tribal governments.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 440.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 440.
    Estimated Completion Time per Response: 5 minutes.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 37 (rounded).
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Frequency of Collection: Annually.
    Total Estimated Annual Nonhour Burden Cost: None.
    An agency may not conduct or sponsor and a person is not required 
to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a 
currently valid OMB control number.
    The authority for this action is the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

Madonna Baucum,
Information Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-13435 Filed 6-23-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P