Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Expanding Industry-Collaborative Research Surveys in Untrawlable Habitats Along the Pacific Coast, 14123 [2025-05350]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 59 (Friday, March 28, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Page 14123]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-05350]



[[Page 14123]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment 
Request; Expanding Industry-Collaborative Research Surveys in 
Untrawlable Habitats Along the Pacific Coast

    The Department of Commerce will submit the following information 
collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for 
review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995, on or after the date of publication of this notice. We invite the 
general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed and 
continuing information collections, which helps us assess the impact of 
our information collection requirements and minimize the public's 
reporting burden. Public comments were previously requested via the 
Federal Register on March 5, 2024, during a 60-day comment period. This 
notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
    Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Commerce.
    Title: Expanding Industry-Collaborative Research Surveys in 
Untrawlable Habitats along the Pacific Coast.
    OMB Control Number: 0648-XXXX.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Regular submission [new information collection].
    Number of Respondents: 200.
    Average Hours per Response: 0.33.
    Total Annual Burden Hours: 66.
    Needs and Uses: This request is to initiate a new collection of 
information from members of the recreational and commercial fishing 
communities along the Pacific Coast to support expansion of fishery-
independent groundfish research surveys conducted by or in coordination 
with the National Marine Fisheries Service's (NMFS) Northwest Fisheries 
Science Center (NWFSC) and Southwest Fisheries Science Centers (SWFSC). 
The two centers are working jointly on this collection. Statutory and 
regulatory authority for the conduct of these surveys and their 
expansion emanate from the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) and NMFS National 
Standard (NS) 2. MSA Sec. 402(e) and NS 2 (50 CFR 600.315) authorize 
resource assessments including research surveys as a means of 
generating the best available scientific information for assessing and 
managing fish stocks, including the groundfish stocks along the Pacific 
Coast. MSA Sec. 404(b)(3) authorizes NMFS to conduct these surveys 
aboard industry vessels.
    This collection will generate information essential for the 
expansion of existing industry-collaborative groundfish research 
surveys in untrawlable habitats along the Pacific Coast. Survey 
expansion will close spatial gaps in existing survey coverage and 
provide information for the monitoring, assessment, and management of 
ecologically and economically important groundfish stocks including 
quillback rockfish (Sebastes maliger), copper rockfish (S. caurinus), 
yelloweye rockfish (S. ruberrimus), lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus), and 
many others. Due to the paucity of data for some of these species and 
the resulting uncertainty surrounding the abundance and trajectory of 
these stocks within stock assessments, large areas of the coast have 
been closed to most fishing as a precautionary measure which has been 
economically damaging to a considerable portion of the recreational and 
commercial fishing communities. Partnering with these communities which 
include some of the nation's most knowledgeable individuals about 
groundfish biology and behavior will support NMFS' efforts to expand 
surveys, close data gaps, reduce scientific uncertainty, and more 
effectively manage the groundfish stocks along the Pacific Coast.
    NMFS will generate a spreadsheet template that will be distributed 
on a voluntary basis to members of the recreational and fishing 
communities along the Pacific Coast to solicit information about the 
most appropriate sampling locations to include in potential survey 
expansion as well as the role habitat, gear type, and vessel platform 
may play when targeting different species. Specifically, NMFS requests 
GPS coordinates and depths for potential survey sampling locations as 
well as the habitat type and target species associated with a 
particular location, and the most appropriate gear type for each 
location. Primary respondents will be identified by collaborating with 
existing industry representatives and liaisons along the coast to 
ensure broad spatial coverage, however, NMFS plans to place no 
restrictions on broader, voluntary distributions by primary respondents 
to other knowledgeable members of the fishing community. The 
information generated through this collection will inform the expansion 
of existing surveys including the specific gear type(s), target 
species, and sampling locations of the expansion areas.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households.
    Frequency: Once.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: Magnuson-Stevens Act (16 U.S.C. Ch. 38 sec. 1801 
et seq.).
    This information collection request may be viewed at 
www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view the Department of 
Commerce collection currently under review by OMB.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be submitted within 30 days of the publication of 
this notice on the following website www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. 
Find this particular information collection by selecting ``Currently 
under 30-day Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search 
function and entering the title of the collection.

Sheleen Dumas,
Departmental PRA Compliance Officer, Office of the Under Secretary for 
Economic Affairs, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2025-05350 Filed 3-27-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P