2017-14125. Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

The Department of Commerce will submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for clearance the following proposal for collection of information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35).

Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Title: Economic Surveys of American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Small Boat-based Fisheries.

OMB Control Number: 0648-0635.

Form Number(s): None.

Type of Request: Regular (extension of a currently approved information collection).

Number of Respondents: 245.

Average Hours per Response: 10 minutes.

Burden Hours: 100.

Needs and Uses: This request is for extension of a currently approved information collection.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) collects information about fishing expenses in the American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) boat-based reef fish, bottomfish, and pelagics fisheries with which to conduct economic analyses that will improve fishery management in those fisheries; satisfy NMFS' legal mandates under Executive Order 12866, the Magnuson-Steven Fishery Conservation and Management Act (U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), the Regulatory Flexibility Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act; and quantify achievement of the performances measures in the NMFS Strategic Operating Plans. An example of these performance measures: the economic data collected will allow quantitative assessment of the fisheries sector's social and economic contribution, linkages and impacts of the fisheries sector to the overall economy through Input-output (I-O) models analyses. Results from I-O analyses will not only provide indicators of social-economic benefits of the marine ecosystem, a performance measure in the NMFS Strategic Operating Plans, but also be used to assess how fishermen and economy will be impacted by and respond to regulations likely to be considered by fishery managers. These data are collected in conjunction with catch and effort data already being collected in this fishery as part of its creel survey program. The creel survey program is one of the major data collection systems to monitor fisheries resources in these three geographic areas. The survey monitors the islands' fishing activities and interviews returning fishermen at the most active launching ramps/docks during selected time periods on the islands. Participation in the economic data collection is voluntary.

Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations; individuals or households.

Frequency: On occasion.

Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.

This information collection request may be viewed at reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view Department of Commerce collections currently under review by OMB.

Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice to [e-mail] or fax to [phone].

Dated: June 29, 2017.

Sarah Brabson,

NOAA PRA Clearance Officer.