North Pacific Groundfish Observer Program

NPGOP Paperwork Reduction Act Statement
PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT STATEMENT: Information collected through the observer
program will be used to: (1) monitor catch and bycatch; (2) understand the population status and
trends of fish stocks and protected species, as well as the interactions between them; (3)
determine the quantity and distribution of net benefits derived from living marine resources; (4)
predict the biological, ecological, and economic impacts of existing management actions and
proposed management options; and (5) ensure that the observer programs can safely and
efficiently collect the information required for the previous four uses. In particular, the observer
program provides information that is used in analyses that support the conservation and
management of living marine resources and that are required under the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the
Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the
Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), Executive Order 12866 (EO 12866), and other applicable law.
Most of the information collected by observers is obtained through “direct observation by an
employee or agent of the sponsoring agency or through non-standardized oral communication in
connection with such direct observations". Under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA)
regulations at 5 C.F.R. 1320.3(h)(3), facts or opinions obtained through such observations and
communications are not considered to be "information" subject to the PRA. The public reporting
burden for responding to the questions that observers ask and that are subject to the PRA is
estimated to average 60 minutes per trip, including the time for hearing and understanding the
questions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and
completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden
estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing
this burden, to: National Marine Fisheries Service, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, Fisheries
Monitoring and Analysis Division, 7600 Sandpoint Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115. Providing the
requested safety information is mandatory under regulations at 50 C.F.R. 600.746; however,
providing the other requested information is voluntary. All information collected by observers
will be kept confidential as required under Section 402(b) of the MSA (18 U.S.C. 1881a(b)) and
regulations at 50 C.F.R. Part 600, Subpart E. Notwithstanding any other provision of the law, no
person is required to respond to, nor shall any person be subject to a penalty for failure to comply
with a collection of information subject to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act,
unless that collection of information displays a currently valid OMB Control Number.
OMB Control No. 0648-xxxx
Expires xx/xx/2012