0401 Supporting Statement Rev BF25 011416

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

ALASKA AMERICAN FISHERIES ACT (AFA) REPORTS

OMB CONTROL NO. 0648-0401

This request is for revision of this information collection due to an associated rule [RIN No. 0648-BF25].

BACKGROUND

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Alaska Region manages the groundfish fisheries in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) off Alaska of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (BSAI). The North Pacific Fishery Management Council prepared the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (FMP) under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. (Magnuson-Stevens Act) and other applicable laws. Regulations implementing the FMP appear at 50 CFR part 679.

The American Fisheries Act (AFA) authorizes the formation of fishery cooperatives in all sectors of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (BSAI) pollock fishery, grants anti-trust exemptions to cooperatives in the mothership sector, and imposes operational limits on fishery cooperatives in the BSAI pollock fishery. NMFS incorporated the relevant provisions of the AFA into the FMP and established a comprehensive management program to implement the AFA. With respect to the fisheries off Alaska, the AFA affected the management programs of the pollock fishery of the BSAI and to a lesser extent the other groundfish fisheries of the BSAI, the groundfish fisheries of the Gulf of Alaska, the king and Tanner crab fisheries of the BSAI, and the scallop fishery off Alaska. Mitigation of potential adverse impacts to non-AFA fishermen and processors is also mandated by the AFA.

Currently, pollock in the BSAI is managed in three separate geographic units: the Bering Sea subarea, the Aleutian Islands subarea, and the Bogoslof District of the Bering Sea subarea. Amendment 110 would apply only to management of the pollock fishery in the Bering Sea subarea and would not affect the management of pollock fisheries in the Aleutian Islands or the status of pollock fishing in the Bogoslof District. Therefore, in this document, the term “pollock fishery” refers only to the Bering Sea pollock fishery, unless otherwise specified. The four AFA sectors are: Catcher/processor, mothership, inshore processors, and Western Alaska Community Development Quota Program (CDQ). The portions of the Bering Sea subarea pollock directed fishing allowances allocated to each sector under sections 206(a) and 206(b) of the AFA and the CDQ allowance in the BSAI will be divided into two seasonal allowances corresponding to the two fishing seasons set out at § 679.23(e)(2), as follows: A Season, 45 percent and B Season, 55 percent.

Currently, Chinook salmon and chum salmon bycatch are managed under two different programs (Amendment 84 and Amendment 91). This has created inefficiencies and does not allow participants in the pollock fishery the flexibility to modify harvest patterns and practices to effectively minimize both Chinook salmon and chum salmon bycatch. Incorporating chum salmon measures into the Incentive Plan Agreement (IPA) would make salmon bycatch management more effective, comprehensive, and efficient. IPAs provide measures to prevent high chum salmon bycatch, while allowing for participants in the pollock fishery the flexibility to avoid Alaska chum stocks and to adapt quickly to changing conditions through their coordinated management under the IPAs.

A. JUSTIFICATION

1. Explain the circumstances that make the collection of information necessary.

This action is intended to improve the management of Chinook and chum salmon bycatch in the Bering Sea pollock fishery by creating a comprehensive salmon bycatch avoidance program. This would minimize Chinook and chum salmon bycatch in the Bering Sea pollock fishery to the extent practicable while maintaining the potential for the full harvest of the pollock total allowable catch within specified prohibited species catch limits.

2. Explain how, by whom, how frequently, and for what purpose the information will be used. If the information collected will be disseminated to the public or used to support information that will be disseminated to the public, then explain how the collection complies with all applicable Information Quality Guidelines.

a. Incentive Plan Agreement (IPA) [CHANGED; formerly called Application for Chinook Salmon Incentive Plan Agreement (IPA) and List of IPA Participants]

An IPA establishes an incentive program to minimize bycatch at all levels of Chinook and chum salmon abundance. Participation in an IPA is voluntary; however, any vessel or CDQ group that chooses not to participate in an IPA is subject to a restrictive opt-out allocation (also called a backstop cap). The current, approved IPAs may be viewed at

http://www.alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/sustainablefisheries/bycatch/salmon/chinook/ipa/ipas.htm.

The IPA must include an affidavit affirming that each eligible vessel owner or CDQ group, from whom the IPA representative received written notification requesting to join the IPA, has been allowed to join the IPA subject to the same terms and conditions that have been agreed on by, and are applicable to, all other parties to the IPA.

The IPA must identify at least one third party group. Third party groups include any organizations representing western Alaskans who depend on salmon and have an interest in salmon bycatch reduction but do not directly fish in a groundfish fishery.

Deadline: A proposed IPA must be received by NMFS no later than 1700 A.l.t., on October 1 prior to the year in which the IPA is proposed to be effective.

When approved, NMFS assigns an IPA identification number to the approved IPA. This number must be used by the IPA representative in amendments to the IPA.

Once approved, an IPA is effective until December 31 of the first year in which it is effective or until December 31 of the year in which the IPA representative notifies NMFS in writing that the IPA is no longer in effect, whichever is later.

Once a member of an IPA, a vessel owner or CDQ group cannot withdraw from the IPA during the fishing year. Changes to an IPA membership must be made after the directed pollock fishery closes by regulation.

This action would remove the requirements for an application form for a proposed IPA or amended IPA. A requirement is added to describe how the IPA addresses the goals and objectives in the IPA provisions related to chum salmon

All of the participants in the pollock fishery are currently subject to IPA agreements. Three NMFS-approved IPA agreements are currently in place: the Inshore Chinook Salmon Savings Incentive Plan Agreement, the Mothership Salmon Savings Incentive Plan Agreement, and the Catcher Processor Chinook Salmon Bycatch Reduction Incentive Plan and Agreement. Because all of the participants are part of IPA agreements, no other participants are expected; so a number of one participant is used in this analysis.

Incentive Plan Agreement (IPA)

Affidavit

Name of the IPA

IPA representative name, telephone number, and e-mail address

Third party group

Description of the IPA

Incentives to ensure each vessel to avoid Chinook salmon and chum salmon bycatch under any condition of pollock and Chinook salmon abundance in all year

How the incentives to avoid chum salmon do not increase Chinook salmon bycatch

Rewards for avoiding Chinook salmon and penalties for failure to avoid Chinook salmon at the vessel level How IPA incentive measures will promote reductions in a vessel’s Chinook salmon and chum salmon bycatch rates relative to what would have occurred in absence of the incentive program

How the incentive measures in the IPA promote Chinook salmon savings and chum salmon savings in any condition of pollock abundance or Chinook salmon abundance in a manner that is expected to influence operational decisions by vessel operators to avoid Chinook salmon and chum salmon

How the IPA ensures that the operator of each vessel governed by the IPA will manage that vessel’s Chinook salmon bycatch to keep total bycatch below the performance standard for the sector in which the vessel participates

How the IPA ensures that the operator of each vessel governed by the IPA will manage that vessel’s chum salmon bycatch to keep total bycatch below the performance standard for the sector in which the vessel participates

A rolling hot spot program for salmon bycatch avoidance and an agreement to provide notifications of closure areas and any violations of the rolling hot spot program to at least one third party organization representing western Alaskans who depend on salmon and do not directly fish in a groundfish fishery.

Restrictions or penalties targeted at vessels that consistently have significantly higher Chinook salmon PSC rates relative to other vessels fishing at the same time.

Require vessels to enter a fishery‐wide in‐season salmon PSC data sharing agreement

Require use of salmon excluder devices, with recognition of contingencies, from January 20 to March 31, and from September 1 until the end of the B season

Require a rolling hotspot program that operates throughout the entire A and B seasons

Require for savings-credit-based IPAs that the salmon savings credits last for a maximum of three years.

Restrictions or performance criteria used to ensure that Chinook salmon PSC rates in October are not

significantly higher than those achieved in the preceding months, thereby avoiding late-season spikes in salmon PSC.

Require the IPAs to require information sharing

Compliance agreement.

IPA must include written statement that all IPA parties agree to comply with all provisions of IPA.

Signatures.

The names and signatures of the owner or representative for each vessel and CDQ group that is a party to the IPA. The representative of an inshore cooperative, or the representative of the entity formed to represent the AFA catcher/processor sector or the AFA mothership sector may sign a proposed IPA on behalf of all vessels that are members of that inshore cooperative or sector level entity

Burden hours are changed from 40 hr to 50 hr because the ICA is incorporated into IPA.

IPA, Respondent
Estimated number of respondents Total annual responses Response per respondent = 1 Total burden hours Time per response = 50 hr Total personnel cost = $165/hr Total miscellaneous cost (1.40) Photocopy (10 pp x .05 = 0.50) Postage (1 x 0.90 = 0.90)	1 1 50 hr $8,250 $1

IPA, Federal Government
Total annual responses Total burden hours Time per response = 15 hr Total personnel cost = $75/hr Total miscellaneous cost	1 15 hr $1,125 0

b. IPA annual report (CHANGED; formerly called Chinook Salmon IPA annual report)

This action would add reporting requirements to the IPA Annual Report to require the IPA representative to describe how the IPA addresses the goals and objectives in the IPA provisions related to chum salmon. It is the Council’s intent that each vessel actively avoid chum salmon as well as Chinook salmon at all times while fishing for pollock and, that collectively, bycatch is minimized in each year.

The IPA report is the primary tool through which the Council evaluates the effectiveness of the IPA concept in reducing salmon bycatch in the Bering Sea pollock fishery. Information gathered through the annual reports is necessary for the Council to evaluate the salmon bycatch management measures and to provide the public with information about how the programs operate and with information about bycatch reduction under these programs.

Deadline: The IPA Report must be postmarked or received by the Council no later than

March 15:

North Pacific Fishery Management Council

605 West 4th Avenue, Suite 306

Anchorage, AK 99501

The annual report must contain the following information:

IPA Annual Report

Incentive measures in effect in the previous year, including rolling hot spot program and salmon excluder use

How incentive measures affected individual vessels

Were incentive measures effective in achieving salmon savings beyond levels that would have been achieved in absence of the measures

Measures to ensure that chum salmon were avoided in areas and at times when chum salmon return to Alaska

Restrictions or penalties that target vessels that consistently have significantly higher Chinook salmon PSC rates relative to other vessels

Restrictions or performance criteria used to ensure that Chinook PSC rates in October are not significantly higher than in previous months.

Amendments to the IPA terms that were approved by NMFS since the last annual report and the reasons that the amendments to the IPA were made

Sub-allocation to each participating vessel of the number of Chinook salmon PSC and amount of pollock (mt) at the start of each fishing season,

Number of Chinook salmon PSC and amount of pollock (mt) caught at the end of each season.

In-season transfer of Chinook salmon PSC and pollock among AFA cooperatives, entities eligible to receive Chinook salmon PSC allocations, or CDQ groups

Date of transfer

Name of transferor

Name of transferee

Number of Chinook salmon PSC transferred

Amount of pollock (mt) transferred

In-season transfers among vessels participating in the IPA

Date of transfer

Name of transferor

Name of transferee

Number of Chinook salmon PSC transferred

Amount pollock (mt) transferred

Changed burden from 30 hr to 40 hr to incorporate ICA report. Corrected personnel cost for Federal Government from $37 to $75; this report would be reviewed by a supervisor or higher.

IPA annual report, Respondent
Estimated number of respondents Total annual responses Response per respondent = 1 Total burden hours Time per response = 40 hr Total personnel cost ($165/hr) Total miscellaneous costs (14.35) Photocopy (10 pp x .05 x 2 = 1) Fax ($6 x 2 = 12) Postage (1 x 1.35 = 1.35)	3 3 120 hr $19,800 $14

IPA annual report, Federal Government
Total annual responses Total burden hours = 10 hr Total personnel cost ($75/hr) Total miscellaneous cost	3 30 hr $2,250 0

c. Non-Chinook Salmon Inter-cooperative Agreement (ICA) (REMOVED; chum salmon avoidance is integrated into the IPAs)

d. ICA Annual Report. [REMOVED; Integrated Into IPA Annual Report]

e. AFA Annual Cooperative Report

Each AFA cooperative must submit a final AFA annual report on fishing activity.

Deadline: postmarked or received by Council by April 1 of the following year

The AFA annual cooperative report must be sent to:

North Pacific Fishery Management Council

605 West 4th Avenue, Suite 306

Anchorage, AK 99501

The AFA Annual cooperative reports are posted on the NMFS website at

http://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/fisheries/AFA-pollock

AFA Annual Cooperative Report

Cooperative’s allocated catch of pollock and sideboard species

Any sub-allocations of pollock and sideboard species made by the cooperative to individual vessels on vessel-by-vessel basis

Cooperative’s actual retained and discarded catch of pollock, sideboard species, and PSC

on an area-by-area basis

on a vessel-by-vessel basis

Method used to monitor fisheries in which cooperative vessels participated

Actions taken in response to any vessels that exceed their allowed catch and bycatch

in pollock and all sideboard fisheries

Total weight of pollock landed outside the State of Alaska on a vessel-by-vessel basis.

Number of salmon taken by species and season

List each vessel's number of appearances on the weekly “dirty 20” lists for non-Chinook salmon

AFA Coop Annual report, Respondent
Estimated number of respondents Total annual responses Response per respondent = 1 Total burden hours Time per response = 8 hr Total personnel cost ($75/hr) Total miscellaneous costs (24.10) Photocopy (10 pp x .05 x 8 = 4) Fax ($6 x 2 = 12) Postage (1.35 x 6 = 8.10)	8 8 64 hr $4,800 $24

AFA Annual report, Federal Government
Total annual responses Total burden hours = 1 Total personnel cost ($37/hr) Total miscellaneous cost	8 8 hr $296 0

f. AFA Annual cooperative catch report

The authorized representative of each AFA cooperative annually must submit to the Regional Administrator a catcher vessel Cooperative Catch Report detailing each delivery of pollock harvested under the allocation made to that cooperative. The owners of the member catcher vessels in the cooperative are jointly responsible for compliance.

The cooperative catch report may be submitted as an electronic data file in a format approved by NMFS or by Fax. Currently, these reports are sent to NMFS by email and are used by NMFS as an audit check.

Deadline: must be postmarked or received by NMFS by 1200 hours, A.l.t. 1 week after the date of completion of delivery.

Annual Cooperative catch report

Cooperative account number

Catcher vessel ADF&G vessel registration number

Inshore processor Federal processor permit number

Delivery date

Amount of pollock (in lb) delivered plus weight of at-sea pollock discards

ADF&G fish ticket number

Cooperative catch report, Respondent
Estimated number of respondents Total annual responses Response per respondent = 1 Total burden hours Time per response = 8 hr Total personnel cost ($75/hr) Total miscellaneous costs (24.10) Photocopy (10 pp x .05 x 8 = 4) Fax ($6 x 2 = 12) Postage (1.35 x 6 = 8.10)	8 8 64 hr $4,800 $24

Cooperative catch report, Federal Government
Total annual responses Total burden hours = 1 Total personnel cost ($37/hr) Total miscellaneous cost	8 8 hr $296 0

g. AFA Cooperative Contract

Any fishery cooperative formed under section 1 of the Fisherman’s Collective Marketing Act 1934 (15 U.S.C. 521) for the purpose of cooperatively managing directed fishing for Bering Sea subarea pollock must comply with the provisions of this section. The owners and operators of all the member vessels that are signatories to a fishery cooperative are jointly and severally responsible for compliance with the requirements of this section.

Annually, each AFA cooperative must file with the Council and NMFS:

♦ a signed copy of its fishery cooperative contract

♦ any material modifications to cooperative contract

♦ a copy of a letter from a party to the contract requesting a business review letter on the fishery cooperative from the Department of Justice

♦ any response to such letter request.

If the cooperative contract was previously filed, a renewal letter may be submitted to NMFS and the Council by the filing deadline in lieu of the cooperative contract and business review letter. The renewal letter must provide notice that the previously filed cooperative contract will remain in effect for the subsequent fishing year and must detail any material modifications to the cooperative contract that have been made since the last filing including, but not limited to, any changes in cooperative membership.

The cooperative contract or renewal letter and the required supporting materials may be submitted to:

North Pacific Fishery Management Council,

605 West 4th Ave, Suite 306,

Anchorage, AK 99501;

and

NMFS Alaska Region

P.O. Box 21668

Juneau, AK 99802

709 West 9th St., Suite 401

Juneau, AK 99801

Deadline: contract or renewal letter and supporting materials must be received by NMFS and by the Council at least 30 days prior to the start of any fishing activity conducted under the terms of the contract.

Deadline: In addition, an inshore cooperative that is also applying for an allocation of Bering Sea subarea pollock under § 679.62 must file its contract, any amendments hereto, and supporting materials no later than December 1 of the year prior to the year in which fishing under the contract will occur.

AFA Cooperative Contract

Requirements for all fishery cooperatives.

List parties to the contract.

List all vessels and processors that will harvest and process pollock harvested under the cooperative.

Specify the amount or percentage of pollock allocated to each party to the contract.

Specify a designated representative and agent for service of process.

Include a contract clause under which the parties to the contract agree to make payments to the State of Alaska for any pollock harvested in the directed pollock fishery that are not landed in the State of Alaska, in amounts which would otherwise accrue had the pollock been landed in the State of Alaska subject to any landing taxes established under Alaska law. Failure to include such a contract clause or for such amounts to be paid will result in a revocation of the authority to form fishery cooperatives under section 1 of the Act of June 25, 1934 (15 U.S.C. 521 et seq.).

Additional required elements in all fishery cooperatives that include AFA catcher vessels

Adequate provisions to prevent each non-exempt member catcher vessel from exceeding an individual vessel sideboard limit for each BSAI or GOA sideboard species or species group that is issued to the vessel by the cooperative in accordance with the following formula:

The aggregate individual vessel sideboard limits issued to all member vessels in a cooperative must not exceed the aggregate contributions of each member vessel towards the overall groundfish sideboard amount as calculated by NMFS under § 679.64(b) and as announced to the cooperative by the Regional Administrator, or

In the case of two or more cooperatives that have entered into an inter-cooperative agreement, the aggregate individual vessel sideboard limits issued to all member vessels subject to the inter-cooperative agreement must not exceed the aggregate contributions of each member vessel towards the overall groundfish sideboard amount as calculated by NMFS under § 679.64(b) and as announced by the Regional Administrator.

Cooperative contract, Respondent
Estimated number of respondents Total annual responses Response per respondent = 1 Total burden hours Time per response = 8 hr Total personnel cost ($75/hr) Total miscellaneous costs (24.10) Photocopy (10 pp x .05 x 8 = 4) Fax ($6 x 2 = 12) Postage (1.35 x 6 = 8.10)	8 8 64 hr $4,800 $24

Cooperative contract, Federal Government
Total annual responses Total burden hours = 1 Total personnel cost ($37/hr) Total miscellaneous cost	8 8 hr $296 0

h. AFA Catcher Vessel Intercooperative Agreement

The AFA catcher vessel cooperatives rewrote portions of the Intercooperative Agreement for 2013 to accommodate the Council’s request for additional information. The changes focused on improving the Bering Sea cod fishery in terms of improved catch efficiency and the reduction of halibut bycatch. To improve catch efficiency the allocation timing mechanisms for halibut PSC were revised in a manner intended to maximize cod harvest timing at the peak CPUE time of the season.

Catcher vessel Intercooperative Agreement

Allocation, monitoring, and compliance of the BSAI and GOA sideboard limits and PSC caps among the AFA catcher vessel cooperative members

Allocation, monitoring, and compliance of BSAI pollock harvest inside the Steller sea lion conservation area

Establishment of penalties for coops that exceed pollock and sideboard allocations

Provides for harvest of BSAI pacific cod by the “under 1700 mt” exempt vessels while complying with PSC limits

Establishment and monitoring of sideboard species transfers between cooperatives

Promotes compliance of the Council’s recommended sideboard measures and PSC limits while allowing for the maximum harvest of AFA pollock and sideboard allocations

Promotes reduction of PSC in the Bering Sea pollock fishery

Catcher vessel Intercoop Agreement, Respondent
Estimated number of respondents Total annual responses Response per respondent = 1 Total burden hours Time per response = 40 hr Total personnel cost = $150/hr Total miscellaneous cost (0.55) Photocopy (10 pp x .05 = 0.50) Online (0.05 x 1 = 0.05)	1 1 40 hr $6,000 $1

Catcher vessel Intercoop Agreement, Federal Government
Total annual responses Total burden hours Time per response = 10 hr Total personnel cost ($75/hr x 10) Total miscellaneous cost	1 10 hr $750 0

i. Annual AFA Catcher Vessel Intercooperative Report [UNCHANGED]

In response to the Council’s request for additional voluntary information in 2013, the AFA Catcher Vessel Intercooperative Report was changed. The report is a summary of the eight active catcher vessel cooperative reports required by the AFA regulations. While the individual coop reports track the annual activities of each cooperative at the vessel level, a summary of AFA catcher vessel harvests in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska fisheries is useful as NMFS allocates the catcher vessel sideboard caps and PSC caps and triggers in the aggregate, not by individual cooperatives.

The Catcher Vessel Intercooperative Report provides the Council, and the public, with a simple means of evaluating the AFA catcher vessel fleets’ aggregate fishing performance under the AFA regulations. Additionally, this report provides voluntary information requested by the Council beyond the required regulatory elements of the individual coop reports to provide a broader understanding of catcher vessel cooperative activities.

The AFA Catcher Vessel Intercooperative Report may be viewed at

https://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/reports/cvintercoop2014.pdf

Deadline: must be received by the Council by April 1 of each year.

AFA Catcher Vessel Intercooperative Report

Bering Sea Pollock Fishery

Allocations and Harvest

Salmon Bycatch Reduction Measures

Sideboard Fishery Management

Groundfish Sideboards

PSC Catch

AFA Annual Catcher vessel Intercoop report, Respondent
Estimated number of respondents Total annual responses Response per respondent = 1 Total burden hours Time per response = 8 hr Total personnel cost ($75/hr) Total miscellaneous costs (0.55) Photocopy (10 pp x .05 x 1 = 0.50) Online (0.05 x 1 = 0.05)	1 1 40 hr $3,000 $1

AFA Annual catcher vessel Intercoop report, Federal Government
Total annual responses Total burden hours = 8 Total personnel cost ($37/hr) Total miscellaneous cost	1 8 hr $296 0

j. Administrative Appeals to Disapproved IPA (NEW)

An IPA representative who receives an IAD disapproving a proposed IPA may appeal under the procedures set forth at § 679.43. If the IPA representative fails to file an appeal of the IAD pursuant to § 679.43, the IAD will become the final agency action. If the IAD is appealed and the final agency action is a determination to approve the proposed IPA, then the IPA will be effective as described in paragraph (f)(12)(iv)(B) of this section.

IPA Appeals, Respondent
Estimated number of respondents Total annual responses 1 response per year = 1 Total burden hours = 4 hr Total personnel cost ($37/hr x 4) Total miscellaneous cost (1.60) Mail (1.35 x 1 = 1.35) Photocopy (5 pp x 0.05 x 1 = 0.25)	1 1 4 hr $148 $2

IPA Appeals, Federal Government
Total annual responses Total burden hours = 2 hr Total personnel cost ($100/hr) Total miscellaneous cost	1 2 hr $200 0

It is anticipated that the information collected will be disseminated to the public or used to support publicly disseminated information. NOAA Fisheries will retain control over the information and safeguard it from improper access, modification, and destruction, consistent with NOAA standards for confidentiality, privacy, and electronic information. See Question 10 of this Supporting Statement for more information on confidentiality and privacy. The information collection is designed to yield data that meet all applicable information quality guidelines. Prior to dissemination, the information will be subjected to quality control measures and a pre-dissemination review pursuant to Section 515 of Public Law 106-554.

3. Describe whether, and to what extent, the collection of information involves the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological techniques or other forms of information technology.

The “fillable” form for the IPA application is available at the NMFS Alaska Region Home Page at alaskafisheries.noaa.gov for downloading, completing and printing. Other submissions consist of multiple documents. Most documents may be sent by U.S. mail, fax, or as an attachment to an email. The IPA requires signatures, and therefore must be sent by mail.

4. Describe efforts to identify duplication.

None of the information collected as part of this information collection duplicates other collections. This information collection is part of a specialized and technical program that is not like any other.

5. If the collection of information involves small businesses or other small entities, describe the methods used to minimize burden.

Amendment 110 would apply to owners and operators of catcher vessels, catcher/processors, motherships, inshore processors, and the six Western Alaska Community Development Quota (CDQ) Program groups participating in the pollock fishery in the Bering Sea subarea of the BSAI. The only small entities that are directly regulated by this action are the six western Alaska CDQ organizations, and the impact is not significant.

6. Describe the consequences to the Federal program or policy activities if the collection is not conducted or is conducted less frequently.

The purpose of the information collection is to minimize Chinook salmon and chum salmon PSC to the extent practicable while achieving optimum yield from the pollock fishery. The information is necessary to ensure long-term conservation and abundance of salmon, maintain a healthy marine ecosystem, provide maximum benefit to fishermen and communities that depend on salmon and pollock, and comply with the Magnuson–Stevens Act. If the information were not collected annually, NMFS would be unable to achieve these goals.

7. Explain any special circumstances that require the collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with OMB guidelines.

No special circumstances exist.

8. Provide information on the PRA Federal Register Notice that solicited public comments on the information collection prior to this submission. Summarize the public comments received in response to that notice and describe the actions taken by the agency in response to those comments. Describe the efforts to consult with persons outside the agency to obtain their views on the availability of data, frequency of collection, the clarity of instructions and recordkeeping, disclosure, or reporting format (if any), and on the data elements to be recorded, disclosed, or reported.

The most recent request for public comments on renewal of the information collection authorized under the AFA (OMB Control Number 0648-0401) was published in the Federal Register on June 19, 2014 (79 FR 35150). In response to this request for comments, NMFS received a comment that the requirement to submit an application form in addition to submitting a proposed or amended IPA was duplicative with the information in the IPA itself. NMFS agrees that the application form is unnecessary and therefore removes it from the regulations.

A proposed rule (RIN 0648-BF25) will be published in the Federal Register coincident with this collection to solicit public comments.

9. Explain any decisions to provide payments or gifts to respondents, other than remuneration of contractors or grantees.

No payment or gift is provided under this program.

10. Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents and the basis for assurance in statute, regulation, or agency policy.

All information collections by NMFS Alaska region are protected under confidentiality provisions of section 402(b) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. It is also confidential under NOAA Administrative Order 216-100, which sets forth procedures to protect confidentiality of fishery statistics. However, none of the information in the applications, contracts, or reports submitted under this collection of information contains confidential business information. All of the information in the ICA, IPA, and annual reports will be posted on the NMFS Alaska Region webpage and made available to the public.

11. Provide additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private.

This information collection does not involve information of a sensitive nature.

12. Provide an estimate in hours of the burden of the collection of information.

Estimated total respondents: 8. Estimated total responses: 31, decreased from 32. Estimated total burden: 446 hr, increased from 411 hr. Estimated total personnel costs: $51,598, increased from $45,600.

13. Provide an estimate of the total annual cost burden to the respondents or record-keepers resulting from the collection (excluding the value of the burden hours in Question 12 above).

Estimated total miscellaneous costs: $91, decreased from $93.

14. Provide estimates of annualized cost to the Federal government.

Estimated total responses: 31, decreased from 32. Estimated total burden: 88, decreased from 57. Estimated total personnel cost: $4,940, increased from $2,871.

15. Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments.

Program Changes

ICA is integrated into IPA; ICA Report is integrated into IPA report. Both chum salmon and Chinook salmon are analyzed.

IPA

an increase of 10 hours, 50 instead of 40 hr

an increase of $1,650 personnel costs, $8,250 instead of $6,600

IPA Report

an increase of 30 hours, 120 instead of 90 hr

an increase of $530 personnel costs, $19,800 instead of $14,850

ICA [REMOVED; integrated into IPA]

a decrease of 1 respondent and response, 0 instead of 1

a decrease of 1 hour, 0 instead of 1 hr

a decrease of $150 personnel costs, $0 instead of $150

a decrease of $2 miscellaneous costs, $0 instead of $2

Non-Chinook ICA Annual Report [REMOVED; integrated into ICA annual report]

a decrease of 1 respondent and response, 0 instead of 1

a decrease of 8 hours, 0 instead of 8 hr

a decrease of $600 personnel costs, $0 instead of $600

a decrease of $2 miscellaneous costs, $0 instead of $2

Appeals to disapproved IPA [NEW]

an increase of 1 respondent and response, 1 instead of 0

an increase of 4 hours, 4 instead of 0 hr

an increase of $148 personnel costs, $148 instead of $0

an increase of $2 miscellaneous costs, $2 instead of $0

16. For collections whose results will be published, outline the plans for tabulation and publication.

NMFS will make all approved IPAs available to the public on the NMFS Alaska Region Web site (http://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/).

In addition, NMFS will annually publish on the NMFS Alaska Region Web site:

♦ The Chinook salmon PSC allocations for each entity receiving a transferable allocation;

♦ The non-transferable Chinook salmon PSC allocations;

♦ The vessels fishing under each transferable or non-transferable allocation;

♦ The amount of Chinook salmon bycatch that accrues towards each transferable or non-transferable allocation;

♦ Any changes to these allocations due to transfers, rollovers, and deductions from the B season non-transferable allocations; and

♦ Tables for each sector that provide

percent of the sector’s pollock allocation,

numbers of Chinook and chum salmon associated with each vessel used to calculate the opt-out allocation and annual threshold amounts

percent of the pollock allocation associated with each vessel that NMFS will use to calculate IPA minimum participation assigned to each vessel

17. If seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection, explain the reasons why display would be inappropriate.

Not Applicable.

18. Explain each exception to the certification statement.

Not Applicable.

B. COLLECTIONS OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS

This collection does not employ statistical methods.

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