[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 105 (Monday, June 1, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33192-33193]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-11671]
[[Page 33192]]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R3-FAC-2020-N013; FF03F43100-XXXF1611NR; OMB Control Number 1018-
New]
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 a new
information collection in use without Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) approval.
DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before
July 31, 2020.
ADDRESSES: Send your comments on the information collection request
(ICR) by mail to the Service Information Collection Clearance Officer,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/PERMA, 5275 Leesburg Pike,
Falls Church, VA 22041-3803 (mail); or by email to Info_Coll@fws.gov.
Please reference OMB Control Number ``1018-Sea Lampreys'' in the
subject line of your comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information
about this ICR, contact Madonna L. Baucum, Service Information
Collection Clearance Officer, by email at Info_Coll@fws.gov, or by
telephone at (703) 358-2503.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995, 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.
We are soliciting comments on the proposed ICR that is described
below. We are especially interested in public comment addressing the
following issues: (1) Is the collection necessary to the proper
functions of the Service; (2) will this information be processed and
used in a timely manner; (3) is the estimate of burden accurate; (4)
how might the Service enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and (5) how might the Service minimize the
burden of this collection on the respondents, including through the use
of information technology.
Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of
public record. We will include or summarize each comment in our request
to OMB to approve this ICR. 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: 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.
Service staff at the Marquette and Ludington biological stations
fulfill U.S. obligations under the 1954 Convention on Great Lakes
Fisheries between the United States and Canada and the Great Lakes
Fishery Act of 1956. 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 are closely
coordinated with 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 (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 issue permits to allow 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 whether they allow access to their land,
methods of transportation allowed over the land, and whether the
landowner irrigates the land.
Title of Collection: Sea Lamprey Control Program.
OMB Control Number: 1018-New.
Form Number: None.
Type of Review: Existing collection of information in use without
an OMB Control Number.
Respondents/Affected Public: Individuals, private sector, and
State/local/Tribal governments.
[[Page 33193]]
Total Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 600.
Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 400.
Estimated Completion Time per Response: 15 Minutes.
Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 150 hours.
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.).
Dated: May 27, 2020.
Madonna Baucum,
Information Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-11671 Filed 5-29-20; 8:45 am]
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