[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 28 (Friday, February 10, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8906-8907]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-02844]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[Docket No. FWS-R5-FAC-2023-0004; FXFR13350500000/234/FF05F24400; OMB
Control Number 1018-0127]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Horseshoe Crab and
Cooperative Fish Tagging Programs
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 to renew an
information collection.
DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before
April 11, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Send your comments on the information collection request
(ICR) by one of the following methods (please reference 1018-0127 in
the subject line of your comments):
Internet (preferred): https://www.regulations.gov. Follow
the instructions for submitting comments on Docket No. FWS-R5-FAC-2023-
0004.
Email: Info_Coll@fws.gov.
U.S. mail: Service Information Collection Clearance
Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 5275 Leesburg Pike, MS: PRB
(JAO/3W), Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Madonna L. Baucum, Service Information
Collection Clearance Officer, by email at Info_Coll@fws.gov, or by
telephone at (703) 358-2503. Individuals in the United States who are
deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial
711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay
services. Individuals outside the United States should use the relay
services offered within their country to make international calls to
the point-of-contact in the United States.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction
Act (PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) and its implementing regulations at 5
CFR 1320.8(d)(1), all information collections require approval under
the PRA. We may not conduct or sponsor and you are not required to
respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently
valid OMB control number.
As part of our continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent
burdens, we invite the public and other Federal agencies 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 especially interested in public comment addressing the
following:
(1) Whether or not the collection of information is necessary for
the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including
whether or not the information will have practical utility;
(2) The accuracy of our estimate of the burden for this collection
of information, including the validity of the methodology and
assumptions used;
(3) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and
(4) How might the agency minimize the burden of the collection of
information on those who are to respond, including through the use of
appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological
collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g.,
permitting electronic submission of response.
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 Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 (16 U.S.C. 742f)
requires the Department of the Interior to take steps ``required for
the development, advancement, management, conservation, and protection
of fishery resources.'' In addition, the Endangered Species Act of 1973
(16 U.S.C. 1531-1544), the Wildlife Coordination Act (16 U.S.C. 661-
666c), and the Anadromous Fish Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 757a-757g)
each authorize the Department of the Interior to enter into cooperative
agreements with stakeholders to protect and conserve fishery resources.
The Maryland Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office (MDFWCO) will
collect information on horseshoe crabs and fishes captured by the
public. Tag information provided by the public will be used to estimate
recreational and commercial harvest rates, estimate natural mortality
rates, and evaluate migratory patterns, length and age frequencies, and
effectiveness of current regulations.
Horseshoe crabs play a vital role commercially, biomedically, and
ecologically along the Atlantic coast. Horseshoe crabs are commercially
harvested and used as bait in eel and conch fisheries. Biomedical
companies along the coast also collect and bleed horseshoe crabs at
their facilities. Limulus amebocyte lysate, derived from horseshoe crab
blood, is used by pharmaceutical companies to test sterility of
products. Finally, migratory shorebirds also depend on the eggs of
horseshoe crabs to refuel on their migrations from South America to the
Arctic. One bird in particular, the rufa red knot (Calidris canutus
rufa), feeds primarily on horseshoe crab eggs during its stopover.
Effective January 12, 2015, the rufa red knot was listed as threatened
under the Endangered Species Act (79 FR 73706; December 11, 2014).
In 1998, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), a
management organization with representatives from each State on the
Atlantic coast, developed a horseshoe crab management plan. The ASMFC
plan and its subsequent addenda established mandatory State-by-State
harvest quotas, and created the 1,500-square-mile Carl N. Shuster, Jr.,
Horseshoe Crab Sanctuary off the mouth of Delaware Bay.
Restrictive measures have been taken in recent years; however,
populations are increasing slowly. Because horseshoe crabs do not breed
until they are 9 years or older, it may take some time before the
population measurably increases. Federal and State agencies,
universities, and biomedical companies participate in a Horseshoe Crab
Cooperative Tagging Program. The Service's MDFWCO maintains the
information collected under this program and uses it to evaluate
migratory patterns, survival, and abundance of horseshoe crabs.
Members of the public who recover tagged crabs provide the
following
[[Page 8907]]
information using Form 3-2310 (Horseshoe Crab Recapture Report):
Tag number;
Whether or not tag was removed;
Condition of crab;
Date captured/found;
Crab fate;
Finder type;
Capture method;
Capture location;
Reporter information; and
Comments.
Agencies that tag and release the crabs complete Form 3-2311
(Horseshoe Crab Tagging) and provide the Service with:
Organization name;
Contact person name;
Tag number;
Sex of crab;
Prosomal width; and
Capture site, latitude, longitude, waterbody, State, and
date.
At the request of the public participant reporting the tagged crab,
we send data pertaining to the tagging program and tag and release
information on the horseshoe crab tag that was found.
Fish will be tagged with an external tag containing a toll-free
number for MDFWCO. Tagged species of fish include striped bass (Morone
saxatilis), Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus) and shortnose
sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum), northern snakehead (Channa argus),
and American shad (Alosa sapidissima). Members of the public reporting
a tag will be asked a series of questions pertaining to the fish that
they are referencing. The Service uses the following four forms to
collect information used by fisheries managers throughout the Atlantic
Coast, depending on species:
Form 3-2493, ``American Shad Recapture Report'';
Form 3-2494, ``Snakehead Recapture Report'';
Form 3-2495, ``Striped Bass Recapture Report''; and
Form 3-2496, ``Sturgeon Recapture Report.''
American shad are tagged by the New York Department of
Environmental Conservation (NYDEC), which retains all fish tagging
information. The public reports tags to MDFWCO, who provides
information on tag returns to NYDEC. Tag return data are used to
monitor migration and abundance of shad along the Atlantic coast.
Northern snakehead is an invasive species found in many watersheds
throughout the mid-Atlantic region. It has been firmly established in
the Potomac River since at least 2004 and is now in nearly every major
Chesapeake Bay tributary. Federal and State biologists within the
Chesapeake Bay watershed have been tasked with managing the impacts of
northern snakehead. Tagging of northern snakehead is used to learn more
about the species so that control efforts can be better informed.
Tagging is also used to estimate population sizes to monitor trends in
abundance. Recreational and commercial fishers reporting tags provide
information on harvest rates and migration patterns as well.
Striped bass are cooperatively managed by Federal and State
agencies through the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
(ASMFC). The ASMFC uses fish tag return data to conduct stock
assessments for striped bass. The database and collection are housed
within MDFWCO, while the tagging is conducted by State agencies
participating in striped bass management. Without this data collection,
striped bass management would likely suffer from a lack of quality
data. As required by Congress under the Atlantic Striped Bass
Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 5151-5158), striped bass tagging data is
used to manage the coast-wide stock.
Sturgeon are tagged by Federal, State, and university biologists
and nongovernmental organizations along the U.S. east coast and into
Canada, and throughout the United States and Canada. Local populations
of Atlantic sturgeon have been listed as either threatened or
endangered since 2012, and shortnose populations have been listed since
1973. The information collected provides data on tag retention and
sturgeon movement along the east coast. The data are also used to
address some of the management and research needs identified by
amendment 1 to the ASMFC's Atlantic Sturgeon Fishery Management Plan.
Data collected across these tagging programs are similar in nature,
including:
Tag number;
Date of capture;
Waterbody of capture;
Capture method;
Fish length, weight, and fate (whether released or
killed); and
Fisher type (i.e., commercial, recreational, etc.).
In addition, if the tag reporter desires more information on their
tagged fish or wants the modest reward that comes with reporting a tag,
we ask their address so that we can mail them the information.
The public may request a copy of Form 3-156 contained in this
information collection by sending a request to the Service Information
Collection Clearance Officer (see ADDRESSES).
Title of Collection: Horseshoe Crab and Cooperative Fish Tagging
Programs.
OMB Control Number: 1018-0127.
Form Number: Forms 3-2310, 3-2311, and 3-2493 through 3-2496.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
Respondents/Affected Public: Respondents include Federal and State
agencies, universities, and biomedical companies who conduct tagging,
and members of the general public who provide recapture information.
Total Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 2,006.
Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 3,628.
Estimated Completion Time per Response: Varies from 5 minutes to 95
hours, depending on activity.
Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 2,239.
Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
Frequency of Collection: Respondents will provide information on
occasion, upon tagging or upon encounter with a tagged crab or fish.
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.).
Madonna Baucum,
Information Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-02844 Filed 2-9-23; 8:45 am]
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