[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 121 (Monday, June 26, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41414-41415]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-13435]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[Docket No. FWS-R3-FAC-2023-0096; FF03F43100-XXXF1611NR; OMB Control
Number 1018-0179]
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 to renew an
information collection, without change.
DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before
August 25, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Send your comments on the information collection request
(ICR) by one of the following methods (please reference 1018-0179 in
the subject line of your comments):
Internet (preferred): https://www.regulations.gov. Follow
the instructions for submitting comments on Docket No. FWS-R3-FAC-2023-
0096.
Email: [email protected].
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 [email protected], 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 of 1995 (PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) and 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1), 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.
As part of our continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent
burdens, we are again soliciting comments from the public and other
Federal agencies on the proposed ICR that is described below. 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. 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: Service staff at the Marquette and Ludington biological
stations fulfill U.S. obligations under the Convention on Great Lakes
Fisheries Between the United States of America and Canada, Washington,
1954, and the Great Lakes Fishery Act of 1956 (16 U.S.C. 931 et seq.).
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
[[Page 41415]]
are closely coordinated with those of 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 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.
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 receive the appropriate permits to allow
us to conduct 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 alternate contact information, whether they allow access to
their land, methods of transportation allowed on property, whether a
gate key or gate combination is needed to access the land, whether the
landowner irrigates the land, and an opportunity to ask additional
questions about treatment or sea lamprey management.
Title of Collection: Sea Lamprey Control Program.
OMB Control Number: 1018-0179.
Form Number: None.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
Respondents/Affected Public: Individuals, private sector, and
State/local/Tribal governments.
Total Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 440.
Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 440.
Estimated Completion Time per Response: 5 minutes.
Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 37 (rounded).
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.).
Madonna Baucum,
Information Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-13435 Filed 6-23-23; 8:45 am]
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