Marine Recreational Information Program Fishing Effort Survey
Revision of a currently approved collection
No
Regular
03/22/2022
Requested
Previously Approved
36 Months From Approved
09/30/2023
113,000
114,868
9,417
9,687
0
0
This request is for revision and extension of a currently approved collection, to implement the Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) Fishing Effort Survey (FES) in Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and states along the Atlantic Coast and Gulf of Mexico.
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (2021) recommended that NOAA Fisheries evaluate the effectiveness of license or permit frames for surveying recreational anglers who target federally permitted species. We hypothesize that unlicensed anglers who have just completed a fishing trip would be reluctant to report participating in illegal fishing activity and that estimates of license coverage rates derived from intercept samples would be severely biased. In this sense, asking an angler to report his or her license status at the completion of a fishing trip would be a sensitive question, similar to the reporting of drug use or other illegal activities.
We request approval to test this hypothesis using the FES sampling and data collection designs and adding a license question to the FES instrument. The experiment will utilize three new survey instruments (Appendix 3). Two instruments (License V1 and License V2) add a single license question to the existing FES instrument, but vary the location of the question relative to standard FES questions about fishing activity. In V1, the license question precedes fishing questions, and in V2 the license question follows fishing questions. The FES race and ethnicity questions will be removed to accommodate the additional question. A third, control instrument (License V3) will be used to estimate the prevalence of saltwater fishing licenses in the absence of fishing activity questions. The license question in this instrument is embedded within more general questions about outdoor recreation activities that will appeal to a broader audience.
US Code:
16 USC 1801 et seq
Name of Law: Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act
The Recreational Boat Fishing Survey and Nonresponse Follow-up survey have been completed and are being removed from this control number. This results in a decrease of 4,868 responses and 520 burden hours.
A Reporting Sensitivity Experiment has been added to this control number resulting in an increase of 3,000 responses and 250 burden hours.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Reporting Sensitivity Experiment
0648-0652 30day 87 FR 15919_20220321.pdf
0648-0652 Supporting Statement Part A.docx
Reporting Sensitivity Experiment