Fisherfolk Face More Forms in Groundfish Permit Refresh
Published Date: 1/23/2026
Notice
Summary
NOAA is updating and extending the paperwork for fishermen and companies involved in the Pacific Coast Groundfish Trawl program. About 359 people will spend time filling out or renewing permits and licenses, with some forms taking just minutes and others a few hours. This update keeps the program running smoothly without adding extra costs, and public comments are open for 30 more days starting January 23, 2026.
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 1 costs, 0 mixed.
Permit and License Paperwork Continues
NOAA is revising and extending the permit and license information collection for the Pacific Coast Groundfish Trawl program. The collection covers 359 unique respondents and totals 645 annual burden hours, with some forms taking as little as 3–10 minutes and others taking up to 230 minutes (for example, the Mothership Cooperative Permit Application Form). You must provide these forms when required to obtain or retain participation in the program.
Three Duplicate Forms Removed
The agency will remove three information collections—Catch monitoring plans/First Receivers Preparation & Submission, Catch monitoring plans/First Receivers Inspection, and Shore based scales/First Receivers Inspection—because those items are now covered by the First Receiver Site License Application Form. NOAA says this change decreases duplicate actions and reduces the burden of filling out multiple forms.
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