Sea Otter Bumps? Fishermen Must Report Sardine Run Encounters
Published Date: 9/28/2026
Notice
Summary
NOAA is renewing a simple reporting rule for just two fishery operators to quickly report any sea otter encounters while fishing for coastal pelagic species like sardines. This keeps sea otters safe without adding much paperwork—each report takes only 15 minutes, totaling about an hour a year. The rule helps protect threatened sea otters while letting fishing continue smoothly, with no new costs or big changes.
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 2 costs, 0 mixed.
Mandatory sea‑otter incident reporting
If you operate one of the two coastal pelagic species (CPS) vessels covered, you must report a southern sea otter entanglement to the Regional Administrator within 24 hours. All other observations of otters interacting with your net or vessel must be reported within 20 days and must include location (latitude and longitude) and a description (for example: water depth, distance from shore or landmark, whether otters were inside or outside the net, whether the net was completely encircled, number of otters, duration, behavior, and measures taken).
Very small paperwork time burden
The information collection applies to two respondents and is estimated at 0.25 hours (15 minutes) per response, with total annual burden roughly 1 hour. The submission is a renewal of OMB Control Number 0648-0566 and is filed as needed.
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