Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis to Amend Regulations for Observer At-Sea Electronic Communication Equipment Requirements for Vessels and Shoreside Processors in the North Pacific Groundfish Fisheries

This Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis evaluates the small entity impacts of a regulatory amendment. The amendment would require upgrades in and increased functionality for hardware and software designed to facilitate groundfish fishery observer reporting from catcher-processors, motherships, and shoreside processors in the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands and the Gulf of Alaska. The regulatory amendment would also clarify regulations so that the requirements would be extended to catcher vessels required to have 100% observer coverage. This regulation does not impose new recordkeeping or reporting requirements on the regulated small entities. Although the proposed changes in the communications requirements require some new expenditures by small entities, they contain no new or revised record keeping or reporting requirements. This Analysis addresses the requirements of the Regulatory Flexibility Act at 5 U.S.C. 604(a).