...
More.... legislative or other policy mandates
A wide range of permit types are issued. Some representative examples are:
More....
New permit application volume nation-wide is estimated at __ new permits per year.
Permit renewal volume nation-wide is estimated at __ renewals per year.
Permit transfer volume nation-wide is estimated at __ transfers per year.
Business Drivers
Near to real-time information on catch and bycatch is required as an element of national standard 1 (reduce bycatch)
...
reconciling and corrections?
Permit holders range from large multinational corporations to small family businesses. But generally fishing and processing permit holders are technologically sophisticated, as the fishing industry is competitive and participants have strong incentives to leverage available technology. However, fishing is frequently a lifestyle choice of action-oriented individualists, and most of the participants would rather be on deck fishing than in the wheelhouse complying with record-keeping and report requirements. It is probably safe to assume that technology that makes record-keeping and reporting compliance less burdensome will be well accepted, while any technology that increases the burden would be unacceptable.
Data sensitivity and security FISMA and Privacy Act issues
data is confidential
Mitigating controls
Registration will be open to new permit applicants, existing permit holders, and agents of both. From the system perspective, there is little difference between permit holders and agents of permit holders. (Agents should file a notarized letter of authorization from each permit owner that the agent represents. The permit owner is responsible for transactions pertaining to their permit, and if they have delegated to an agent without submitting the authorization letter, that doesn't absolve them of any responsibility.) New permit applicants will not be identifiable with the same level of assurance as existing permit holders, but, as the permit application is processed, the confidence in the permit holder's identity will grow. And as a new permit applicant starts out with no value in the system, there is little at risk for these participants whose identity is less certain.
Existing permit holders may have considerable value in the system; for example, they may own fisheries quota that has significant market value. These existing permit holders must demonstrate knowledge of a secret permit access code (PAC) which was mailed by USPS mail to the permit owner's address of record. After a participant has registered and associated their permits with their username (through knowledge of one or more PACs), then the participant can access potentially sensitive permit information as well as renew or transfer permits. There are opportunities for mitigating controls in business processes, so the e-signature process does not necessarily have to address all of the transaction risk.
New permit applications generally involve processing rigor commiserate with the value of the permit. Permits for fisheries with low economic opportunity and/or low risk to the public resource generally receive only nominal scrutiny. Permits for fisheries with high economic opportunity and/or high risk to the public resource receive considerable scrutiny. In many cases this involves confirming vessel ownership with the US Coast Guard, verifying participation in prior fisheries through previously submitted state or federal fish tickets or logbooks, confirmation of business ownership, etc.
Permit renewals generally receive little scrutiny.
...
Threat and Vulnerability Identification
...