June 16, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA:
Effective at-sea monitoring (ASM) programs are essential to the success and sustainability of Greater Atlantic Region fisheries. Groundfish vessels in the Greater Atlantic Region that participate in the sector program are required to carry a fisheries observer or an at-sea monitor for a portion of their trips. Fisheries observers are provided and typically paid for by the Federal government in the Standardized Bycatch Reporting Methodology (SBRM) program and at-sea monitors are partially paid for by industry in the at-sea monitoring program.
In 2016, industry began paying their portion of at-sea monitoring costs and NOAA Fisheries was able to reimburse 85 percent of industry’s expenses for July 2016-April 2017. We used these funds to offset a portion of industry’s costs of the groundfish ASM program through a grant administered by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC). For fishing year 2017, there are remaining funds in the grant, and therefore we will continue the reimbursement program.
We estimate there is funding to reimburse 60 percent of ASM costs for the 2017 fishing year.
Any sector trip beginning on or after May 1 is now eligible for reimbursement.
We are committed to providing as much stability to sectors as possible, so we have based our reimbursement rate on one that we anticipate will be consistent through the entire fishing year.
More information about our region’s observer program.