November 24, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
Educational materials are on their way to all permit holders and are available online
NOAA Fisheries and the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Councils are implementing the new Southeast For-Hire Electronic Reporting Program in January 2021. The intent of the program is to provide more timely catch information by federally-permitted charter vessels, to enhance data collection for better fisheries management and science, and to provide accurate and reliable fisheries information about catch, effort, and discards to be used in future stock assessments and management evaluations.
South Atlantic – Start Date for reporting is January 4, 2021
Federal Charter/Headboat Permit Holders for South Atlantic Snapper-Grouper, Atlantic Coastal Migratory Pelagics, or Atlantic Dolphin Wahoo are required to begin submitting weekly reports on January 4, 2021.
Gulf of Mexico – Start Date for reporting is January 5, 2021
Federal Charter/Headboat Permit Holders for Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) Reef Fish or Gulf Coastal Migratory Pelagics are required to begin reporting on January 5, 2021. The owner or operator of a vessel with a federal Gulf Charter/Headboat Permit will be required to submit an electronic fishing report for each trip prior to offloading fish, or within 30 minutes after the end of the trip, if no fish are landed. Also, the owner or operator of a vessel with the permit must electronically declare (hail-out) a trip before departing for a trip. Additionally, at a later date that NOAA Fisheries has not yet determined, vessel owners or operators must install NOAA Fisheries approved hardware/software with location tracking capabilities that, at a minimum, archives vessel position data and transmits data to NOAA Fisheries.
Helpful Tools and Materials
To help you prepare for the upcoming reporting requirements, NOAA Fisheries and the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Councils have developed the following outreach tools:
- Information tool-kit: Informational packet describing the requirements with a step-by-step guide on how to sign-up for an account, download reporting applications, and begin reporting. The tool-kit will be mailed to all charter/headboat permit holders in the beginning of December 2020.
- Instructional videos: Short videos describing the requirements and how to report.
- Webinars: Hands-on training to answer your questions and walk you through the reporting process. The webinars will be recorded and made available to the public.
- Gulf of Mexico federal for-hire permit holder webinars:
- December 15, 2020 at 10:00 AM–12:00 PM, EST
- December 15, 2020 at 6:00–8:00 PM, EST
- South Atlantic and Atlantic federal for-hire permit holder webinars:
- December 16, 2020 at 10:00 AM–12:00 PM, EST
- December 16, 2020 at 6:00–8:00 PM, EST
- Southeast For-Hire Electronic Reporting Website: This website will contain all the informational materials and host the most up-to-date information on vendors, landings locations, reimbursements, and more.
- Gulf of Mexico federal for-hire permit holder webinars:
To access the tool-kits and instructional videos go to: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/southeast/recreational-fishing-data/southeast-hire-electronic-reporting-program. The website also provides information on the webinars including how to register and attend.
If you have any questions, please call our customer service hotline (available from 8:00-4:30, EST) at 1-833-707-1632 or email us at ser.electronicreporting@noaa.gov.
Please know that NOAA Fisheries is here to help, and we respect your time and business operations. We look forward to working with you during the implementation phase of this new program. Our goals are to provide each fisherman with excellent customer service, improve for-hire data collection, and reduce the amount of time you spend reporting so you can focus more time on your customers.