June 21, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
Two types of fishing vessels in the West Coast groundfish fleet will have the option of installing cameras beginning in 2021 to monitor their catch as a less costly alternative to human observers who have long filled that role, under a new rule adopted by NOAA Fisheries this week.
The final rule establishes standards for the video camera systems, which are typically activated automatically whenever fishing crews use equipment such as winches to haul in their gear.
The option to switch to electronic monitoring applies to vessels in the Pacific whiting fishery and fixed-gear vessels in the groundfish catch-share fishery, two sectors where analyses showed that it would save fishermen money.
West Coast fishermen pay about $500 per day for a fisheries observer stationed aboard their vessel. Camera systems cost about $10,000 to install, but can save vessels money in the longer term. NOAA Fisheries estimates that electronic monitoring would save fishermen anywhere from about $100 to more than $300 a day, and from $3,000 to $24,000 per year, depending on the fishery and type of vessel.
“Electronic monitoring is not suitable for all fisheries, but there are fisheries where we think it can work and give the fleet another option,” said Melissa Hooper, Permits and Monitoring Branch Chief for NOAA Fisheries’ West Coast Region. The cameras work well for vessels that catch large numbers of a few kinds of fish, for example.