Saving Seafood

NOAA Suspends Northeast Fishing Monitor Requirement

March 30, 2020 — An arm of the federal government is temporarily waiving the need for some fishing vessels to carry at-sea monitors.

At-sea monitors and fishery observers collect data on board fishing boats that help inform the management of U.S. fisheries. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office has waived the requirement for vessels with Northeast fishing permits to carry the monitors through April 4.

NOAA said additional extensions would be evaluated every week. The rule changes is one of the emergency measures NOAA is using to address fishery observer coverage during the coronavirus outbreak, the agency said.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at U.S. News

Highlighting Women in Electronic Technologies: Part 1

March 25, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Electronic monitoring and electronic reporting technologies are being developed to support science-based management decisions in commercial and recreational fisheries. NOAA Fisheries is working with fishermen and industry organizations, fishery management councils, and many other partners. We will improve the timeliness, quality, cost effectiveness, and accessibility of fishery-dependent data by integrating technology into fishery reporting and monitoring programs. Learn about nine women from around the country that are helping shape the future of electronic technologies in U.S fisheries.

Julie Bonney

Owner and Executive Director
Alaska Groundfish Data Bank, Inc.
Kodiak, Alaska

Julie Bonney was born and raised in Colville, Washington, a small logging and farming community in eastern Washington. She earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from University of Puget Sound and her master’s in environmental science from Drexel University. In 1984, Julie moved with her husband to Kodiak, Alaska. In the early 1990s, Julie reached out to the then-owner of Alaska Groundfish Data Bank (AGDB), Chris Blackburn, for advice about joining the observer program. As a mother of three young children, Julie soon realized that being an at-sea observer was not feasible. Instead, Chris offered Julie a job as an analyst. She continued to work there and eventually bought the business. 

Julie and her company have been involved in three electronic monitoring projects since 2007.  First, AGDB tested at sea electronic monitoring for vessels that participated in the Central Gulf of Alaska (CGOA) Rockfish Limited Access Privilege program in 2007 and 2008. The results of this project showed that observer coverage was similar in cost to monitoring with cameras. Currently, AGDB is involved in two projects:

  • The Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) for pelagic trawl pollock fishing using electronic monitoring (EM) for compliance monitoring in both the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea pollock fisheries.
  • EM as an audit tool so that fish ticket counts of salmon reported by processors can be used in the catch accounting system to inform the hard Chinook salmon cap for the rockfish fishery in the CGOA (1,200 fish).

Within her current role, Julie enjoys problem solving and working with fishermen and processors. She also enjoys improving fishery management in collaboration with the trawl sector and NOAA Fisheries personnel.

“As a woman in fisheries, you must demonstrate your capacity and be one of the smartest people in the room. Have the confidence and be strong-willed enough to step outside traditional roles. Women have the ability to think more globally and be more multidimensional which is essential to solve our fishery problems since the fishing industry is so complicated and multilayered.  As a mother and a woman, I tend to mother my membership (some of the people I work for actually call me ‘mom’).”

Read the full release here

NOAA waives some observer requirements as COVID-19 concerns mount

March 23, 2020 — NOAA Fisheries announced on 20 March that it is waiving observer requirements for vessels with Northeast fishing permits until 4 April, with the new waiver being evaluated weekly as the COVID-19 outbreak continues.

The announcement comes as multiple fisheries in the Northeast U.S. are grappling with the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak, which range from the aforementioned switch to no longer requiring observers to a the delay of fishing seasons.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Temporary Waivers for Northeast Fisheries Observer Requirements

March 20, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

As part of our response to the COVID-19 pandemic, NOAA Fisheries is temporarily waiving the requirement for vessels with Northeast fishing permits to carry a fishery observer or at-sea monitor. The waiver will be in effect through April 4, and future extensions of this waiver will be evaluated weekly. For details, please read the letter from the Regional Administrator (pdf, 1 page).

Text of the letter below:

Dear Partners and Stakeholders:

As part of our response to the COVID-19 pandemic, NOAA Fisheries is temporarily waiving the requirement for vessels with Northeast fishing permits to carry a fishery observer or at-sea monitor. The waiver will be in effect through April 4, and future extensions of this waiver will be evaluated weekly.

This action is consistent with agency authority to grant waivers for observer and at-sea monitoring requirements under certain circumstances. The availability and deployment of observers is becoming increasingly challenging. The action is also consistent with current federal and state health guidance. The health and well-being of fishermen, observers, and supporting staff is not only a human health concern, but also essential to securing our nation’s seafood production.

Through April 4, 2020, NOAA Fisheries will issue waivers for declared and incoming Northeast fishing trips. During this period:

  • All reporting and pre-trip notification call-in requirements remain in place.
  • Waivers will be issued for all current and newly selected fishing trips.
  • Port intercepts (i.e., observers selecting trips for coverage in the ports) will be temporarily suspended.
  • Trips that are currently at sea with an observer onboard are unaffected.
  • Vessels using Electronic Monitoring are unaffected, as this waiver applies to human observers only.

The Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office and the Northeast Fisheries Science Center will evaluate the impacts of waivers on our fisheries and observer programs throughout this period:

  • We will monitor fishing activity in comparison to when observers have been deployed, to track continued compliance with legal and regulatory requirements.
  • We will evaluate weekly observer availability, ability to travel, and level of fishing effort and landings.
  • We will monitor for changes in current health and safety guidelines that we expect would increase observer availability.
  • We will also monitor fishing effort and landings, which could be indicators that the temporary waiver of observer requirements could be ended.

Sincerely,

Michael Pentony

Reminder: Replace McMurdo Omnitracs Vessel Monitoring Systems

March 17, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Beginning April 1, 2020 current McMurdo Omnitracs vessel monitoring system (VMS) units will no longer be supported.

Vessels may not operate without a compliant VMS unit. Consequently, if you have not replaced and activated your new VMS unit by April 1, 2020, you will be out of compliance with the VMS regulations and will not be authorized to fish.

To comply with the VMS regulations, you must replace your current unit with one of the following type-approved units:

  • AddValue iFleetONE (***Newly Type-Approved)
  • SkyMate I1500 VMS
  • SkyMate m1600 VMS
  • Woods Hole Group – Triton Advanced

Alternatively, you may request a “power-down” exemption. A power-down exemption allows you to turn off your VMS unit while your vessel is out of the water for 72 consecutive hours or is docked for a minimum period of 30 days, or meets other conditions. Any vessel that holds a permit requiring VMS cannot turn the power to the unit off unless it is granted a power down exemption. If you are interested in pursuing this option, you should call the Northeast VMS Team to initiate a power down exemption request. Once a request is approved, the Regional Administrator will issue a Letter of Exemption (LOE) authorizing the VMS to be turned off while in port. If your vessel has a type-approved VMS unit installed before the LOE expires, the Northeast VMS team will terminate the power down LOE, so that you may begin fishing.

Questions?

VMS-specific: Northeast VMS Team, (978) 281-9213

VMS reimbursement and activation/deactivation: VMS Help Desk, (888) 219-9228

Other: Sustainable Fisheries Division, (978) 281-9315

Fleet monitoring: New England groundfish fleet cooperates with little return

March 10, 2020 — Despite years of ever-increasing monitoring, cooperation from the fleet, and catch-shares-induced consolidation, the New England groundfish industry is still on shaky ground.

A Maine Fishermen’s Forum presentation by Melissa Errand of the New England Fishery Management Council illustrated the council-considered options for monitoring the groundfish fleet (Amendment 23). This presentation focused on the effects on the Maine-based fleet, which is Portland-based.

With projected costs of each alternative ranging from about $1 million to more than $5 million across the fleet, the council expects the changes to force groundfish boats with the fewest at-sea days to lease out their quota rather than go fishing.

The council’s preferred alternative is a blended model that allows boat owners to choose between traditional at-sea monitoring and electronic monitoring.

One Portland-based boat is using the experimental full-retention model that incorporates a combination of full-time cameras on the boat, landing all fish that would qualify as discards, and dockside monitoring and sampling of those retained discards.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Second lawsuit filed in at-sea monitoring dispute

March 10, 2020 — A second lawsuit has been filed in a U.S. federal courthouse against a rule, scheduled to take effect Monday, 9 March, that would require Atlantic herring fishermen to pay for independent monitors aboard their vessels.

Seafreeze Fleet LLC and two vessels it owns filed the lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Commerce, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and NOAA Fisheries in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island last week. It comes a couple of weeks after New Jersey fishermen filed a similar lawsuit over the rule.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Wideye iFleetONE Vessel Monitoring System Approved for Use

March 6, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

On February 28, 2020, AddValue Innovation’s “Wideye iFleetONE” vessel monitoring system (VMS) was approved for use by commercial fishing vessels with federal permits requiring the use of VMS in the Greater Atlantic Region.

The Wideye iFleetONE is a broadband VMS unit which meets all NOAA VMS requirements, and supports other data, voice and text services. The unit operates on the Inmarsat satellite network. For more information, refer to the AddValue Innovation brochure.

A complete list of approved VMS units in the Greater Atlantic Region, is available online.

Read the full release here

Notice Regarding Loss of Vessel Monitoring Service

March 5, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The McMurdo (formerly Boatracs) Omnitracs Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) operated by vessels with Greater Atlantic Region (GAR) permits will not be supported by its satellite provider after March 31, 2020. All current owners of the Omnitracs unit were notified via a letter from McMurdo dated December 19, 2019 about this issue.

What should you know if you own an Omnitracs unit?

  • This VMS unit must be replaced by April 1, 2020 or risk being out of compliance with VMS requirement regulations. The unit will not function with any other satellite provider.
  • A list of current Type-Approved VMS Units is available online.
  • Within the GAR, current Type-Approved units include:
    • Addvalue iFleetONE (***Newly Type-Approved)
    • SkyMate I1500 VMS
    • SkyMate m1600 VMS
    • Woods Hole Group – Triton Advanced
  • While McMurdo has a replacement unit called Omnicom that functions with the Iridium satellite network, this VMS unit is not yet approved for use in the GAR.
  • Vessel owner/operators with questions about their current service or the new Omnicom unit should contact McMurdo directly at 800-262-8722 or by email.

What is the status of Type-Approval of the replacement McMurdo unit?

We are working with McMurdo to test their new Omnicom VMS so that we can recommend it for approval. However, we cannot say how long this process will take, but have made review of this unit a priority.

VMS Reimbursement Guidance

Reimbursement is available for the purchasing of a new VMS unit if a vessel owner has never been reimbursed by NOAA for the purchase of a VMS unit. If a vessel owner has previously been reimbursed for the cost of a unit for that vessel, reimbursement is not available.

Vessel owner/operators with questions on NOAA’s VMS reimbursement program or their eligibility for VMS reimbursement should contact the OLE Helpdesk at 888-219-9228 or by email.

VMS Power Down Guidance

Vessels that will not be actively fishing in the near future may request an exemption to have the VMS powered off until they are ready to replace the VMS. Vessels should not operate with a non-compliant VMS. Vessels that operate without an approved VMS could face enforcement action.

All vessels that hold VMS required permits cannot power the unit off unless they are on an authorized power down. Owners may request from the Northeast VMS Team to have the VMS powered off. Once a request is received, the Northeast VMS Team will issue a Letter of Exemption (LOE) that will authorize the VMS to be powered off.

Regulations implementing the requirements for the vessel monitoring system (VMS) within the Greater Atlantic Region allow for vessels to be exempt from the requirement to transmit the vessel’s location at all times if one or more of the following conditions are met:

  • The vessel will be continuously out of the water for more than 72 consecutive hours; or
  • A vessel with a valid multispecies limited access, scallop limited access, mackerel limited access, surfclam/ocean quahog, herring, longfin squid/butterfish moratorium or illex squid moratorium permit (only) remains at the dock/mooring and does not engage in any fisheries for a minimum period of 30 consecutive days.

Vessels that only hold an LAGC scallop permit for their VMS requirement may submit the Power Down declaration directly with their VMS unit and do not require an LOE.

Atlantic herring fishermen take government to court over at-sea monitor requirement

February 28, 2020 — A group of New Jersey fishermen have filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to block a ruling that would require them to pay to carry independent monitors on their vessels during their fishing trips.

The suit, filed on Wednesday, 19 February, in the District of Columbia, came after the U.S. Department of Commerce approved an amendment sought by the New England Fishery Management Council to improve clarity regarding landings data in the Atlantic herring fishery.

Read the full story at Seafood Source