[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 239 (Friday, December 12, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65417-65419]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-32475]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 112897C]


Vessel Registration and Fisheries Information System

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Sustainable Fisheries Act, passed in October 1996, added 
various amendments to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). As a result, Section 401 of the 
Magnuson-Stevens Act requires the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) to 
deliver an implementation plan for a national fishing vessel 
registration and fisheries information system (System) in a Report to 
Congress. This notice outlines the approach taken by NMFS and its 
Federal, regional, state, and industry partners on behalf of the 
Secretary to develop the implementation plan required in the Report to 
Congress.

DATES: Notice of Availability (NOA) of the draft version of the Report 
to Congress will be published in the

[[Page 65418]]

Federal Register on or about March 2, 1998. A sixty (60) day public 
comment period will commence immediately thereafter. The final Report 
to Congress will be delivered in July 1998.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments concerning this notice to: Section 401, 
National Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 East West Highway F/ST1, Room 
12245, Silver Spring, MD 20910; (301) 713-2328; fax (301) 713-4137. See 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for electronic access instructions.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark Holliday, (301) 713-2328.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Because it is one of the major legislative 
Acts that directs the activities of the National Marine Fisheries 
Service (NMFS), the Magnuson-Stevens Act specifies various programs and 
initiatives for the conservation and stewardship of the nation's marine 
fisheries. Section 401 of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, amended in 1996, 
directs the Secretary to deliver a Report to Congress on the 
implementation of a national vessel registration and fisheries 
information system.
    NMFS, the U.S. Coast Guard, coastal states, the three regional 
commissions (Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, Gulf States 
Marine Fisheries Commission, and Atlantic States Marine Fisheries 
Commission), and the eight regional Fishery Management Councils (New 
England, Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, 
Pacific, North Pacific, Western Pacific) play various roles in 
commercial fishing vessel registration and marine fisheries data 
collection. Consistent with the Assistant Administrator's previous 
directions, NMFS has been engaged in a highly collaborative process to 
develop joint data collection and planning activities with these 
organizations and the regional fisheries information networks (Atlantic 
Coast Cooperative Statistics Program (ACCSP), Alaska Fisheries 
Information Network (AKFIN), Pacific Fisheries Information Network 
(PACFIN), Southeast Fisheries Information Network FIN(SE) and Western 
Pacific Fisheries Information Network (WESTPACFIN).
    Most, if not all, of these governmental bodies maintain or 
contribute information to various state, regional, and national 
information systems. Section 401 of the Magnuson-Stevens Act directs 
the Secretary, in cooperation with the various constituents and 
stakeholders, to streamline and integrate these vessel registration and 
fisheries information systems into a national system.
    Section 401 of the Magnuson-Stevens Act sets a number of benchmarks 
for a national vessel registration and fisheries information system. It 
also defines several overarching principles that should guide the 
system's development and result in an integrated vessel registration 
and fisheries information system. Perhaps the most visible and easily 
measured requirement is the reduction of information reporting burdens 
on industry and the use of existing data collection and information 
management systems to the furthest extent possible.
    To better organize the project planning activity, NMFS divided the 
task into two primary components: the Vessel Registration System (VRS) 
and the Fisheries Information System (FIS). Within these components, 
NMFS is addressing information management architecture, integration and 
harmonization of data collection programs, and the institutional 
arrangements and accountability. The project team is evaluating these 
components simultaneously both to determine the optimal system 
requirements and configuration based on data needs and to leverage 
current data collection and planning efforts.
    Vessel Registration System: Vessel registration, licensing, and 
permitting systems among the coastal states, territories, tribal 
entities and the U.S. Coast Guard are currently under project team 
review. The Magnuson-Stevens Act requests a plan for a national system 
that contains the following information for each fishing vessel: (1) 
The name and official number or other identification, together with the 
address of the owner or operator or both; (2) gross tonnage, vessel 
capacity, type and quantity of fishing gear, mode of operation, and 
other such pertinent information with respect to vessel characteristics 
as the Secretary may require; and (3) identification of the fisheries 
in which the fishing vessel participates. Currently, no vessel 
registration system at any level fully satisfies these criteria.
    The NMFS is aware of the Coast Guard's Vessel Identification System 
(VIS). Designed as a national boating information network, it will 
comprise the Coast Guard's vessel documentation system and, on a 
voluntary basis, the states/territories vessel information. NMFS has 
been in consultation with the VIS programmatic personnel to ascertain 
how and whether the VIS could be utilized to fulfill the requirements 
of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Originally scheduled to be tested in the 
fall of 1997, the VIS program will not begin pilot testing until 
January 1998. As a consequence of the delay, NMFS is not yet in the 
position to evaluate the operational capabilities of VIS and how and 
whether it can be utilized in the VRS.
    Fisheries Information System: The project team is studying 
fisheries data collection programs and information management systems 
at the regional levels (Pacific, Gulf, Atlantic) as specified in the 
Magnuson-Stevens Act. State and Federal data collection programs and 
information management systems have developed independently over time 
and reflect varying degrees of integration and management efficiency. 
Through participation in ACCSP, AKFIN, FIN(SE), PACFIN, and WESTPACFIN, 
NMFS has spent considerable time and money supporting these partners in 
joint statistics planning and integration efforts. These efforts have 
definite timeframes and outcomes planned, and NMFS has relied on these 
processes to support the Section 401 of the Magnuson-Stevens Act 
activity to avoid duplication of effort and maximize partner 
participation. During the consultation process, NMFS determined that 
compliance with the schedule set by section 401 of the Magnuson-Stevens 
Act will conflict with (and may even be detrimental to) critical path 
planning stages currently in progress. The fishery information networks 
are still in the formative stages. For example, ACCSP planning for its 
coastwide information management system will not produce required 
inputs for FIS design until February 1998. NMFS is working closely with 
these groups to develop plans for integration and implementation into a 
fisheries information system.
    Process: NMFS strategy has been to seek the highest level of detail 
possible in the draft report to produce specific and justifiable 
estimates of implementation resource requirements. It could be argued 
that the report NMFS is developing provides more detail than called for 
in the Magnuson-Stevens Act. However, the stakeholders (particularly 
the Commissions) have supported this level of analysis and have worked 
with us to develop this detail so that they fully understand the 
regional implications of a national umbrella program. Due to the 
complex nature of this task, NMFS received requests from the 
Commissions for additional consultation on integration. NMFS agrees 
that to cut off the consultative process at this time could jeopardize 
the collaborative process, and result in a report that is short on 
substance and lacking support from our constituents.

[[Page 65419]]

    To integrate additional information, NMFS decided that a 6 month 
delay was appropriate to accomplish the task. The benefit of the delay 
will be a report that will contain well-described courses of action 
that will actually improve statistics for NMFS and our partners 
stewardship responsibilities. In particular, NMFS wants to reach a 
consensus among stakeholders on a VRS and FIS program which will allow 
determination of a realistic budget consistent with requirements set 
forth in section 401(a)(5) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act so that Congress 
can consider the recommendations during the fiscal year, FY 99, 
appropriations process. The proposed target date will coincide with 
Congressional timeframes and allow all constituents an opportunity to 
seek a common goal. Given the current stage of state and commission 
planning, delivering a report by the original due date would result in 
little or no consensus on level and documentation of an FY 99 funding 
request.
    The goal for the next 6 months is to craft an acceptable 
implementation plan that includes unified VRS/FIS system guidelines, 
proposed rules and legislation, and budgets. NMFS intends to hold 
additional meetings in January and February with the Commissions and 
Councils to resolve integration/implementation requirements. 
Additionally, the pilot testing of the Coast Guard's VIS will allow 
NMFS the opportunity to develop the necessary integration requirements. 
This comprehensive plan will be available for public comment upon 
publication of the NOA of the draft Report to Congress in March 1998.
    Stakeholders: Stakeholders (or constituents) in the implementation 
of the vessel registration and fisheries information system include the 
(1) three regional marine fisheries commissions, (2) the eight fishery 
management councils, (3) 24 coastal states, (4) U.S. territories, (5) 
U.S. Coast Guard, (6) tribal entities, (7) industry and trade groups, 
and (8) other interested parties. In addition to directly consulting 
with the project's stakeholders over the next 6 months, all parties 
will have the opportunity for input on the proposed implementation plan 
through the public comment period commencing in March 1998, when the 
draft report is available.
    Comments on this notice may be submitted to the NMFS Division of 
Fisheries Statistics and Economics by sending electronic mail to: 
[email protected].
    Authority: Pub. L. 104-297.

    Dated: December 8, 1997.
Rolland A. Schmitten,
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 97-32475 Filed 12-11-97; 8:45 am]
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