[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 92 (Friday, May 12, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 30699-30711]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-10073]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 635

[Docket No. 230504-0122]
RIN 0648-BM23


Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Electronic Reporting 
Requirements

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

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In this advance notice of proposed rulemaking, NMFS is 
considering management options to modify or expand reporting 
requirements for Atlantic highly migratory species (HMS). All HMS 
reporting would require electronic submission using an online or mobile 
reporting application. Specific to commercial vessel reporting, NMFS is 
considering options for electronic submission of information required 
on the existing, paper logbooks, as well as a logbook requirement for 
owners of vessels with Atlantic Tunas General category permits, 
Atlantic Tunas Harpoon category permits, and/or Swordfish General 
Commercial permits. Specific to recreational vessel reporting, NMFS is 
considering a logbook requirement for owners of HMS Charter/Headboat 
permitted vessels, as well as expanding HMS Angling permit reporting 
requirements. NMFS is also considering measures to encourage reporting 
compliance for vessel owners with HMS open access permits. Specific to 
dealer reporting, NMFS is considering requiring dealers to enter 
certain fish individually in their dealer reporting programs and a 
technical change in bluefin tuna (BFT) reporting requirements. Finally, 
specific to the HMS Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) Program, NMFS is 
considering offering an electronic reporting platform, as well as some 
technical changes to reporting requirements.

DATES: Written comments must be received by August 18, 2023. Public 
meetings and webinars will be held on the dates listed in Table 2 of 
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted electronically via the Federal e-
Rulemaking Portal. Go to https://www.regulations.gov and enter ``NOAA-
NMFS-2023-0047'' in the Search box. Click on the ``Comment'' icon, 
complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments.
    Instructions: Comments sent by any other method, to any other 
address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period, 
may not be considered by NMFS. All comments received are a part of the 
public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on 
www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying 
information (e.g., name, address, etc.), confidential business 
information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily 
by the sender will be publicly accessible. NMFS will accept anonymous 
comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you wish to remain 
anonymous).
    Public meetings will be held at the locations listed in Table 2 of 
the

[[Page 30700]]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carrie Soltanoff 
([email protected]), Guy DuBeck ([email protected]), Erianna 
Hammond ([email protected]), or Ann Williamson 
([email protected]) by email, or by phone at 301-427-8503.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Atlantic HMS fisheries (tunas, billfish, 
swordfish, and sharks) are managed under the authority of the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act; 
16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) and the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act (ATCA; 16 
U.S.C. 971 et seq.). The 2006 Consolidated Atlantic HMS Fishery 
Management Plan (FMP) and its amendments are implemented by regulations 
at 50 CFR part 635. The regulations specific to HMS reporting can be 
found at Sec.  635.5.

Need for Action

    In this advance notice of proposed rulemaking, NMFS is considering 
options to: streamline and modernize logbook reporting by converting 
existing commercial paper logbooks to electronic logbooks; expand 
logbook reporting to recreational and commercial vessel owners via 
electronic logbooks, to be consistent with Agency efforts in other 
fisheries and to augment data necessary for fishery management; collect 
additional information through existing electronic reporting mechanisms 
for dealers and recreational vessel owners to augment data collected 
for fishery management; and facilitate HMS reporting including 
considering ways to incentivize reporting compliance (or penalize non-
compliance) and offering an electronic reporting platform for HMS EFP 
Program permit holders. Overall, the intent of this rulemaking is to 
streamline HMS reporting for recreational and commercial fisheries 
consistent with the ``One Stop Reporting'' initiative for HMS, Greater 
Atlantic Region, and Southeast Region fisheries. The intent of the 
``One Stop Reporting'' initiative is to expand capabilities for the 
submission of a single electronic report to satisfy overlapping 
reporting requirements of vessels holding permits in multiple regions.
    The need for each action is described in more detail below. Each 
management option under consideration is briefly characterized via 
background information on the topic and a description of the options 
including initial pros and cons for implementing the options. In any 
potential future rulemaking, measures considered would be contingent on 
available funding.

A. Electronic Commercial Atlantic HMS and Southeast Coastal Fisheries 
Logbooks

Background

    Owners of vessels with HMS commercial limited access permits 
(Atlantic Tunas Longline category, shark directed, shark incidental, 
swordfish directed, swordfish incidental, swordfish handgear) are 
required to report their fishing activities in a logbook. Logbooks 
typically require information on the gear used, the date a fishing trip 
occurred, the quantity of fish landed, and the fishing location. 
Because commercial vessel owners are reporting these data themselves, 
it is referred to as ``self-reported'' data. Different logbooks are 
required for the different fisheries and used depends on the data 
collection needs and requirements of the different fisheries. These 
logbooks (Atlantic HMS logbook and Southeast Coastal Fisheries Logbook 
Program) are described below.
    Owners of HMS permitted vessels using pelagic longline gear are 
required to use the Atlantic HMS logbook; however, HMS vessel owners 
who are selected to report and who use other gears, including rod and 
reel, green-stick, and bottom longline gear, may also report fishing 
activities in this logbook. The vessels using the Atlantic HMS logbook 
primarily target swordfish and tunas.
    There are three forms that must be submitted for an Atlantic HMS 
logbook report to be complete: the trip report form, the set report 
form, and individual dressed weights for all fish sold, which are 
provided on the weighout tally sheets. The trip report form provides 
information on the trip itself, such as the start and end dates, the 
vessel name and identification number, which dealers purchased 
landings, and port information. Economic information, such as the total 
cost of trip expenses (e.g., groceries, fuel), is also collected on 
this form from those fishermen who are randomly selected on an annual 
basis. The set form provides information on an individual fishing set, 
including the specific latitude and longitude coordinates at which gear 
was set and hauled back, the amount of gear used, and the number and 
species of fish and protected species kept, released alive, and 
discarded dead. Each logbook submission will include only one trip form 
but may include numerous set forms. The weighout slips, or tally 
sheets, record the individual carcass weights of fish purchased by each 
dealer purchasing landed product. These weighout slips are typically 
provided by the dealer to the fisherman.
    If no fishing trips occurred during a given month, the No Fishing 
Reporting Form is required. The No Fishing Reporting Form confirms that 
vessel owners are not fishing, as opposed to not reporting.
    The Southeast Coastal Fisheries Logbook Program (referred to here 
as the Coastal Fisheries logbook) is also used to collect HMS landings. 
It is primarily used by vessel owners with commercial shark permits who 
do not use pelagic longline gear and by vessel owners with permits in 
the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico regions to report fishing 
activity in the Gulf of Mexico reef fish, South Atlantic snapper/
grouper, king and Spanish mackerel, shark, and Atlantic dolphinfish/
wahoo fisheries. The Coastal Fisheries logbook is primarily used for 
bottom longline, gillnet, and vertical line (including bandit) gears, 
but other gears can also be reported here. The Coastal Fisheries 
logbook only has a trip report form, and if selected, fishermen have to 
complete a trip expense section on the trip report form and/or a 
separate discard form, as described below. Fishermen are also required 
to indicate if they have not fished for a given month by submitting a 
No Fishing Reporting Form.
    The Coastal Fisheries logbook trip report form includes information 
specific to the trip, such as vessel name and identification number and 
dates of the trip. Unlike the reporting forms in the Atlantic HMS 
logbook, the Coastal Fisheries logbook collects information on the 
gear, location, and species encountered for an entire trip rather than 
on every set of the fishing trip. Gear effort information (e.g., number 
of hooks, lines fished, length of longline) are reported as either 
totals or the average for an entire trip, rather than the specific 
number of hooks or length of line for each set. Fishermen also indicate 
their fishing area as a four digit code, in accordance with a 
statistical grid map where each species was caught. The grid numbers 
follow lines of latitude and longitude; the first two digits in the 
four digit grid numbers are latitude degrees, and the second two digits 
are longitude degrees. The ``species kept'' is also reported in total 
weight for the entire trip, not in numbers of fish per set like for the 
Atlantic HMS logbook. Economic information, such as the total cost of 
groceries and fuel, is collected on this form and is required for each 
trip from a group of fishermen representing 20 percent of the active 
fleet randomly selected annually.

[[Page 30701]]

    Also unlike the Atlantic HMS logbook, the trip form does not record 
information on released or discarded fish or protected species; 
however, fishermen can write in these observations if desired. A 
separate discard logbook form, specific to recording released or 
discarded fish and protected species, is required for approximately 20 
percent of those fishermen, selected at random each year. This discard 
form is also trip based and does not have specific location data 
available for each set. Additionally, this logbook form does not 
provide specific information on individual fish that are discarded dead 
or alive but instead are collected as a summary for the entire trip. 
For each species reported on the discard form, fishermen are required 
to report the following: whether all the fish were discarded dead, most 
were discarded dead, all were discarded alive, most were discarded 
alive, some were kept but not sold (e.g., if they used the fish as 
bait), or the fishermen was unable to determine which category to 
check. Fishermen may also report ``no discards,'' indicating that no 
individuals of any species were discarded during the fishing trip, when 
submitting a discard logbook form. If selected, this form must be 
submitted with each trip to remain in reporting compliance.
    Both of these logbooks are administered by the NMFS Southeast 
Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) and have historically required 
submission of paper forms. NMFS is currently working on creating an 
electronic reporting program to replace the paper logbooks. The South 
Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the Gulf of Mexico Fishery 
Management Council together with the NMFS Southeast Regional Office 
(SERO) are developing a joint FMP amendment addressing electronic 
reporting for commercial vessels that would maintain the reporting 
requirements for commercial vessels reporting through the Coastal 
Fisheries logbook but require electronic submission of reports using 
available software. For more information on the joint FMP amendment 
affecting the Coastal Fisheries logbook, see recent council meeting 
proceedings (https://safmc.net/ and https://gulfcouncil.org/).
    Any fisherman with a permit issued by the NMFS Greater Atlantic 
Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO) is required to submit an electronic 
Vessel Trip Report (eVTR) to report all fish landed, regardless of 
species. NMFS published a final rule requiring reporting via eVTR for 
commercial and for-hire vessels with GARFO permits, which became 
effective in November 2021 (85 FR 71575, November 10, 2020). Most non-
HMS fishermen from Mid-Atlantic states through Maine use eVTRs to 
report their landings. The gear frequently reported via eVTR includes 
trawls, dredges, or gillnet gear and these fishermen are primarily 
fishing for non-HMS such as scallops, squid, herring, groundfish, 
skates, and spiny dogfish. Vessel owners that are permitted with HMS 
permits as well as permits issued by GARFO that require eVTR reporting 
must use the eVTR.
    Regarding current timing requirements for submission of logbooks, 
HMS vessel owners submitting logbooks (Sec.  635.5(a)(1)) must enter 
the required information on a day's fishing activities within 48 hours 
of completing that day's activities or before offloading, whichever is 
sooner. The vessel owner must submit the logbook form(s) postmarked 
within 7 days of offloading all HMS. GARFO permit holders must complete 
eVTRs to the extent possible prior to entering port and submit within 
48 hours of offloading fish. SERO permit holders must submit fishing 
records to the SEFSC postmarked no later than 7 days after the end of 
each fishing trip (not including Individual Fishing Quota program 
requirements).
    Under this action, NMFS is considering requiring HMS vessel owners 
reporting in the Atlantic HMS logbook or the Coastal Fisheries logbook 
to submit those reports electronically. It is expected that, once the 
electronic logbook system is fully developed and implemented, 
electronic logbook submission would replace paper submission. 
Electronic logbook reporting would also allow for the submission of a 
single electronic report that could be used to satisfy overlapping 
reporting requirements of vessels holding permits in multiple regions, 
as part of the NMFS ``One Stop Reporting'' initiative. NMFS is 
considering options for implementation of the electronic logbook.

Potential Management Options

    NMFS is considering two options for implementation of electronic 
Atlantic HMS and Coastal Fisheries logbooks in this section:
     A1. Weighout slip requirement.
     A2. Reporting requirements for smoothhound shark permit 
holders.
    In addition, NMFS is considering options for timing requirements 
associated with electronic logbook reporting. These options are 
described in Section D below and consider timing requirements for 
logbook programs described in Sections B and C as well.
    Under Option A1, NMFS is considering how to address the current 
weighout slip requirement (Sec.  635.5(a)(2)). Current weighout slip 
reporting is described above and involves tallies of individual fish 
unloaded by a vessel; these tallies are recorded on paper and are 
mailed by the vessel owner or operator with their logbooks to the 
SEFSC. Currently there is no standardized form for the weighout slips. 
NMFS is considering how to best collect the information currently 
received via paper weighout slips as the Agency moves to electronic 
logbook submission. In order to determine how to address weighout 
slips, NMFS solicits comments in response to the following questions:
     Which entity (e.g., the dealer, the captain, a crew 
member) currently creates the weighout slip?
     How are the weighout slips currently created?
     Are the weighout slips created only at the first port of 
offloading or at every port of offloading?
     Do the weighout slips include fish that are sold to 
dealers, fish of low quality (i.e., not sold to a dealer), and fish 
kept for personal consumption?
     Would a standardized format help with creating the 
weighout slips?
     What would ease the burden (in time and costs) associated 
with creating the weighout slips (e.g., a form filled out 
electronically with the logbook, a form that could be filled out and 
uploaded separate from the logbook)?
    Under Option A2, NMFS is considering two sub-options for reporting 
requirements for smoothhound shark permit holders:
     A2a. Status quo.
     A2b. Including the smoothhound shark permit in the 
requirement to submit an electronic logbook.
    There are currently 158 smoothhound shark permit holders, and 61 
percent of those permit holders also have a GARFO permit. Those with 
GARFO permits are required to submit smoothhound shark data through an 
eVTR. Some other smoothhound shark permit holders are voluntarily 
reporting through an eVTR. Under Sub-Option A2a, NMFS would maintain 
the status quo, which would maintain consistency with current 
requirements for smoothhound shark permit holders with GARFO permits, 
described above. However, under this sub-option, NMFS would not receive 
smoothhound shark catch information from all permit holders, only from 
those with GARFO permits or those that voluntarily report.
    Under Sub-Option A2b, NMFS would include the smoothhound shark 
permit in the requirement to submit an electronic logbook. This would 
increase reporting burden for those permit

[[Page 30702]]

holders, but would also improve catch information received by NMFS. 
This option would also make smoothhound shark reporting requirements 
consistent with other commercial shark permits.

B. Electronic Commercial Reporting for Atlantic Tunas General and 
Harpoon Category Permits and Swordfish General Commercial Permit

Background

    Currently, vessel owners with Atlantic Tunas General or Harpoon 
category permits must call in or electronically report all BFT landings 
and dead discards to NMFS within 24 hours of completing a trip. These 
catch reports can be submitted via the HMS Permits website, an HMS 
Catch Reporting smartphone app, or via a telephone number designated by 
NMFS. For telephone landing reports, the owner, or the owner's 
designee, must provide a contact phone number so that a NMFS 
representative can call the vessel owner, or the owner's designee, for 
follow up questions and to confirm the reported landing. Regardless of 
how they are submitted, landing reports submitted to NMFS are not 
complete unless the vessel owner, or the owner's designee, has received 
a confirmation number from NMFS or a NMFS representative.
    Currently, owners of vessels with Atlantic Tunas General category 
permits, Atlantic Tunas Harpoon category permits, and/or Swordfish 
General Commercial permits are only required to maintain and submit 
paper logbook reports if selected to report in the Atlantic HMS 
logbook, a requirement that has not been exercised by NMFS for these 
sectors.
    Owners of Atlantic Tunas General category permitted vessels are 
also required, as a condition of their permit, to cooperate with the 
Large Pelagics Survey (LPS) if selected for reporting. The LPS collects 
information regarding the rod and reel fishery directed at large 
pelagic species (e.g., tunas, billfishes, swordfish, sharks, wahoo, 
dolphinfish, greater amberjack) in the offshore waters from Maine 
through Virginia from June through October. The purpose of the LPS is 
to collect more precise estimates of fishing effort and catch for large 
pelagic species that are rarely encountered in the general Marine 
Recreational Information Program (MRIP) surveys. The LPS includes two 
independent surveys: the Large Pelagics Telephone Survey (LPTS), a 
phone survey of randomly selected vessel owners with HMS Angling or 
Atlantic Tunas General category permits, and the Large Pelagics 
Intercept Survey (LPIS), a dockside survey of known offshore fishing 
access sites. These surveys provide effort and average catch-per-trip 
estimates needed to estimate total catch by species.
    Any fisherman with a permit issued by GARFO is required to submit 
an eVTR to report all fish caught, regardless of species or location of 
fishing. Most non-HMS commercial fishermen from Mid-Atlantic states 
through Maine use eVTRs to report their landings. A recent permit 
overlap analysis identified 391 HMS commercial permit holders 
(approximately 15 percent), most of them Atlantic Tunas General 
category permit holders, that possessed at least one GARFO permit 
requiring them to submit eVTRs. Unlike the Atlantic HMS logbook and the 
Coastal Fisheries logbook, the eVTR is used by commercial vessel owners 
and by charter/headboat fishermen with GARFO-issued for-hire permits 
when fishing recreationally.
    GARFO eVTRs include trip-level information, gear information, 
location by both grid and latitude and longitude coordinates, and, for 
commercial trips, the weight of each species kept or discarded. There 
is no indication whether the discards are alive or dead. An entry must 
be filled out when the fisherman moves to a new area or uses a 
different gear.
    From 2000 through 2015, fishermen reporting via GARFO VTR were 
required to submit a monthly no-fishing report if they did not fish. 
These no-fishing reports are no longer required by GARFO.
    NMFS is considering implementing a more comprehensive electronic 
logbook for vessel owners with Atlantic Tunas General category permits, 
Atlantic Tunas Harpoon category permits, and/or Swordfish General 
Commercial permits, beyond the current electronic catch reporting. 
Potential options for a logbook or other catch reporting, and 
associated requirements, are described below.

Potential Management Options

    NMFS is considering three options for reporting by owners of 
vessels with Atlantic Tunas General category, Atlantic Tunas Harpoon 
category, and/or Swordfish General Commercial permits:
     B1. Maintain current reporting requirements.
     B2. Expanding trip reporting requirements related to 
currently reported species (e.g., BFT) via electronic logbook.
     B3. Expanding species and trip reporting requirements via 
electronic logbook.
    In addition, NMFS is considering options for timing requirements 
associated with electronic logbook reporting. These options are 
described in Section D below and consider timing requirements for 
logbook programs described in Sections A and C as well.
    Under Option B1, NMFS would maintain existing electronic reporting 
for Atlantic Tunas General and Harpoon category vessel owners via the 
HMS Permits website or the HMS Catch Reporting smartphone app. NMFS 
would eliminate the option to report via telephone. NMFS would continue 
to require reporting of BFT landings and dead discards only. Vessel 
owners would only report on trips where fish are caught. This option 
would, for the most part, maintain consistency with current 
requirements for these vessel owners and would modernize the reporting 
system and reduce administrative burden on NMFS by removing the 
telephone option. However, under this option, NMFS would not receive 
the additional information described under Options B2 and B3.
    Under Option B2, NMFS would implement an expanded electronic 
logbook for vessel owners with Atlantic Tunas General category or 
Harpoon category permits. Vessel owners with these commercial permits 
would continue to be required to report BFT landings and dead discards; 
however, under this option they would do so via electronic logbook 
required for all trips with effort targeting BFT, regardless of if fish 
are caught. This sub-option would be a greater reporting burden and a 
greater administrative burden for NMFS. However, reporting all trips 
would have the advantage of providing the necessary information to 
determine catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) in the BFT fishery. As noted 
above, vessel owners that hold both HMS and GARFO permits are already 
required to report on all trips. This sub-option could include 
reporting trips taken by an Atlantic Tunas General category permitted 
vessel when participating in a tournament, while indicating in the 
logbook which trips were associated with a tournament.
    Under Option B3, NMFS would implement an expanded electronic 
logbook for vessel owners with Atlantic Tunas General category, Harpoon 
category, and/or Swordfish General Commercial permits. This logbook 
requirement would potentially expand the data elements collected, 
similar to the Atlantic HMS logbook, and the species and trips that 
would need to be

[[Page 30703]]

reported, as described below. NMFS is considering three sub-options for 
which species and trips would be reported:
     B3a. Require reporting of all HMS caught.
     B3b. Require reporting of all species caught, including 
non-HMS.
     B3c. Require reporting for all trips, regardless of if 
fish are caught.
    Sub-Option B3a would require reporting for all HMS, including 
discards, but would not include non-HMS to be reported by HMS-only 
permit holders. This sub-option would increase the reporting burden and 
the administrative burden for NMFS. However, this sub-option would 
provide complete trip data for HMS science and management purposes.
    Sub-Option B3b would require reporting for all species, including 
non-HMS, and including discards. This sub-option would be the greatest 
reporting burden and the greatest administrative burden for NMFS. 
However, this sub-option would provide the most complete data for 
science and management purposes across regions. As noted above, vessel 
owners with Atlantic Tunas General category, Atlantic Tunas Harpoon 
category, and/or Swordfish General Commercial permits that also hold 
GARFO permits are already required to report all species caught.
    Sub-Option B3c would require reporting for all trips with effort, 
regardless of if fish are caught. This sub-option could apply with 
additional species being reported under either Sub-Option B3a or B3b. 
This sub-option would be a greater reporting burden and a greater 
administrative burden for NMFS. However, reporting all trips would have 
the advantage of providing the necessary information to determine CPUE 
in these fisheries. As noted above, vessel owners that hold both HMS 
and GARFO permits are already required to report on all trips. This 
sub-option could include reporting trips taken by an Atlantic Tunas 
General category or Swordfish General Commercial permitted vessel when 
participating in a tournament, while indicating in the logbook which 
trips were associated with a tournament.
    Overall, implementing a logbook for vessel owners with Atlantic 
Tunas General, Atlantic Tunas Harpoon category, and/or Swordfish 
General Commercial permits under Option B2 or B3 would expand reporting 
requirements for these vessel owners, compared to Option B1. Options B2 
and B3 would also increase the administrative burden for NMFS to 
develop and implement an expanded logbook program. However, Option B3 
in particular would have the benefit of providing more detailed effort 
and catch data than what is currently collected by the LPS. Following a 
period of overlapping data collection to facilitate calibration of the 
catch data time series, this logbook could allow owners of Atlantic 
Tunas General category permitted vessels to be exempted from 
participation in the LPTS, and minimize their participation in the 
dockside LPIS to a simple validation survey. The latter may not even be 
needed for the General category as their commercial catch could also be 
validated with dealer landings data. In addition, Options B2 and B3 
would allow NMFS to report more detailed effort and catch data to the 
International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas 
(ICCAT), which could potentially contribute to improved stock 
assessments and management strategy evaluation.

C. HMS Charter/Headboat Electronic Logbook

Background

    Currently, owners of HMS Charter/Headboat permitted vessels must 
call in or electronically report all BFT landings and dead discards, 
all non-tournament landings of Atlantic blue marlin, Atlantic white 
marlin, roundscale spearfish, and Atlantic sailfish, and all non-
tournament and non-commercial landings of North Atlantic swordfish to 
NMFS within 24 hours of completing a trip. These catch reports can be 
submitted via the HMS Permits website, an HMS Catch Reporting 
smartphone app, or via a telephone number designated by NMFS. For 
telephone landing reports, the owner, or the owner's designee, must 
provide a contact phone number so that a NMFS representative can call 
the vessel owner, or the owner's designee, for follow up questions and 
to confirm the reported landings. Regardless of how catch reports are 
submitted, landing reports submitted to NMFS are not complete unless 
the vessel owner, or the owner's designee, has received a confirmation 
number from NMFS or a NMFS representative.
    Currently, owners of HMS Charter/Headboat permitted vessels are 
only required to maintain and submit paper logbook reports if selected 
to report in the Atlantic HMS logbook, a requirement that has not been 
exercised by NMFS for this sector. Owners of HMS Charter/Headboat 
permitted vessels are also required to report cost and earnings 
information if selected. In 2013, NMFS executed a logbook study to 
collect cost and earnings data on charter boat and headboat trips 
targeting Atlantic HMS.
    Owners of HMS Charter/Headboat permitted vessels are also required, 
as a condition of their permit, to cooperate with LPS if selected for 
reporting. A description of the LPS can be found in the background for 
Section B on the Atlantic Tunas General category. However, unlike 
vessel owners with Atlantic Tunas General category or HMS Angling 
permits, owners of HMS Charter/Headboat permitted vessels report their 
effort data to the For-Hire Survey (FHS), rather than the LPS, with an 
extra series of questions called ``the LPS Add-on'' asked of vessels 
that report fishing for HMS. The FHS is a telephone survey of known 
charter boat and headboat vessel owners used to collect data on the 
number of saltwater fishing trips taken by recreational anglers on for-
hire vessels. To minimize recall bias, the FHS asks vessel owners to 
report vessel fishing activity for one-week periods, including the 
number of anglers fishing per trip, hours spent fishing, areas fished, 
and species targeted.
    Mandatory electronic logbook reporting requirements have been 
established for all vessels possessing federal for-hire or party/
charter permits issued by GARFO or SERO. Vessel trip reports are 
required by all vessels in Mid-Atlantic fisheries possessing their 
regional for-hire permits, since March 2018. Similar logbook reporting 
requirements were implemented in South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico for-
hire fisheries in January 2021, and in New England for-hire fisheries 
in November 2021. In addition, the Southeast Regional Headboat Survey 
began electronic submission in 2013. On February 23, 2023, the United 
States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit set aside the final rule 
implementing the Southeast For-Hire Integrated Electronic Reporting 
Program in the Gulf of Mexico. This means the for-hire program in the 
Gulf of Mexico is currently not in effect; all other programs remain in 
effect. NMFS is reviewing the Court ruling to determine overall 
impacts. A permit overlap analysis revealed that approximately half of 
all HMS Charter/Headboat vessels held at least one federal permit for 
New England, Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic, or Gulf of Mexico fisheries 
that require electronic logbook reporting.
    Logbook reporting requirements vary from weekly for South Atlantic 
permit holders, to within 48 hours of trip completion for GARFO permit 
holders. In each case, permit holders are required to submit reports 
for each trip that include details on fishing effort,

[[Page 30704]]

catch, including fish retained and released for all species, and 
economic information. Requirements regarding the submission of no-
fishing reports vary across council regions. Currently, GARFO permit 
holders are not required to submit no-fishing reports. South Atlantic 
permit holders are required to report weekly, and must submit a no-
fishing report on weeks when no for-hire fishing activity takes place.
    For-hire vessels have the option to choose between multiple 
electronic reporting platforms, including GARFO's eVTR platforms (e.g., 
Fish Online), the Standard Atlantic Fisheries Information System 
(SAFIS) electronic trip-level reporting (eTRIPS) Mobile and Online 
platforms, and several platforms offered by private companies, although 
not all reporting platforms are approved for all regional permits. 
Currently, data elements necessary to meet HMS catch reporting 
requirements for recreational landings of BFT, billfish, and swordfish 
have been integrated into eTRIPS Mobile and eTRIPS Online software 
applications. The eTRIPS Mobile platform allows for ``One Stop 
Reporting'' capabilities.
    In an effort to streamline reporting requirements across regions 
and the HMS Management Division, and because approximately half of all 
vessel owners with HMS Charter/Headboat permits hold multiple regional 
for-hire permits, NMFS is considering expanding HMS charter/headboat 
reporting to require vessel owners to submit electronic logbooks via a 
NMFS-approved system. The HMS charter/headboat electronic logbook would 
be part of the ``One Stop Reporting'' initiative by allowing one report 
to meet duplicative reporting requirements of vessels holding permits 
in multiple regions. NMFS is considering several management measures, 
described below, to modify reporting requirements for federally 
permitted for-hire vessels (charter vessels and headboats) when fishing 
with an HMS Charter/Headboat permit.

Potential Management Options

    NMFS is considering four options for implementation of an HMS 
Charter/Headboat electronic logbook:
     C1. Species reporting requirements.
     C2. No-fishing reports.
     C3. Costs and earnings information.
     C4. Geospatial information.
    In addition, NMFS is considering options for timing requirements 
associated with electronic logbook reporting. These options are 
described in Section D below and consider timing requirements for 
logbook programs described in Sections A and B as well.
    Under Option C1, NMFS is considering three sub-options regarding 
what species must be reported on via electronic fishing reports for 
for-hire trips:
     C1a. Status quo.
     C1b. Requirement to report all HMS.
     C1c. Requirement to report all species.
    Sub-Option C1a would require the owner of an HMS Charter/Headboat 
permitted vessel to report only BFT landings and dead discards and 
swordfish and billfish landings on all trips regardless of where the 
fish were caught. Sub-Option C1a would maintain the status quo for what 
species must be reported by HMS Charter/Headboat permitted vessel 
owners. However, limiting reporting to only BFT, swordfish, and 
billfish would allow some other species (e.g., other tunas, sharks) to 
be caught but not reported. This limited reporting could reduce future 
management effectiveness, as events such as HMS range expansion, shark 
depredation, or developing fisheries for HMS, would be overlooked in 
the data system. This would hinder NMFS' ability to modify managed 
species in response to environmental, social, or economic changes that 
may occur in the future. In addition, with the adoption of electronic 
logbook reporting for all species caught by federal for-hire fisheries 
in New England, the Mid-Atlantic, and South Atlantic, the failure to 
expand HMS reporting requirements could leave NMFS reliant on lower 
quality and less timely data for management of the HMS for-hire fishery 
compared to those other fisheries.
    Sub-Option C1b would require the owner of an HMS Charter/Headboat 
permitted vessel to report only HMS federally managed by the HMS 
Management Division (i.e., all tunas, sharks, swordfish, and billfish) 
landed and discarded on all trips regardless of where the fish were 
caught. Sub-Option C1b would result in more comprehensive reporting of 
species landed and discarded in HMS fisheries compared to the status 
quo. However, limiting reporting to HMS would allow some species to be 
caught but not reported. The data gap this would create could undermine 
efforts by NMFS to fully understand for-hire fishing operations, and 
NMFS' ability to assess the impacts of potential management actions on 
the HMS for-hire fleet. This could reduce future management 
effectiveness, as events such as range expansion by, or developing 
fisheries for species not managed by the HMS Management Division but of 
interest to the Agency would be overlooked. This would hinder the HMS 
Management Division's ability to modify species management in response 
to environmental, social, or economic changes that may occur in the 
future.
    Sub-Option C1c would require the owner of an HMS Charter/Headboat 
permitted vessel to report all fish landed and discarded on all trips 
regardless of where the fish were caught. Sub-Option C1c is consistent 
with the electronic reporting requirements for for-hire fishing vessels 
with Federal permits in New England, the Mid-Atlantic, and South 
Atlantic. Mandatory reporting of all fish landed and discarded on for-
hire trips would remove the need to develop survey-based estimates of 
catch and effort, and as the most inclusive sub-option, this sub-option 
would best prevent any gaps in catch reporting. Additionally, effort 
data reported via an electronic logbook could be used to substitute for 
effort data that HMS Charter/Headboat vessel owners would otherwise be 
required to report to the FHS. NMFS is already using eVTR data for this 
purpose to exempt for-hire vessels with council permits from reporting 
to the FHS to minimize redundant reporting burden. HMS Charter/Headboat 
vessel operators would need to participate in dockside surveys, such as 
through the LPIS or through the Access Point Angler Intercept Survey 
(APAIS), which could serve as a validation check for logbook reported 
data. A proposal has already been put forward by the Atlantic Coast 
Cooperative Statistics Program for MRIP certification to use the APAIS 
as a validation survey of for-hire logbook data collected in the 
Atlantic. Reporting all fish landed and discarded would increase 
reporting burden for charter/headboat owners as well as administrative 
burden for NMFS.
    Under Option C2, NMFS is considering two sub-options to modify the 
requirement to submit no-fishing reports for for-hire trips:
     C2a. Status quo.
     C2b. Requirement to submit no-fishing reports.
    Sub-Option C2a (status quo) would not require the owner of an HMS 
Charter/Headboat permitted vessel to submit no-fishing reports if no 
fishing activity occurred. Sub-Option C2a is consistent with the 
electronic reporting requirements for for-hire fishing vessels with 
Federal permits for species managed by GARFO. Not requiring no-fishing 
reports avoids further complicating the regulations and increasing the 
reporting burden for charter/headboat owners. However, no-fishing 
reports are required in the commercial Atlantic HMS logbook, and

[[Page 30705]]

excluding charter/headboat owners from this requirement would result in 
inequitable reporting burden between the fleets. Furthermore, no-
fishing reports are a significant aid for facilitating regular 
compliance checks, as it is difficult to ascertain if a lack of reports 
over a given time period was due to non-compliance or the simple 
absence of fishing effort.
    Sub-Option C2b would require owners of an HMS Charter/Headboat 
permitted vessel to submit no-fishing reports if no fishing activity 
occurred. These reports could be required on a weekly basis or on a 
monthly basis, similar to the commercial Atlantic HMS logbook. Sub-
Option C2b is consistent with the electronic reporting requirements for 
for-hire fishing vessels with Federal permits in the South Atlantic, 
and submission of no-fishing reports improves data validation and 
increases accountability. However, this sub-option would increase the 
reporting burden for charter/headboat owners.
    Under Option C3, NMFS is considering three sub-options for 
reporting cost and earnings information on for-hire trips:
     C3a. Mandatory submission of cost and earnings information 
for each trip.
     C3b. Mandatory submission of cost and earnings information 
if a vessel is selected for reporting.
     C3c. Collection of cost and earnings information 
separately via surveys.
    Sub-Option C3a would require the owner of an HMS Charter/Headboat 
permitted vessel to submit costs and earnings information for all 
trips. Sub-Option C3a is consistent with the electronic reporting 
requirements for for-hire fishing vessels with Federal permits in the 
South Atlantic. Detailed economic data, collected in real time, will 
enhance NMFS ability to understand how the federally permitted for-hire 
industry is impacted when regulatory change is considered. These data 
will be used in cost-benefit and economic impact analyses for actions 
and amendments that propose regulatory changes. Additionally, improved 
characterization of the economic and social impacts of for-hire fishing 
will allow NMFS to better monitor the economic health of the industry 
over time and facilitate economic recovery from fishery disasters. 
However, some of this data may be collected more efficiently by a 
sample of the fleet (e.g., fuel price), and too many additional 
mandatory fields on electronic fishing reports may reduce reporting 
compliance and stakeholder support. Furthermore, charter/headboat 
owners may not have some costs and earnings information (e.g., if they 
sell any catch from a commercial trip) available prior to landing.
    Sub-Option C3b would require the owner of an HMS Charter/Headboat 
permitted vessel to submit costs and earnings information for trips 
when the charter vessel or headboat is selected for cost-earnings 
reporting. Sub-Option C3b is similar to a requirement in the Gulf of 
Mexico, where a subset of for-hire vessels that generally meet the 
criteria of a headboat are selected by the SEFSC to complete the 
Southeast Regional Headboat Survey. It is also consistent with the 
current cost-earnings reporting requirements for those vessels that 
report in the commercial Atlantic HMS logbook. However, collecting 
cost-earnings data from only a portion of permitted vessels would not 
provide as complete data as under Sub-Option C3a.
    Sub-Option C3c would require the owner of an HMS Charter/Headboat 
permitted vessel to submit costs and earnings information separately 
via an annual survey. Because the for-hire industry is relatively 
consistent in trip duration, fishing location, and target species, a 
survey that collects data on annual expenses and average trip costs and 
earnings could be sufficient to characterize the economic impacts of 
for-hire fishing while minimizing duplicative reporting on charter/
headboat owners. However, charter/headboat owners would likely need to 
set up an additional account to electronically report costs and 
earnings information through an approved NMFS survey.
    Under Option C4, NMFS is considering two sub-options for the 
collection of geospatial information on for-hire trips:
     C4a. Status quo.
     C4b. Collection of geospatial information.
    Sub-Option C4a (status quo) would not require the owner of an HMS 
Charter/Headboat permitted vessel to submit geospatial information, 
such as latitude and longitude associated with fishing effort or 
fishing areas. Sub-Option C4a maintains the status quo for not 
requiring the collection of geospatial information on for-hire trips. 
However, no geospatial information would be collected on for-hire 
trips. The collection of geospatial information would facilitate 
numerous analyses regarding the distribution of the HMS for-hire 
fishery. Such information could help inform stock assessments, economic 
analyses, impact assessments for offshore developments such as offshore 
wind and aquaculture, impacts of marine monuments or other changes in 
spatial management, etc.
    Sub-Option C4b would require the owner of an HMS Charter/Headboat 
permitted vessel to report geospatial location information on primary 
fishing location via the electronic reporting program. The collection 
of geospatial information, such as latitude and longitude associated 
with fishing effort or fishing areas, would facilitate numerous 
analyses regarding the distribution of the HMS for-hire fishery. Such 
information could help inform stock assessments, economic analyses, 
impact assessments for offshore developments such as offshore wind and 
aquaculture, impacts of marine monuments or other changes in spatial 
management, etc. However, the collection of geospatial information 
would place added burden on charter/headboat owners.

D. Timing Requirements for Submission of Electronic Logbooks

Background

    Current reporting requirements for HMS vessel owners reporting in 
the Atlantic HMS logbook or Coastal Fisheries logbook, as well as 
current requirements for SERO and GARFO commercial permit holders, are 
described in Section A. Current reporting requirements for owners of 
vessels with Atlantic Tunas General category permits, Atlantic Tunas 
Harpoon category permits, and/or Swordfish General Commercial permits 
are described in Section B. Current reporting requirements for owners 
of HMS Charter/Headboat permitted vessels, as well as for SERO and 
GARFO for-hire permit holders, are described in Section C.

Potential Management Options

    NMFS is considering a range of timing requirements for electronic 
logbook submission, taking into account current requirements for vessel 
owners with HMS, GARFO, and/or SERO permits under different reporting 
programs. In the situation where HMS regulations would not align with 
GARFO or SERO regulations, HMS vessel owners with GARFO or SERO permits 
would likely need to follow the most stringent requirements.
    For HMS vessel owners, options for potential timing requirements 
for logbook submission are:
     D1. Submit prior to landing.
     D2. Submit within 24 hours of offloading/completing a 
trip.
     D3. Submit within 48 hours of offloading/completing a 
trip.
     D4. Complete reports to the extent possible prior to 
landing and submit within 24 hours of offloading/completing a trip.

[[Page 30706]]

     D5. Complete reports to the extent possible prior to 
landing and submit within 48 hours of offloading/completing a trip.
     D6. Submit within 7 days of offloading (commercial) or 
once per week (charter/headboat).

Timing Considerations Applicable to All Logbook Programs

    Requiring logbook submission on a shorter timeframe (i.e., Option 
D1) is the most efficient for NMFS to receive and analyze data. 
Requiring logbook submission on a shorter timeframe could improve data 
quality and accuracy by reducing recall bias, improving stakeholder 
confidence, and reducing uncertainty associated with these data when 
used in science or management applications. It could also expedite data 
availability for fisheries management purposes. However, some data 
elements may not be available prior to landing. In addition, those 
experiencing problems with their devices and/or otherwise unable to 
submit an electronic fishing report would have little opportunity to 
troubleshoot solutions prior to landing.
    Requiring logbook submission on a longer timeframe (i.e., Option 
D6) gives more flexibility to vessel owners to complete reports when 
they have the opportunity. However, allowing a longer timeframe for 
logbook submission may increase recall error, decrease the accuracy of 
information, delay the availability of data for management purposes, 
and may be less efficient for NMFS data processing.
    Under Options D4 and D5, a hybrid requirement of completing some 
fields prior to landing and some at a later time could increase the 
accuracy of data while also allowing flexibility for data elements that 
may not be available prior to landing.
    Options requiring all or some fields to be completed prior to 
landing (Options D1, D4, D5) would allow the ability for catch to be 
verified by an enforcement officer or port agent when the vessel 
returns to the dock and offloads fish.

Timing Considerations Specific to the Atlantic HMS and Coastal 
Fisheries Logbooks

    Option D6, requiring logbook submission within 7 days of 
offloading, would maintain consistency with current HMS regulations and 
would also be consistent with SERO requirements described in Section A. 
Options D3 and D5, requiring logbook submission within 48 hours of 
offloading, would be consistent with GARFO requirements described in 
Section A. Options D1 through D5, requiring submission sooner than 
within 7 days of offloading, would make HMS requirements stricter than 
SERO requirements (e.g., the Coastal Fisheries logbook). Options D1, 
D2, and D4, requiring submission sooner than within 48 hours of 
offloading, would make HMS requirements stricter than GARFO 
requirements.

Timing Considerations Specific to Atlantic Tunas General and Harpoon 
Category Permits and Swordfish General Commercial Permit

    Option D2 would maintain the requirement to report within 24 hours 
of completing a trip, which would maintain consistency with current 
requirements for vessel owners with Atlantic Tunas General or Harpoon 
category permits. Options requiring all or some fields to be completed 
prior to landing (Options D1, D4, D5) would be a stricter requirement 
for these vessel owners compared to the status quo.

Timing Considerations Specific to an HMS Charter/Headboat Electronic 
Logbook

    Option D1, requiring submission prior to landing, would have been 
consistent with the original electronic reporting requirements for Gulf 
of Mexico federal permitted for-hire vessels. This was a requirement in 
the final rule recently set aside by the United States Court of Appeals 
for the Fifth Circuit referenced above and is no longer in effect. NMFS 
is including this option as an example of the shortest timeframe for 
submitting logbooks and believes that a requirement to submit prior to 
landing can be included in a future action consistent with Fifth 
Circuit's decision. This option offers charter vessel/headboat owners 
the least flexibility in how and when they prepare and submit their 
fishing reports. This requirement could also be especially burdensome 
during peak season when the number of trips taken, the number of 
passengers carried, and catch are greatest.
    Option D2 would maintain the requirement to report within 24 hours 
of completing a trip, which would maintain consistency with current 
requirements for vessel owners with HMS Charter/Headboat permits.
    Option D3, requiring submission within 48 hours of completing a 
trip, would be consistent with the electronic reporting requirements 
for for-hire vessels with GARFO Federal permits. Option D5 would also 
meet the requirements for GARFO for-hire permits, but would be stricter 
by requiring some fields to be completed prior to landing.
    Option D6, requiring logbook submission once per week on a set day, 
would be consistent with the electronic reporting requirements for 
South Atlantic federally permitted for-hire vessels. Compared to the 
other options, weekly reporting has the most flexibility in when 
charter/headboat owners prepare and submit their fishing reports. This 
could be especially beneficial during peak season when the number of 
trips taken, the number of passengers carried, and catch are greatest.
    Options D1 through D5, requiring submission more frequently than 
once per week, would make HMS requirements stricter than requirements 
for South Atlantic federally permitted for-hire vessels. Options D1, 
D2, and D4, requiring submission sooner than within 48 hours of 
offloading, would make HMS requirements stricter than GARFO 
requirements, while weekly reporting under Option D6 would not meet 
GARFO requirements. Many for-hire vessels possess HMS Charter/Headboat 
permits in case of incidental HMS catch, and may be tempted to drop 
their HMS permits to avoid the extra reporting burden under options 
where HMS reporting requirements would be stricter than council 
reporting requirements. This could have negative effects on HMS 
management efforts in these fisheries.

E. HMS Angling Permit Reporting Requirements

Background

    Currently, HMS Angling permitted vessels must report all BFT 
landings and dead discards, as well as all non-tournament landings of 
Atlantic blue marlin, Atlantic white marlin, roundscale spearfish, 
Atlantic sailfish, and North Atlantic swordfish to NMFS within 24 hours 
of completing a trip. These catch reports can be submitted via the HMS 
Permits website, an HMS Catch Reporting smartphone app, or via a 
telephone number designated by NMFS. For telephone landing reports, the 
owner, or the owner's designee, must provide a contact phone number so 
that a NMFS representative can call the vessel owner, or the owner's 
designee, for follow up questions and to confirm the reported landing. 
Regardless of how catch reports are submitted, landing reports 
submitted to NMFS are not complete unless the vessel owner, or the 
owner's designee, has received a confirmation number from NMFS or a 
NMFS representative.
    NMFS is considering several management measures, described below, 
to modify species-specific

[[Page 30707]]

reporting requirements for owners of HMS Angling permitted vessels.

Potential Management Options

    NMFS is considering five options regarding what species must be 
reported by recreational fishermen, in addition to existing 
requirements to report BFT, billfish, and swordfish:
     E1. Status quo.
     E2. Requirement to report pelagic sharks.
     E3. Requirement to report all sharks.
     E4. Requirement to report bigeye, albacore, yellowfin, and 
skipjack (BAYS) tunas.
     E5. Requirement to report all HMS including discards.
    For Options E2 through E4, the status quo requirement to report BFT 
landings and dead discards, billfish landings, and swordfish landings 
would remain in place. Under Options E2 through E4, there would be an 
option to voluntarily report all HMS landings in addition to those 
required.
    Option E1 (status quo) would require the owner of an HMS Angling 
permitted vessel to report all BFT, billfish, and swordfish landings 
and BFT dead discards.
    Option E2 would require the owner of an HMS Angling permitted 
vessel to report all pelagic shark (i.e., blue, porbeagle, shortfin 
mako, and thresher shark) landings. Option E2 would result in more 
comprehensive reporting of species landed in the HMS recreational 
sector compared to the status quo, including reporting ICCAT. In the 
event ICCAT reauthorizes the retention of shortfin mako sharks, it is 
likely the fishery would have to be managed under a strict quota that 
would necessitate catch reporting to enable timely monitoring. 
Although, reporting pelagic shark landings in addition to BFT, 
swordfish, and billfish could increase the reporting burden for 
recreational HMS vessel owners, limiting reporting to only BFT, 
swordfish, billfish, and pelagic sharks would allow some species to be 
caught but not reported (e.g., other shark species). This could impact 
NMFS' ability to monitor recreational sector quotas and implement 
effective and responsive fisheries management measures. In Amendment 14 
to the 2006 Consolidated Atlantic HMS FMP (Amendment 14), NMFS 
established a framework under which the Agency will actively manage 
recreational sector quotas for sharks (88 FR 4157, January 24, 2023). 
In addition, this option would be an additional administrative burden 
to the Agency compared to the status quo.
    Option E3 would require the owner of an HMS Angling permitted 
vessel to report all shark landings. Option E3 would result in more 
comprehensive reporting of shark species landed in the HMS recreational 
sector compared to Options E1 and E2. Most coastal shark species are 
rare event species in the various catch and effort surveys (e.g., MRIP) 
used to monitor the recreational catch of these species, resulting in 
estimates of catch with extremely low precision (i.e., high PSE values 
greater than 50) which increases uncertainty for use in management and 
stock assessments. Requiring reporting of these species would provide 
much more accurate accounting of their landings, and facilitate better 
management of the recreational fishery. However, reporting all shark 
landings in addition to BFT, swordfish, and billfish could increase the 
reporting burden for recreational HMS vessel owners. This option would 
also be an increased administrative burden for the Agency compared to 
the status quo and Option E2. Additionally, reporting only BFT, 
swordfish, billfish, and sharks would allow some species to be caught 
but not reported (e.g., BAYS tunas). This could impact NMFS' ability to 
implement effective and responsive fisheries management measures. 
Furthermore, the vast majority of recreational shark interactions are 
with state anglers fishing for sharks in state waters where an HMS 
Angling permit is not required. Since this reporting requirement would 
be tied to possession of an HMS Angling permit, it would not apply to 
most anglers actually catching coastal shark species. As such, this 
option would not capture all recreational shark landings in state 
waters.
    Option E4 would require the owner of an HMS Angling permitted 
vessel to report all BAYS tunas landings. Option E4 would result in 
more comprehensive reporting of species landed in the HMS recreational 
sector compared to the status quo. However, reporting BAYS tunas 
landings in addition to BFT, swordfish, and billfish would increase the 
reporting burden for recreational HMS vessel owners. Additionally, 
reporting only BFT, swordfish, billfish, and BAYS tunas would allow 
some species to be caught but not reported (e.g., shark species). This 
could impact NMFS' ability to monitor recreational sector quotas under 
Amendment 14, as described above. As mentioned above, most coastal 
shark species are rare event species in the various catch and effort 
surveys (e.g., MRIP) used to monitor the recreational catch of these 
species, resulting in estimates of catch with extremely low precision 
(i.e., high PSE values greater than 50) which increases uncertainty for 
use in management and stock assessments. Under this option, NMFS would 
not receive accounting information for shark landings compared to 
Option E3, and that accounting could facilitate better management of 
the recreational fishery. In addition, this option would be an 
additional administrative burden to the Agency compared to the status 
quo.
    Option E5 would require the owner of an HMS Angling permitted 
vessel to report all HMS catch (landings and discards). Option E5 would 
result in more comprehensive reporting of species landed and discarded 
in the HMS recreational sector compared to the other options, and this 
is the only option that would capture recreational catch-and-release 
and incidental catch data on HMS. Additionally, this option would 
increase NMFS' ability to monitor recreational sector quotas for sharks 
and implement effective and responsive fisheries management measures, 
as described in the above options. However, reporting all HMS landings 
and discards would significantly increase the reporting burden for 
owners of HMS Angling permitted vessels and the administrative burden 
on NMFS, especially considering the large number of vessels in this 
sector.

F. Measures To Improve Reporting Compliance for Vessel Owners With HMS 
Open Access Permits

Background

    NMFS is considering ways to improve reporting compliance by vessel 
owners with HMS open access permits. Despite the requirement to self-
report, NMFS does not receive complete catch reporting of relevant 
species from vessel owners with HMS Angling, HMS Charter/Headboat, 
Atlantic Tunas General category, or Atlantic Tunas Harpoon category 
permits. Non-compliance with reporting requirements presents a 
challenge for NMFS to track landings in real-time and to analyze 
trends. Potential new logbook reporting requirements discussed in this 
action may improve reporting rates. Commercial landings data are also 
received from dealer reports. Apart from those considerations, NMFS is 
considering providing reporting incentives to encourage reporting as 
well as using permit blocks to respond to reporting non-compliance.
    A recent survey of recreational anglers in the BFT fishery, 
conducted by the American Saltwater Guides Association, Virginia 
Institute of Marine Science, and

[[Page 30708]]

The Nature Conservancy, asked anglers about the effectiveness of 
different strategies for improving reporting (see Goldsmith 2022, on 
the EM4.Fish website). Incentives were the highest ranked strategies, 
perceived by anglers as very or extremely effective. The incentives 
described in the survey were entering anglers who self-report into a 
low odds, high-value lottery for an item such as a fishing reel, or 
sending small items such as a hat or t-shirt to those who self-
reported. Other examples of incentives are described below.
    In order to renew an HMS limited access permit, the vessel owner 
must have complied with all logbook requirements. The same reporting 
compliance check is not currently done when renewing open access 
permits. However, submitting all required reports is currently a 
requirement in order to renew an HMS permit (see Sec.  635.4(m)). NMFS 
is considering only issuing permit renewals to vessel owners renewing 
open access permits who have complied with all reporting requirements.

Potential Management Options

    NMFS is considering two options to improve reporting compliance for 
vessel owners with HMS open access permits:
    F1. Reporting incentives.
    F2. Permit blocks for non-reporting.
    Under Option F1, NMFS is soliciting public input on the use of and 
options for reporting incentives. Some examples of incentives are 
listed below, but other examples could be considered as well. The below 
examples could involve a threshold reporting level or be reserved for 
those who demonstrate exemplary reporting.
     Sending small items such as a hat or t-shirt to those who 
self-reported.
     Provide certificates to those who self-reported.
     Reward top reporters with recognition by NMFS or NOAA.
     Develop a reporting leaderboard that fishermen could join 
into and receive badges or in-app achievements.
    This management option could encourage vessel owners to report all 
necessary information to receive incentives. This option could 
potentially increase reporting rates and therefore improve the data 
received by NMFS, which could in turn increase NMFS' ability to monitor 
sector quotas (e.g., BFT sectors) and implement effective and 
responsive fisheries management measures. This option would also be 
responsive to the BFT angler survey results showing that anglers 
believe incentives would be an effective method to increase reporting 
rates. However, making these kinds of incentives available exclusively 
for vessel owners with open access permits could be seen by vessel 
owners with limited access permits as unfair. There could also be 
perceived disparity among those who receive prizes or recognition and 
those who do not.
    Under Option F2, NMFS is also considering the use of permit blocks 
to deny permit renewals for vessel owners with open access permits who 
have not submitted all required catch reports. This option could 
increase the likelihood of vessel owners submitting all information 
required in a timely manner to prevent having a permit block. As with 
Option F1, this option could increase reporting rates and therefore 
improve the data received by NMFS, which could in turn increase NMFS' 
ability to accurately monitor sector quotas and implement effective and 
responsive fisheries management measures. This option could also 
increase perceived fairness between vessel owners with limited access 
and open access permits. However, this option would substantially 
increase the administrative burden on NMFS to track all reporting 
related to permit renewal requests due to the large number of permits, 
among other factors. This option could also increase Agency costs to 
create this capability in the permit system and administer the permit 
program, which could in turn increase the cost of permits. This option 
also has the potential to cause delays in processing permit renewals.

G. Individual Fish Reports in eDealer Program and Technical Change in 
BFT Reporting Requirements

Background

    Landing weight and price for most HMS are collected from dealer 
reports submitted electronically from dealers residing in Maine through 
Texas, including the U.S. Caribbean. All HMS landings submitted on 
those dealer reports are then consolidated in an internal database 
referred to as ``eDealer.'' For Atlantic BFT, landings weight and 
revenue are collected through SAFIS developed and maintained by the 
Atlantic Coast Cooperative Statistics Program. All HMS dealer reports 
are submitted on an individual trip basis, with most dealers providing 
information on the weight and price of purchased HMS from U.S. fishing 
vessels. In some cases, mostly for ICCAT-managed species such as 
swordfish and tunas, dealers may report the weight and price 
information for each individual fish instead of an aggregate weight for 
a given species. In the case of BFT, dealers are already required to 
report individual fish weights through SAFIS.
    As a quality control measure, NMFS regularly cross-validates the 
weight of fish and the purchase dates provided in dealer reports with 
the logbook trip information, including the weighout slips, to ensure 
all fish are accounted for in these fisheries. When discrepancies are 
found between the dealer reports, logbook, and weighout slips, NMFS 
works to ensure the fish are correctly entered in the appropriate 
dealer reporting system and in the logbook. Similarly for BFT, 
information in the dealer landings dataset is compared to the open-
access vessel catch report data set for quality assurance.
    Individual weight information for certain HMS stocks are important 
for future stock assessments to ensure NMFS receives the most accurate 
data to manage these stocks. NMFS is exploring changes that would 
result in more comprehensive individual weight and trip revenue 
information, particularly for species reported to ICCAT, across a wider 
range of gear types and regions than those currently reported on dealer 
reports. Because non-BFT dealer reports mostly provide an aggregate 
species weight instead of an individual weight for each fish, this type 
of inconsistency in reporting hinders the ability of the Agency to 
estimate trip revenue for certain landings, and necessary ICCAT-related 
reporting of individual fish weight. As such, NMFS is exploring ways to 
implement mandatory dealer reporting of individual carcass weight 
information for certain HMS.

Potential Management Options

    NMFS is considering three options for federal HMS dealer reporting:
     G1. Status quo.
     G2. Require reporting of individual fish on dealer 
reports.
     G3. Removing the requirement to submit a bi-weekly report 
for BFT.
    NMFS is considering implementing mandatory dealer reporting of 
individual non-BFT HMS on dealer reports. As described above, the 
electronic dealer reporting systems allow for the flexibility to report 
weight and price information at the species or individual fish level. 
In addition, there are currently some dealers already reporting 
individual carcass weights.
    Under Option G1, NMFS would maintain the current reporting 
requirements for dealers as described above. This option would maintain 
the status quo for dealers with no additional effort and reporting 
requirements. However, this option causes some inconsistencies in how 
dealers submit data, with some weight values reported

[[Page 30709]]

at the aggregate level and others reported at the individual fish 
level. Additionally, NMFS would not get individual carcass weights, 
which would be important for some stock assessments, trip revenue 
estimation, and ICCAT reporting.
    Under Option G2, NMFS would require reporting of individual fish on 
federal dealer reports. Under this option, NMFS is considering two sub-
options regarding which species could reported individually on dealer 
reports:
     G2a. Require all HMS to be reported individually on 
federal dealer reports.
     G2b. Require swordfish, BAYS tunas, and pelagic shark 
species to be reported individually on federal dealer reports.
    Under Sub-Option G2a, NMFS would require all HMS to be reported 
individually on federal dealer reports. This sub-option would allow 
NMFS to gather individual weight for every HMS landed commercially with 
a federal dealer and to get important weight information on all HMS 
stocks along with consistency in reporting across dealers and species. 
This sub-option would cause an increase in the reporting time and 
burden on dealers on weighing and reporting all the HMS catch 
individually. There would be an increase in administrative burden for 
quality assurance and control of all associated databases that receive 
HMS dealer data. Under Sub-Option G2a, there would need to be an 
increase in outreach to dealers and associated partners that handle 
federal dealer data regarding the changes in reporting requirements.
    Under Sub-Option G2b, NMFS would only require swordfish, BAYS 
tunas, and pelagic shark species to be reported individually on federal 
dealer reports. For pelagic sharks, commercial fishermen are currently 
only allowed to retain blue, common thresher, and porbeagle sharks. 
NMFS recently published a proposed rule that considers adding oceanic 
whitetip sharks to the prohibited sharks complex (88 FR 17171, March 
22, 2023). No other HMS would be required to be reported as individual 
carcass weights on federal dealer reports. This sub-option would allow 
NMFS to get individual carcass weights for species reported to ICCAT. 
This sub-option would potentially put less burden on dealers and NMFS, 
and associated partners that handle HMS dealer data compared to Sub-
Option G2a, but this would still be a significant change for dealers 
and would dramatically change how they report BAYS, swordfish, and some 
pelagic sharks. However, this sub-option could be more of a burden for 
those dealers compared to Option G1. In addition, this sub-option would 
not require individual weight data on other shark species, which could 
be important for future stock assessments.
    In addition to the management options related to eDealer, NMFS is 
considering a technical change to BFT dealer reporting to remove a 
redundancy in the requirements. Currently, each dealer with a valid 
Atlantic tunas dealer permit under Sec.  635.4 must submit a complete 
bi-weekly report on forms available from NMFS for BFT received from 
U.S. vessels (Sec.  635.5(b)(2)(i)(B)). For BFT received from U.S. 
vessels on the 1st through the 15th of each month, the dealer must 
submit the bi-weekly report form to NMFS, to be received by NMFS, not 
later than the 25th of that month. Reports of BFT received on the 16th 
through the last day of each month must be received by NMFS not later 
than the 10th of the following month. Under Option G3, NMFS is 
considering removing the requirement to submit the bi-weekly report as 
the information submitted via bi-weekly report is already collected 
under other BFT reporting requirements at Sec.  635.5(b)(2)(i)(A). This 
technical change would reduce the reporting burden for Atlantic tunas 
dealers and administrative burden on NMFS.

H. Electronic Reporting for the HMS EFP Program

Background

    Under the HMS EFP Program, NMFS annually issues approximately 40 
EFPs, scientific research permits (SRPs), display permits, and letters 
of acknowledgement under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Act and/
or Atlantic Tunas Convention Act. EFPs, SRPs, and display permits may 
be required in situations where necessary research activities would 
normally be prohibited by regulations. This could include: possession 
of certain prohibited shark and billfish species; possession of 
billfishes onboard commercial fishing vessels; and fishing during 
closures in the BFT, swordfish, and shark commercial fisheries. EFPs, 
SRPs, and display permits can authorize collection of tunas, swordfish, 
billfishes, and sharks from Federal waters in the Atlantic Ocean and 
Gulf of Mexico for the purposes of scientific data collection and 
public display.
    Written reports on fishing activities, and disposition of all fish 
captured under an EFP, SRP, or display permit must be submitted to NMFS 
within 5 days of return to port. If an individual issued an EFP, SRP, 
or display permit captures no HMS in any given month, a ``no-catch'' 
report must be submitted to NMFS within 5 days of the last day of the 
month. Additionally, an annual written summary report of all fishing 
activities, and disposition of all fish captured, under the permit must 
be submitted to NMFS for all EFPs, SRPs, and display permits within 30 
days after the expiration date of the permit. Failure to comply with 
the recordkeeping and reporting requirements could result in the EFP, 
SRP, or display permit being revoked, suspended, or modified, and the 
denial of any future applications. See Sec.  635.32(h) for more 
information.
    This detailed reporting of catch information is important for quota 
management and stock assessment purposes. All sharks collected under 
the authority of an EFP, SRP, or display permit, subject to 
restrictions at Sec.  635.32, are counted against the public display 
and non-specific research quotas at Sec.  635.27(b)(4). All BFT 
collected under the authority of an EFP, SRP, or display permit are 
counted against the Reserve or school reserve category quotas (see 
Sec.  635.27(a)(6)). Annually, NMFS allocates 50 metric tons dressed 
weight of the North Atlantic swordfish quota to the reserve category 
for fishery research, among other things (see Sec.  
635.27(c)(1)(i)(D)). Although NMFS does not implement a U.S. quota for 
bigeye, yellowfin, and skipjack tunas, or an EFP- or research-specific 
quota for albacore, all mortality for these species incurred under an 
EFP, SRP, or display permit are tracked for future stock assessments.
    To facilitate this reporting, the HMS EFP Program currently 
requires the submission of interim (Excel spreadsheet) and annual (PDF) 
reports via email, consistent with the requirements at Sec.  635.32(h). 
Those reporting forms are available on the HMS Management Division 
website and are shared with HMS EFP holders when their permit is 
issued. Once received, NMFS staff must then download and manually enter 
that data into an Excel database. This process is time consuming, can 
be error prone, and can cause problems in regard to quota monitoring 
and the timely publication of the annual notice of intent for these 
permits.

Potential Management Options

    NMFS is considering three options to modify reporting under the HMS 
EFP Program:
     H1. A voluntary method of electronic reporting.
     H2. Revise requirement to submit interim reports within 5 
days.

[[Page 30710]]

     H3. Remove requirement to notify NMFS OLE prior to a 
collection trip.
    Under Option H1, NMFS is considering implementing a voluntary 
method of electronic reporting for the HMS EFP Program. Under this 
option, HMS EFP holders could enter interim report data into an online 
portal. Current methods of submitting reports (i.e., via email as an 
attached Excel or PDF file) could still be available.
    Creating an online portal for data submission and automated data 
management system could result in improved data quality and a more 
efficient and cost-effective process by removing the additional data 
processing steps that are currently required. An online portal could 
also streamline reporting for HMS EFP holders compared to submission of 
Excel files via email. HMS EFP holders that choose to submit interim 
reports via the online portal would not need to submit annual reports, 
since annual reports could be automatically generated from the backend 
database. However, with a voluntary electronic reporting system, HMS 
EFP holders may still submit data via current methods (i.e., via email 
as an attached Excel or PDF file), increasing the administrative burden 
on NMFS staff to monitor two methods of reporting and consolidate data.
    NMFS is also considering two technical changes to the reporting 
requirements for the HMS EFP Program.
    As described above, interim reports on fishing activities, and 
disposition of all fish captured under an EFP, SRP, or display permit, 
must be submitted to NMFS within 5 days of return to port or within 5 
days of the last day of the month for a ``no-catch'' report. However, 
given the extent of data collected on research trips, submitting 
interim reports within 5 days is often impractical, unrealistic, and 
unnecessarily burdensome to HMS EFP holders. As a result, in practice, 
interim reports are rarely submitted on time. Therefore, under Option 
H2, NMFS is considering revising the requirement to submit interim 
reports within 5 days of returning to port to a timeline as specified 
by NMFS in the terms and conditions of the EFP, SRP, or display permit.
    Additionally, in accordance with Sec.  635.32(d)(4), HMS EFP 
holders collecting HMS for public display must notify the local NMFS 
Office of Law Enforcement (OLE) at least 24 hours (excluding weekends 
and holidays) prior to departing on a collection trip and provide 
details on the collection plans, location, and number of animals to be 
collected. In the event that a NMFS OLE agent is not available, a 
message may be left. NMFS OLE has requested that this requirement be 
removed to eliminate the administrative burden of tracking HMS 
collection trips. Therefore, under Option H3, NMFS is considering 
removing the requirement to notify NMFS OLE prior to a collection trip.
    These technical changes under Options H2 and H3 would reduce the 
reporting burden for HMS EFP holders and administrative burden for 
NMFS.

Request for Comments

    NMFS is requesting comments on this advance notice of proposed 
rulemaking, which may be submitted via www.regulations.gov or at a 
public hearing. NMFS solicits comments on this action by August 18, 
2023 (see DATES and ADDRESSES).
    The pros and cons for each management option described above should 
not be considered exhaustive. The pros and cons are intended to 
facilitate discussion of the merits of each management option. 
Interested members of the public are encouraged to provide specific 
suggestions and recommendations on the options, any additional pros and 
cons, or other options that NMFS should consider. The reader can 
consider the management options together, because multiple options can 
be analyzed and further developed through the regulatory process. Table 
1 provides a summary of the management options presented above, on 
which NMFS is soliciting comments.

   Table 1--Summary of Management Options for HMS Electronic Reporting
                              Requirements
------------------------------------------------------------------------
              Section                      Options and Sub-options
------------------------------------------------------------------------
A. Electronic Commercial Atlantic   A1. Weighout slip requirement.
 HMS and Southeast Coastal          A2. Reporting requirements for
 Fisheries Logbooks.                 smoothhound shark permit holders.
                                    A2a. Status quo.
                                    A2b. Include smoothhound shark
                                     permit in electronic logbook.
B. Electronic Commercial Reporting  B1. Maintain current reporting
 for Atlantic Tunas General and      requirements.
 Harpoon Category Permits and       B2. Expanding trip reporting
 Swordfish General Commercial        requirements related to currently
 Permit.                             reported species via electronic
                                     logbook.
                                    B3. Expanding species and trip
                                     reporting requirements via
                                     electronic logbook.
                                    B3a. Require reporting of all HMS
                                     caught.
                                    B3b. Require reporting of all
                                     species caught, including non-HMS.
                                    B3c. Require reporting for all
                                     trips, regardless of if fish are
                                     caught.
C. HMS Charter/Headboat Electronic  C1. Species reporting requirements.
 Logbook.                           C1a. Status quo.
                                    C1b. Requirement to report all HMS.
                                    C1c. Requirement to report all
                                     species.
                                    C2. No-fishing reports.
                                    C2a. Status quo.
                                    C2b. Requirement to submit no-
                                     fishing reports.
                                    C3. Costs and earnings information.
                                    C3a. Mandatory submission of cost
                                     and earnings information for each
                                     trip.
                                    C3b. Mandatory submission of cost
                                     and earnings information if a
                                     vessel is selected for reporting.
                                    C3c. Collection of cost and earnings
                                     information separately via surveys.
                                    C4. Geospatial information.
                                    C4a. Status quo.
                                    C4b. Collection of geospatial
                                     information.
D. Timing Requirements for          D1. Submit prior to landing.
 Submission of Electronic Logbooks. D2. Submit within 24 hours of
                                     offloading/completing a trip.
                                    D3. Submit within 48 hours of
                                     offloading/completing a trip.

[[Page 30711]]

 
                                    D4. Complete reports to the extent
                                     possible prior to landing and
                                     submit within 24 hours of
                                     offloading/completing a trip.
                                    D5. Complete reports to the extent
                                     possible prior to landing and
                                     submit within 48 hours of
                                     offloading/completing a trip.
                                    D6. Submit within 7 days of
                                     offloading (commercial) or once per
                                     week (charter/headboat).
E. HMS Angling Permit Reporting     E1. Status quo.
 Requirements.                      E2. Requirement to report pelagic
                                     sharks.
                                    E3. Requirement to report all
                                     sharks.
                                    E4. Requirement to report BAYS
                                     tunas.
                                    E5. Requirement to report all HMS
                                     including discards.
F. Measures to Improve Reporting    F1. Reporting incentives.
 Compliance for Vessel Owners with  F2. Permit blocks for non-reporting.
 HMS Open Access Permits.
G. Individual Fish Reports in       G1. Status quo.
 eDealer Program and Technical      G2. Require reporting of individual
 Change in BFT Reporting             fish on dealer reports.
 Requirements.                      G2a. Require all HMS to be reported
                                     individually on federal dealer
                                     reports.
                                    G2b. Require swordfish, BAYS tunas,
                                     and pelagic shark species to be
                                     reported individually on federal
                                     dealer reports.
                                    G3. Removing the requirement to
                                     submit a bi-weekly report for BFT.
H. Electronic Reporting for the     H1. A voluntary method of electronic
 HMS EFP Program.                    reporting.
                                    H2. Revise requirement to submit
                                     interim reports within 5 days.
                                    H3. Remove requirement to notify
                                     NMFS OLE prior to a collection
                                     trip.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In addition, NMFS is soliciting responses to the specific questions 
described in under Option A1:
     Which entity (e.g., the dealer, the captain, a crew 
member) currently creates the weighout slip?
     How are the weighout slips currently created?
     Are the weighout slips created only at the first port of 
offloading or at every port of offloading?
     Do the weighout slips include fish that are sold to 
dealers, fish of low quality (i.e., not sold to a dealer), and fish 
kept for personal consumption?
     Would a standardized format help with creating the 
weighout slips?
     What would ease the burden (in time and costs) associated 
with creating the weighout slips (e.g., a form filled out 
electronically with the logbook, a form that could be filled out and 
uploaded separate from the logbook)?
    During the comment period, NMFS will hold five public hearings and 
two public hearings via webinars for this advance notice of proposed 
rulemaking, as shown in Table 2. The hearing locations will be 
physically accessible to people with disabilities. Requests for sign 
language interpretation or other auxiliary aids should be directed to 
Carrie Soltanoff at [email protected] or 301-427-8503, at least 
7 days prior to the meeting.

  Table 2--Dates, Times, and Locations of Upcoming Public Hearings and
                                Webinars
------------------------------------------------------------------------
           Date and time                          Location
------------------------------------------------------------------------
June 6, 2023, 5 p.m.-8 p.m........  Broward County Library--Imperial
                                     Point, 5985 North Federal Highway,
                                     Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308.
June 13, 2023, 2 p.m.-4 p.m.......  Information on the webinar will be
                                     posted at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/advance-notice-proposed-rulemaking-electronic-reporting-requirements.
June 14, 2023, 5 p.m.-8 p.m.......  Ocean County Library--Toms River,
                                     101 Washington Street, Toms River,
                                     NJ 08753.
June 21, 2023, 5:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.  Dare County Library--Manteo, 700
                                     Highway 64/264, Manteo, NC 27954.
July 27, 2023, 2 p.m.-4 p.m.......  Information on the webinar will be
                                     posted at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/advance-notice-proposed-rulemaking-electronic-reporting-requirements.
August 3, 2023, 5 p.m.-8 p.m......  Belle Chasse Auditorium, 8398 LA-23,
                                     Belle Chasse, LA 70037.
August 9, 2023, 5 p.m.-8 p.m......  Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries
                                     Office, 55 Great Republic Drive,
                                     Gloucester, MA 01930.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The public is reminded that NMFS expects participants at the public 
hearings to conduct themselves appropriately. At the beginning of each 
public hearing, a representative of NMFS will explain the ground rules 
(e.g., alcohol is prohibited from the hearing room; attendees will be 
called to give their comments in the order in which they registered to 
speak; each attendee will have an equal amount of time to speak; and 
attendees should not interrupt one another). At the beginning of the 
webinar, the moderator will explain how the webinar will be conducted 
and how and when attendees can provide comments. The NMFS 
representative will attempt to structure the meeting so that all 
attending members of the public will be able to comment, if they so 
choose, regardless of the controversial nature of the subject(s). 
Attendees are expected to respect the ground rules, and, if they do 
not, they may be asked to leave the hearing or may not be allowed to 
speak during the webinar.

Classification

    This action has been determined to be not significant for purposes 
of Executive Order 12866.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq. and 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    Dated: May 5, 2023.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-10073 Filed 5-10-23; 2:00 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P