[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