The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council and NOAA Fisheries will be hosting a workshop in Kenner, LA, on February 12, 2019, to inform owners and operators of vessels with federal Gulf charter/headboat reef fish permits or Gulf charter/headboat coastal migratory pelagics permits about new electronic reporting requirements. They will also be providing information on how federal for-hire fishermen can get a free electronic logbook from the Woods Hole Group to comply with these requirements. The workshop will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at the La Quinta Inn and Suites, 2610 Williams Blvd., Kenner, LA 70062.
NOAA Fisheries will implement these new requirements in two phases:
- Phase 1, expected to be implemented on April 15, 2019, will require owners/operators to:
- Hail-out with information about trip type, expected landing date, time, and location
- Complete an electronic report for each trip prior to offloading fish, or no more than 30 minutes after completing a trip if no fish are landed.
- Phase 2, expected to be implemented in October 2019, will require owners/operators to have NOAA Fisheries-approved hardware/software permanently affixed to each permitted vessel that, at minimum, archives the vessel’s GPS location and transmits that data to NOAA Fisheries.
The Gulf Council and NOAA Fisheries will also be sending owners/operators complete instructional packets and conducting webinars on the new requirements as well as hosting additional workshops before Phase 2 is implemented.
The Gulf Council approved these changes to improve data collection and fisheries management. NOAA Fisheries has compiled several Frequently Asked Questions on these proposed changes. For more information, contact Chris Schieble at cschieble@wlf.la.gov or 504-284-2035.