NOAA Fisheries announces a final rule published today in the Federal Register. This final rule extends the processing and reporting deadlines for service providers in the West Coast groundfish electronic monitoring (EM) program. The Pacific Fishery Management Council recommended extending the deadlines to provide additional time for EM service providers in the groundfish trawl fishery to process and submit data during peak fishing times. These measures are intended to provide additional flexibility and prevent cost increases for EM service providers and the vessels that contract them for EM services.
The changes in this final rule are effective December 22, 2023.
This Final Rule:
- Extends the deadline for EM service providers to submit logbook data from two days to seven business days after receipt of the logbook (50 CFR 660.603(m)(5)).
- Extends the deadline for EM service providers to provide data and feedback from the video review from three weeks to 60 days after receipt of the hard drive (§ 660.603(m)(4)-(5)).
- Clarifies that EM service providers may use different methods to generate discard estimates from the video review provided they meet the purpose and goals of the EM program (§ 660.603(m)(1)).
- Makes some minor regulatory changes to update and clarify other groundfish regulations.
Please visit our EM Program website for more information.
Questions?
Contact Justin Kavanaugh, EM Program Coordinator, at (206) 526-4140 or justin.kavanaugh@noaa.gov.
