#electronicmonitoring – Fishermens News

Alaska Trawl Harvesters Working to Expand Electronic Pelagic Pollock Fishery Monitoring

9Jul

By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments

Fishermen's News Online, News

Alaska Trawl Harvesters Working to Expand Electronic Pelagic Pollock Fishery Monitoring

Gulf of Alaska (GOA) trawl fishermen are working to expand electronic monitoring from the pelagic pollock fishery to the Central Gulf of Alaska rockfish program. Using electronic monitoring and other technology to provide cost-effective monitoring and better prohibited species catch accounting has always been a goal for the trawl catcher vessels, Chelsae Radell, assistant director of the Alaska Groundfish Data Bank in Kodiak, noted in the June 30 edition of the online publication EM4Fish. In 2007 and 2008, Alaska Groundfish Data Bank (AGDB) received exempted fishing permits (EFPs) to test the use of electronic monitoring to quantify at-sea halibut discards in the GOA rockfish program. While the EFPs showed that electronic monitoring was possible, limitations in its use at the time mea...

NPFMC Amendments Would Expand Electronic Monitoring Program

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council has submitted Amendment 126 to the Fishery Management Plans for groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area and Amendment 114 to the Fishery Management Plan for groundfish in the Gulf of Alaska. If approved, the amendments would expand electronic monitoring (EM) to pelagic trawl pollock catcher vessels and tenders delivering to shoreside processors or stationary floating processors in the Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska. Both amendments 126 and Amendment 114 are intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the BSAI FMP and the GOA FMP. The proposed rule was published in the Federal Register on Monday, Jan. 22 by the National Oceani...

EM Program Regulations to be Implemented for Groundfish Trawl Catch Share Program

NOAA Fisheries has announced that effective Nov. 2, a new rule will implement electronic monitoring (EM) program regulations for vessels using groundfish bottom trawl and non-whiting midwater trawl gear in the Pacific Coast Groundfish Trawl Catch Share Program. This move is expected to allow vessels using bottom trawl and non-whiting midwater trawl gear to use EM in place of human observers to meet their requirements for 100% at-sea catch monitoring. The final rule is intended to boost operational flexibility and reduce monitoring costs for vessels in this groundfish trawl fishery. It also revises some language in existing regulations for EM vessels and EM service providers to clarify and streamline EM program requirements. The Pacific Coast Groundfish Management Plan (FMP) sp...