NOAA Fisheries is approving a recommendation from both the Mid-Atlantic and New England Fishery Management Councils to require federally permitted commercial fishing vessels to submit vessel trip reports electronically within 48 hours of the end of a trip. Upon request of the New England Council, we are also extending this requirement to vessels issued for-hire (charter/party) permits for New England Council-managed fisheries (i.e., Northeast multispecies). Vessels issued a Mid-Atlantic Council for-hire permit have been required to submit vessel trip reports electronically since March 2018.
If you are issued only a Northeast Multispecies Charter/Party Permit (Category I), or any commercial permit for any fishery listed below, this action affects how and when you will submit vessel trip reports.
- Atlantic bluefish
- Atlantic deep-sea red crab
- Atlantic herring
- Atlantic mackerel
- Atlantic sea scallop
- Atlantic surfclam and ocean quahog
- Black sea bass
- Blueline tilefish
- Butterfish
- Chub mackerel
- Golden tilefish
- Monkfish
- Northeast multispecies (groundfish), including small-mesh multispecies
- Northeast skate
- Scup
- Spiny dogfish
- Squid
- Summer flounder
Note, reporting requirements for vessels issued only a federal lobster permit are being addressed in a separate rulemaking and this action does not affect those vessels.
The effective date of this action is being delayed for 1 year, until November 10, 2021, to allow ample time for training on the various electronic reporting applications and to allow vessel owners and operators the time to find the appropriate application for their operations. We strongly recommend that all affected vessel owners and operators begin transitioning to electronic vessel trip reports as early as possible.
Information on eVTR applications is available on our website. Additional information on training opportunities can be found on the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s website.
