If you would like to provide IFM services (observing, at-sea monitoring, and/or portside sampling) to Atlantic herring vessels in IFM year 2021 (April 1, 2021 – March 31, 2022), you must submit an application to be an approved provider by December 1, 2020. Companies already approved to provide IFM services in IFM years 2020 and 2021 do not need to apply again in order to provide services in 2021. Applications must include a cover letter, as well as the information and statements identified in the regulations at 50 CFR 648.11(h). In your application, please be sure to specify which type(s) of monitoring services (i.e., observing, at-sea monitoring, and/or portside sampling) you would like to provide.
We will review all applications in accordance with the requirements listed in the regulations. Please review the regulations carefully, particularly the requirements for signed statements. For service providers that currently provide observing or monitoring services in other fisheries, please note that our review of your application will include an evaluation of your performance in comparison to the published standards to determine whether to approve your company as an IFM service provider for IFM year 2021.
We will notify service providers of our preliminary determination as soon as we have completed our reviews. Final approval of any provider applications we receive under this announcement will cover IFM year 2021, and final decisions will be published in the Federal Register.
Please use Kiteworks, a secure file-sharing service, to submit the requested documents by December 1, 2020, to Maria Fenton at maria.fenton@noaa.gov. If you need help creating a Kiteworks account, please contact Maria for assistance.
