AKRO/SF: Vessel (at-sea) Production Reports

Vessel (at-sea) production reports are mandatory reports submitted by catcher/processors and motherships that are issued a Federal Fishing Permit. These reports document groundfish production in post-processed product weight by species, gear type, area fished, and product type. Initially reported weekly, at-sea production reports transitioned to daily reports in 2009. The weight of each species of fish is reported by product code (e.g., fillets, minced fish, surimi, etc.). The product weight is converted to a pre-processed (round) weight of fish by expanding the product weight using product recovery rates (PRR). Standardized PRRs are published in Federal regulations for product types and species combinations (50 CFR 679 Table 3).

These reports document groundfish harvest from catcher/processors and motherships. As-sea production reports have been used to estimate total catch in combination with observer data.

Access to sensitive data shall only be granted to an individual that meets certain criteria. Access can only be granted to an individual if a signed and effective Confidentiality Agreement, Data Access Sharing Agreement, Memorandum of Understanding, Standard Statement of Nondisclosure, or similar agreement is in place. These signed agreements shall indicate that individuals have reviewed and understand the provisions in the manual governing the legal use of sensitive data. The signed agreements are maintained by the Alaska Regional Records office. The name of each individual that has signed a statement of nondisclosure for using sensitive data will be added to the Alaska Region list of authorized confidential data users.

Vessel production report data are sensitive under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act (2007) and can only be shared with authorized persons or in summary format for public dissemination.

Real time validation is performed during data entry in the seaLandings component of the Interagency Electronic Reporting System (IERS). Warnings and errors are flagged.

IT Security and Contingency Plan for the system establishes procedures and applies to the functions, operations, and resources necessary to recover and restore data as hosted in the Alaska Region in Juneau, Alaska, following a disruption.

Vessel (at-sea) production reports are generated and submitted with seaLandings as an attachment to an email. The email attachments are saved and the files are loaded into the NMFS Alaska Region database.