NORTHEAST VMS PROGRAM NOAA Fisheries Office of Law

NORTHEAST VMS PROGRAM NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement Bill Semrau - VMS Program Manager

Current VMS Population 1, 582 vessels (as of June 13, 2007) Permit Category Sky. Mate Boatracs Thrane & Thrane Limited Access Scallop General Category Scallop Multispecies Monkfish (Cat A, B, F) Combination Herring Not yet assigned or Test 18 454 321 1 1 4 20 287 163 218 1 43 16 7 2 5 16 0 0 0 5______ Total: 819 735 28 n Fleet Growth -- December 1, 2005: 1, 050 vessels October 1, 2005: 704 vessels

VMS DECLARATIONS AND FORMS 12 VMS screens in use n 4 Declaration (Multispecies/Scallop/Monkfish/Herring/DOF) n 2 Catch report forms (multispecies/scallop) n 6 Trip notification forms: n GOM/SNE Differential Area Layover (sent at sea) n Herring Pre-Landing (sent at sea) n Cod Running Clock (sent at sea) n Scallop Broken Trip (sent at sea) n Scallop Access Area Compensation Trip (sent inport) n GOM Cod Trip Limit Exemption (sent inport)

DECLARATION (CODE) FORMAT • Multispecies Example: “NMS-MUL-OPADSX” “NMS”= “MUL”= “OP” = “A” = “D” = “S” = “X” = Species Code (“Northeast Multispecies”) Plan Code (“multispecies regular access”) Area ID (“Open area”) Days-at-Sea Code (“A DAS”) Gear Type (“Day Gillnet”) Trip Modifier (“SNE Differential Area”) Placeholder (future expansion) • VMS Activity Code Expansion: • November ‘ 06: 230 codes (Framework 42) • May ‘ 06: 120 codes (G/F Emerg Action) • December ’ 05: 52 codes (Framework 17)

VMS Form Example Sent when: • Need to enter/remain inside GOM/SNE DA for inclement weather • Not already declared into GOM/SNE DA • Not simply transiting thru GOM/SNE DA

VMS Power Down Exemptions n All Vessels – Apply for ‘Letter of Exemption’ to sign out of the VMS program if out of the water for > 72 hours. n Multispecies Vessels – Apply for ‘Letter of Exemption’ to sign out of the VMS program for 30 days minimum. n General Category Scallop Vessels – May turn power to VMS unit off: (1) after landing catch, (2) while tied to the dock/ mooring, and (3) after declaring a Power-Down VMS declaration, unless other permits held require continuous reporting. n Herring Vessels – May turn power to VMS unit off while in port, unless other permits held require continuous reporting.

Declaration Costs n Sky. Mate: n n n Cost determined by Service Plan, then by # of characters Silver, Gold & Platinum Plans Declaration is 84 characters Declaration cost between $. 12 &. $17 each No cost for acknowledgments Boatracs n n n Cost is determined by message and # of characters Per message charge is $. 50. Per character charge is $. 004 Declaration message cost between $. 50 and $. 59 Acknowledgment cost (acceptance) approx $. 96 Acknowledgment cost (rejection) up to $1. 81

VMS Costs – Who Pays? n Fisherman n n Normal Position Reports (30 or 60 minutes) Declarations (& Boatracs’ acknowledgments) Outgoing E-Mail NMFS n n Additional Position Polling Outgoing E-Mail, including: n Trip Start and Land Confirmation e-mails n Fleet-Wide VMS messages n Individual messages to vessels

Acknowledgment Response Times (% fleet-wide) Boatracs <2 min 2 to <5 mins 5 to <10 mins 10 to <15 mins 15 to <30 mins 30 to <60 mins >60 mins 2. 7% 41. 2% 48. 6% 3. 9% 1. 9%. 85%. 73% Declarations Sent: 4, 367 Sky. Mate 48. 0% 20. 0% 14. 0% 5. 7% 6. 3% 2. 8% 2. 5% 3, 652

VMS Reporting Capabilities & Limitations n Capabilities n Automated reporting (less human intervention) n Position tracking / simplified forms n Near-real time reporting n Documenting & storing data for future retrieval n Alerting n Two-Way communications n Over-the-Air (OTA) software updates (some vendors) n Safety (limited capability) (no substitute for EPIRB/radio) n Limitations n Manual reporting (more human intervention) n Data-intensive forms / Declarations n Technology/Data latency n Software compliance (non-OTA updates) n Complexity of fishery regs & VMS requirements n 24/7 near real-time monitoring n Cost associated with regulatory changes/software upgrades n Self-Installations

“Missing” Position Reports n n As distinguished from ‘delayed reports’ Satellite Network Outages – Rare n n Individual vessel equipment Issues n n n NMFS notified of planned/unplanned events External/internal power Antennas/cabling/connections Salt-water intrusion Transceiver failure (rare) Excessive ice-build-up Global Grams’ received, but not processed

Northeast Division (OLE) VMS Team n Bill Semrau Linda Galvin Bethany Brosnan Patti Asaro n OLE Address/Phone: n n n (978) 281 -9151 (978) 281 -9230 (978) 281 -9239 (978) 281 -9126 1 Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930 Office: (978) 281 -9213, Fax: (978) 281 -9317 Northeast Region Website: n n n VMS Program Manager VMS Specialist VMS/DAS Technician www. nero. noaa. gov Under “Fishing Industry Homepage”, then “VMS Regulations” E-Mail: n n Firstname. Lastname@noaa. gov or NMFS. OLE. NE@NOAA. GOV

TRIP STITCHING • Trip Generation feature of NMFS’ monitoring system • Designed to accommodate vessels that ‘clip’ VMS demarc line or transit thru ‘NB Triangle’ • Trip ‘fragments’ are stitched as a single trip if: • VMS Declaration (code) does not change • Vessel inside demarc for < 4 hours

VMS Demarcation Line “New Bedford Triangle”