[Code of Federal Regulations] [Title 50, Volume 4] [Revised as of October 1, 2002] From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access [CITE: 50CFR648.7] [Page 300-304] TITLE 50--WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE PART 648--FISHERIES OF THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES--Table of Contents Subpart A--General Provisions Sec. 648.7 Recordkeeping and reporting requirements. (a) Dealers--(1) Detailed weekly report. Federally permitted dealers must submit to the Regional Administrator or to the official designee a detailed weekly report, within the time periods specified in paragraph (f) of this section, on forms supplied by or approved by the Regional Administrator and a report of all fish purchases, except surf clam and ocean quahog dealers or processors who are required to report only surf clam and ocean quahog purchases. If authorized in writing by the Regional Administrator, dealers may submit reports electronically or through other media. The following information, and any other information required by the Regional Administrator, must be provided in the report: (i) All dealers issued a dealer permit under this part, with the exception of those utilizing the surf clam or ocean quahog dealer permit, must provide: Dealer name and mailing address; dealer permit number; name and permit number or name and hull number (USCG documentation number or state registration number, whichever is applicable) of vessels from which fish are landed or received; trip identifier for a trip from which fish are landed or received; dates of purchases; pounds by species (by market category, if applicable); price per pound by species (by market category, if applicable) or total value by species (by market category, if applicable); port landed; signature of person supplying the information; and any other information deemed necessary by the Regional Administrator. The dealer or other authorized individual must sign all report forms. If no fish are purchased during a reporting week, no written report is required to be submitted. If no fish are purchased during an entire reporting month, a report so stating on the required form must be submitted. (ii) Surf clam and ocean quahog processors and dealers must provide: Date [[Page 301]] of purchase or receipt; name, permit number and mailing address; number of bushels by species; cage tag numbers; allocation permit number; vessel name and permit number; price per bushel by species. Dealers must also report disposition of surf clams or ocean quahogs, including name and permit number of recipients. Processors must also report size distribution and meat yield per bushel by species. (2) Weekly IVR system reports. (i) Federally permitted dealers, other than Atlantic herring and tilefish dealers, purchasing quota- managed species not deferred from coverage by the Regional Administrator pursuant to paragraph (a)(2)(ii) of this section must submit, within the time period specified in paragraph (f) of this section, the following information, and any other information required by the Regional Administrator, to the Regional Administrator or to an official designee, via the IVR system established by the Regional Administrator: Dealer permit number; dealer code; pounds purchased, by species, other than Atlantic herring and tilefish; reporting week in which species were purchased; and state of landing for each species purchased. If no purchases of quota-managed species not deferred from coverage by the Regional Administrator pursuant to paragraph (a)(2)(ii) of this section were made during the week, a report so stating must be submitted through the IVR system in accordance with paragraph (f) of this section. (ii) The Regional Administrator may defer any quota-managed species from the IVR system reporting requirements if landings are not expected to reach levels that would cause the applicable target exploitation rate corresponding to a given domestic annual harvest limit, target or actual TAC, or annual or seasonal quota specified for that species to be exceeded. The Regional Administrator shall base any such determination on the purchases reported, by species, in the comprehensive written reports submitted by dealers and other available information. If the Regional Administrator determines that any quota-managed species should be deferred from the weekly IVR system reporting requirements, the Regional Administrator shall publish notification so stating in the Federal Register. If data indicate that landing levels have increased to an extent that this determination ceases to be valid, the Regional Administrator shall terminate the deferral by publishing notification in the Federal Register. (3) Annual report. All persons required to submit reports under paragraph (a)(1) of this section are required to submit the following information on an annual basis, on forms supplied by the Regional Administrator: (i) All dealers issued a dealer permit under this part, with the exception of those processing only surfclams or ocean quahogs, must complete all sections of the Annual Processed Products Report for all species of fish or shellfish that were processed during the previous year. Reports must be submitted to the address supplied by the Regional Administrator. (ii) Surf clam and ocean quahog processors and dealers must provide the average number of processing plant employees during each month of the year just ended; average number of employees engaged in production of processed surf clam and ocean quahog products, by species, during each month of the year just ended; plant capacity to process surf clam and ocean quahog shellstock, or to process surf clam and ocean quahog meats into finished products, by species; an estimate, for the next year, of such processing capacities; and total payroll for surf clam and ocean quahog processing, by month. If the plant processing capacities required to be reported in this paragraph (a)(3)(ii) change more than 10 percent during any year, the processor shall notify the Regional Administrator in writing within 10 days after the change. (iii) Atlantic herring processors, including processing vessels, must complete and submit all sections of the Annual Processed Products Report. (b) Vessel owners or operators--(1) Fishing Vessel Trip Reports--(i) The owner or operator of any vessel issued a valid permit under this part must maintain on board the vessel, and submit, an accurate fishing log report for each fishing trip, regardless of species fished for or taken, on forms supplied by or approved by the Regional Administrator. [[Page 302]] If authorized in writing by the Regional Administrator, a vessel owner or operator may submit reports electronically, for example by using a VMS or other media. With the exception of those vessel owners or operators fishing under a surfclam or ocean quahog permit, at least the following information and any other information required by the Regional Administrator, must be provided: vessel name; USCG documentation number (or state registration number, if undocumented); permit number; date/ time sailed; date/time landed; trip type; number of crew; number of anglers (if a charter or party boat); gear fished; quantity and size of gear; mesh/ring size; chart area fished; average depth; latitude/ longitude (or loran station and bearings); total hauls per area fished; average tow time duration; hail weight, in pounds (or count of individual fish, if a party or charter vessel), by species, of all species, or parts of species, such as monkfish livers, landed or discarded; dealer permit number; dealer name; date sold, port and state landed; and vessel operator's name, signature, and operator's permit number (if applicable). (ii) Surf clam and ocean quahog vessel owners and operators. The owner or operator of any vessel conducting any surf clam and ocean quahog fishing operations, except those conducted exclusively in waters of a state that requires cage tags or when he/she has surrendered the surf clam and ocean quahog fishing vessel permit, shall maintain, on board the vessel, an accurate daily fishing log for each fishing trip, on forms supplied by the Regional Administrator, showing at least: Name and permit number of the vessel, total amount in bushels of each species taken, date(s) caught, time at sea, duration of fishing time, locality fished, crew size, crew share by percentage, landing port, date sold, price per bushel, buyer, tag numbers from cages used, quantity of surf clams and ocean quahogs discarded, and allocation permit number. (iii) The owner or operator of a vessel described here must report catches (retained and discarded) of herring each week to an IVR system. The report shall include at least the following information, and any other information required by the Regional Administrator: Vessel identification, reporting week in which species are caught, pounds retained, pounds discarded, management area fished, and pounds of herring caught in each management area for the previous week. Weekly Atlantic herring catch reports must be submitted via the IVR system by midnight, Eastern time, each Tuesday for the previous week. Reports are required even if herring caught during the week has not yet been landed. This report does not exempt the owner or operator from other applicable reporting requirements of Sec. 648.7. (A) The owner or operator of any vessel issued a permit for Atlantic herring subject to the requirements specified by Sec. 648.4(c)(2)(vi)(C) that is required by Sec. 648.205 to have a VMS unit on board must submit an Atlantic herring catch report via the IVR system each week (including weeks when no herring is caught), unless exempted from this requirement by the Regional Administrator. (B) An owner or operator of any vessel issued a permit for Atlantic herring that is not required by Sec. 648.205 to have a VMS unit on board and that catches [gteqt] 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of Atlantic herring on any trip in a week must submit an Atlantic herring catch report via the IVR system for that week as required by the Regional Administrator. (C) An owner or operator of any vessel that catches [gteqt] 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of Atlantic herring, some or all of which is caught in or from the EEZ, on any trip in a week, must submit an Atlantic herring catch report via the IVR system for that week as required by the Regional Administrator. (D) Atlantic herring IVR reports are not required from Atlantic herring carrier vessels. (iv) The owner or operator of any vessel issued a limited access permit for tilefish must submit a tilefish catch report via the IVR system within 24 hours after returning to port and offloading as required by the Regional Administrator. The report shall include at least the following information, and any other information required by the Regional Administrator: Vessel identification, trip during which species are [[Page 303]] caught, and pounds landed. IVR reporting does not exempt the owner or operator from other applicable reporting requirements of Sec. 648.7. (c) When to fill out a log report. Log reports required by paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this section must be filled out with all required information, except for information not yet ascertainable, prior to entering port with fish. Information that may be considered unascertainable prior to entering port with fish includes dealer name, dealer permit number, and date sold. Log reports must be completed as soon as the information becomes available. Log reports required by paragraph (b)(1)(ii) of this section must be filled out before landing any surfclams or ocean quahogs. (d) Inspection. All persons required to submit reports under this section, upon the request of an authorized officer, or by an employee of NMFS designated by the Regional Administrator to make such inspections, must make immediately available for inspection copies of the required reports that have been submitted, or should have been submitted, and the records upon which the reports were based. At any time during or after a trip, owners and operators must make immediately available for inspection the fishing log reports currently in use, or to be submitted. (e) Record retention. Copies of dealer reports, and records upon which the reports were based, must be retained and be available for review for a total of 3 years after the date of the last entry on the report. Dealers must retain required reports and records at their principal place of business. Copies of fishing log reports must be kept on board the vessel for at least 1 year and available for review and retained for a total of 3 years after the date of the last entry on the log. (f) Submitting reports--(1) Dealer or processor reports. (i) Detailed weekly trip reports, required by paragraph (a)(1)(i) of this section, must be postmarked or received within 16 days after the end of each reporting week. If no fish are purchased during a reporting month, the report so stating required under paragraph (a)(1)(i) of this section must be postmarked or received within 16 days after the end of the reporting month. (ii) Surfclam and ocean quahog reports, required by paragraph (a)(1)(ii) of this section, must be postmarked or received within 3 days after the end of each reporting week. (iii) Weekly IVR system reports required in paragraph (a)(2) of this section must be submitted via the IVR system by midnight, Eastern time, each Tuesday for the previous reporting week. (iv) Annual reports for a calendar year must be postmarked or received by February 10 of the following year. Contact the Regional Administrator (see Table 1 to Sec. 600.502) for the address of NMFS Statistics. (2) Fishing vessel log reports. (i) Fishing vessel log reports, required by paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this section, must be postmarked or received within 15 days after the end of the reporting month. Each owner will be sent forms and instructions, including the address to which reports are to be submitted, shortly after receipt of a Federal fisheries permit. If no fishing trip is made during a month, a report stating so must be submitted. (ii) Surfclam and ocean quahog log reports, required by paragraph (b)(1)(ii) of this section, must be postmarked or received within 3 days after the end of each reporting week. (3) At-sea purchasers, receivers, or processors. All persons, except persons on Atlantic herring carrier vessels, purchasing, receiving, or processing any Atlantic herring, summer flounder, Atlantic mackerel, squid, butterfish, scup, or black sea bass at sea for landing at any port of the United States must submit information identical to that required by paragraphs (a)(1) or (a)(2) of this section, as applicable, and provide those reports to the Regional Administrator or designee on the same frequency basis. (g) Additional data and sampling. Federally permitted dealers must allow access to their premises and make available to an official designee of the Regional Administrator any fish purchased from vessels for the collection of biological data. Such data include, [[Page 304]] but are not limited to, length measurements of fish and the collection of age structures such as otoliths or scales. [61 FR 34968, July 3, 1996, as amended at 61 FR 43425, Aug. 23, 1996; 61 FR 58465, Nov. 15, 1996; 62 FR 14646, Mar. 27, 1997; 63 FR 52640, Oct. 1, 1998; 63 FR 58329, Oct. 30, 1998; 64 FR 57593, Oct. 26, 1999; 65 FR 1569, Jan. 11, 2000; 65 FR 45851, July 26, 2000; 65 FR 60895, Oct. 13, 2000; 65 FR 77465, Dec. 11, 2000; 66 FR 49144, Sept. 26, 2001; 67 FR 3444, Jan. 24, 2002]