[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: 50CFR648.9] [Page 304-306] TITLE 50--WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE PART 648--FISHERIES OF THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES--Table of Contents Subpart A--General Provisions Sec. 648.9 VMS requirements. (a) Approval. The Regional Administrator will annually approve VMSs that meet the minimum performance criteria specified in paragraph (b) of this section. Any changes to the performance criteria will be published annually in the Federal Register and a list of approved VMSs will be published in the Federal Register upon addition or deletion of a VMS from the list. In the event that a VMS is deleted from the list, vessel owners that purchased a VMS unit that is part of that VMS prior to publication of the revised list will be considered to be in compliance with the requirement to have an approved unit, unless otherwise notified by the Regional Administrator. (b) Minimum VMS performance criteria. The basic required features of the VMS are as follows: (1) The VMS shall be tamper proof, i.e., shall not permit the input of false positions; furthermore, if a system uses satellites to determine position, satellite selection should be automatic to provide an optimal fix and should not be capable of being manually overridden by any person aboard a fishing vessel or by the vessel owner. (2) The VMS shall be fully automatic and operational at all times, regardless of weather and environmental conditions, unless exempted under paragraph (c)(2) of this section. (3) The VMS shall be capable of tracking vessels in all U.S. waters in the Atlantic Ocean from the shoreline of each coastal state to a line 215 nm offshore and shall provide position accuracy to within 400 m (1,300 ft). (4) The VMS shall be capable of transmitting and storing information including vessel identification, date, time, and latitude/longitude. [[Page 305]] (5) The VMS shall provide accurate hourly position transmissions every day of the year unless exempted under paragraph (c)(2) of this section. In addition, the VMS shall allow polling of individual vessels or any set of vessels at any time and receive position reports in real time. For the purposes of this specification, ``real time'' shall constitute data that reflect a delay of 15 minutes or less between the displayed information and the vessel's actual position. (6) The VMS shall be capable of providing network message communications between the vessel and shore. The VMS shall allow NMFS to initiate communications or data transfer at any time. (7) The VMS vendor shall be capable of transmitting position data to a NMFS-designated computer system via a modem at a minimum speed of 9600 baud. Transmission shall be in a file format acceptable to NMFS. (8) The VMS shall be capable of providing vessel locations relative to international boundaries and fishery management areas. (9) The VMS vendor shall be capable of archiving vessel position histories for a minimum of 1 year and providing transmission to NMFS of specified portions of archived data in response to NMFS requests and in a variety of media (tape, floppy, etc.). (c) Operating requirements. (1) Except as provided in paragraph (c)(2) of this section, or unless otherwise required by Sec. 648.58(h), all required VMS units must transmit a signal indicating the vessel's accurate position at least every hour, 24 hours a day, throughout the year. (2) Power Down Exemption. (i) Any vessel required to have on board a fully operational VMS unit at all times, as specified in paragraph (b)(2) of this section, is exempt from this requirement provided: (A) The vessel will be continuously out of the water for more than 72 consecutive hours; and (B) A valid letter of exemption obtained pursuant to paragraph (c)(2)(ii) of this section has been issued to the vessel and is on board the vessel and the vessel is in compliance with all conditions and requirements of said letter. (ii) Letter of Exemption--(A) Application. A vessel owner may apply for a letter of exemption from the operating requirements specified in paragraph (c)(1) of this section for his/her vessel by sending a written request to the Regional Administrator and providing the following: Sufficient information to determine that the vessel will be out of the water for more than 72 continuous hours; the location of the vessel during the time an exemption is sought; and the exact time period for which an exemption is needed (i.e., the time the VMS will be turned off and turned on again). (B) Issuance. Upon receipt of an application, the Regional Administrator may issue a letter of exemption to the vessel if it is determined that the vessel owner provided sufficient information as required under paragraph (c)(2)(ii)(A) of this section and that the issuance of the letter of exemption will not jeopardize accurate monitoring of the vessel's DAS. Upon written request, the Regional Administrator may change the time period for which the exemption was granted. (iii) Any VMS-equipped vessel with an Atlantic herring permit, unless required by other fishery regulations to have on board a fully operational VMS unit at all times, need not transmit a signal when the vessel is in port. (d) Presumption. If a VMS unit fails to transmit an hourly signal of a vessel's position, the vessel shall be deemed to have incurred a DAS, or fraction thereof, for as long as the unit fails to transmit a signal, unless a preponderance of evidence shows that the failure to transmit was due to an unavoidable malfunction or disruption of the transmission that occurred while the vessel was declared out of the scallop fishery or NE multispecies or monkfish fishery, as applicable, or was not at sea. (e) Replacement. Should a VMS unit require replacement, a vessel owner must submit documentation to the Regional Administrator, within 3 days of installation and prior to the vessel's next trip, verifying that the new VMS unit is an operational, approved system as described under paragraph (a) of this section. [[Page 306]] (f) Access. As a condition to obtaining a limited access scallop or multispecies permit, or an Atlantic herring permit, all vessel owners must allow NMFS, the USCG, and their authorized officers or designees access to the vessel's DAS data, if applicable, and location data obtained from its VMS unit, if required, at the time of or after its transmission to the vendor or receiver, as the case may be. (g) Tampering. Tampering with a VMS, a VMS unit, or a VMS signal, is prohibited. Tampering includes any activity that is likely to affect the unit's ability to operate properly, signal, or accuracy of computing the vessel's position fix. [61 FR 34968, July 3, 1996, as amended at 62 FR 14646, Mar. 27, 1997; 63 FR 58329, Oct. 30, 1998; 64 FR 54745, Oct. 7, 1999; 65 FR 77466, Dec. 11, 2000]