EVMS ss 090706-rev120507

SUPPORTING STATEMENT
EXPANDED VESSEL MONITORING SYSTEM REQUIREMENT
IN THE PACIFIC COAST GROUNDFISH FISHERY
OMB CONTROL NO.: 0648-

A.

JUSTIFICATION

1. Explain the circumstances that make the collection of information necessary.
The Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act)
established regional fishery management councils, including the Pacific Fishery Management
Council (Council), to develop fishery management plans for fisheries in the U.S. exclusive economic
zone (EEZ). The fishery management plans are intended to regulate fishing to ensure long-term
productivity and achievement of optimum yield from the resources for the benefit of the nation.
These plans are implemented by Federal regulations which are enforced by the National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), in cooperation with State agencies.
Seven groundfish stocks are currently considered to be overfished1: widow rockfish, bocaccio,
darkblotched rockfish, cowcod, canary rockfish, POP, and yelloweye rockfish. Measures have been
taken to protect the overfished stocks and to rebuild them to sustainable biomass2 levels. Large-scale
depth-based management areas, referred to as Groundfish Conservation Areas (GCAs), are used to
prohibit or restrict commercial groundfish fishing. These areas were specifically designed to reduce
the catch of overfished species while allowing healthy fisheries to continue in areas and with gears
where little incidental catch of overfished species is likely to occur.
GCAs are defined by points of latitude and longitude. The rockfish conservation areas (RCAs) are a
sub-group of GCAs that are defined by points that approximate fathom curves for depth ranges where
overfished rockfish species are commonly found. Deep-water fisheries between these points have
been permitted in areas seaward of the RCAs, and nearshore fisheries have been permitted in areas
shoreward of the RCAs. Vessels intending to fish in the deep-water slope fisheries are allowed to
transit through the RCAs, providing their gear is properly stowed. Target fisheries with relatively
low catch rates of overfished species, such as midwater trawling for pelagic species and pink shrimp
trawling with finfish excluders, have been allowed to occur in the RCAs. Various state-managed
fisheries where groundfish are incidentally taken also occur in the RCA; however, groundfish
retention is restricted or prohibited within the RCAs.
In 2006, NMFS is implementing additional closed area restrictions to protect bottom habitat from
fishing gear impacts, as mandated by the Magnuson-Stevens Act. These areas are referred to as

1

In December 2005, NMFS announced, in the Federal Register, that the coastwide lingcod stock is no
longer considered overfished and is fully rebuilt (December 19, 2005; 70 FR 75115).
2

In this context, biomass refers t the cumulation of living matter: the total living biological material in a
given area or of a biological community or group.

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Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) conservation areas. Like GCAs and RCAs, the EFH conservation areas
will be defined by points of latitude and longitude.

Traditional enforcement methods (such as aerial surveillance, boarding at sea via patrol boats,
landing inspections and documentary investigation) are especially difficult to use when the closed
areas are large-scale and the lines defining the areas are irregular. Furthermore, when management
measures allow some gear types and target fishing in all or a portion of the conservation area, while
other fishing activities are prohibited, it is difficult and costly to effectively enforce closures using
traditional methods. Scarce state and federal resources also limit the extent to which traditional
enforcement methods can be used effectively.
To ensure the integrity of the GCAs and RCAs, a pilot Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) program
was implemented on January 1, 2004 (OMB Control No. 0648-0478). The pilot program required
vessels registered to Pacific Coast groundfish fishery limited entery (LE) permits to carry and use
VMS transceiver units while fishing off the coasts of Washington, Oregon and California. The VMS
program is being expanded on January 1, 2007, to include all Open Area fisheries in addition to the
limited entry fisheries. Expanding coverage of the VMS program is expected to enhance state and
federal enforcement’s ability to monitor vessel compliance with GCAs, RCAs, and EFH conservation
areas. This new information collection request, to require participation in the VMS monitoring
program for open access vessels, will be merged with OMB Control No. 0648-0478, Vessel
Monitoring Program for the Pacific Groundfish Fishery, as soon as practicable.
To support the VMS monitoring program, the following information must be submitted to NMFS: 1)
VMS transceiver installation/activation certification reports, 2) hourly position reports, 3) exemption
reports, and 4) declaration reports.
Installation/activation certification reports require vessel owners and operators to follow specific
procedures when installing or re-installing a VMS transceiver unit. Upon activation the VMS
installer must complete, sign, and return the certification form to NMFS. The form contains
information on the VMS hardware and satellite communications services that are provided by private
communications companies approved by NMFS.
Hourly position reports are automatically transmitted to NMFS via satellite once the VMS transceiver
unit is installed and activated. Vessels that are required to have VMS must operate the mobile
transceiver unit continuously 24 hours a day throughout the fishing year, except when a valid
exemption report has been received by NMFS. The number of annual transmissions depends on the
VMS transceiver that the vessel owner purchases and the number of fishing days per year in waters
off the west coast. Many of the systems have a sleep function that automatically reduces the
transmission reports when a vessel is in port. The sleep function allows for port stays without
significant power drain or power shutdown. When the vessel goes to sea, the unit restarts and normal
position transmissions automatically resume. Because the unit is continuously operable, NMFS may
query the unit at any time to obtain a position report.
Exemption reports are optional. The exemption reports are sent by the vessel owner or operator when
they want their vessel to be excused from the requirement to operate the mobile transceiver unit
continuously 24 hours a day throughout the fishing year. Such exemptions are only allowed for:
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vessels operating outside of the EEZ for more than 7 consecutive days, vessels that are continuously
out of the water for more than 7 consecutive days, vessels that transfer the limited entry permit from
the vessel and do not engage in any fishing of the west coast for the remainder of the year, vessels
that depart the open access fishery for an extended period after the end of the fishing year, and for
vessels that have had an emergency situation that resulted in vessel damage such as fire, flooding or
other extensive physical damage that would require the VMS or power source to be disconnected. A
vessel may be exempted from the requirement to operate the mobile transceiver unit continuously 24
hours a day if a valid exemption report, is received by NMFS, Office for Law Enforcement (OLE)
and the vessel is in compliance with all conditions and requirements of the exemption. An exemption
report is valid until a second exemption report is sent to cancel the existing exemption.
Declaration reports Declaration reports are submitted to NMFS OLE by telephone and are valid until
revised by the vessel operator. Vessel operators making declaration reports receive a confirmation
number that verifies that the reporting requirements were satisfied. After a vessel has made a
declaration report to NMFS and has been confirmed for a specific gear category, it cannot fish with
any gear other than a gear type that has been declared for the vessel. If a vessel operator intends to
use the vessel to fish in a different fishing category, a new declaration report must be submitted to
revise the old declaration report.
2. Explain how, by whom, how frequently, and for what purpose the information will be used.
If the information collected will be disseminated to the public or used to support information
that will be disseminated to the public, then explain how the collection complies with all
applicable Information Quality Guidelines.
Installation/activation certification reports are used by NMFS OLE to confirm that a type-approved
VMS unit was installed according to the prescribed procedures and that service has been arranged
with an approved communications service provider. Activating the unit and requiring confirmation
from NMFS OLE that automatic position reports are being received without error ensures the
integrity of the monitoring program. Each VMS transceiver unit has a unique transmission signal that
needs to be linked with a specific vessel for processing position reports.
Vessels registered to limited entry permits are required to have contact information on file with
NMFS. However, vessels participating in the open access fisheries do not have federal permits.
Therefore it is necessary to collect contact information from open access fishers. Having contact
information in necessary to provide conformation and in the event that there are problems with the
VMS reports. If there are transmission problems, NMFS will need to have ready access to contact
information and installation information. NMFS can then apply troubleshooting techniques and as
necessary, contact the vessel operator and discern whether the problem is associated with the
transmitting hardware or the service provider.
Vessel owners are required to provide these reports following initial installation and after a reinstallation or when the hardware or communications service provider changes. A vessel is expected
to submit a report the first time it participates in a fishery where VMS is required. Because the
service life of a VMS unit is approximately 4 years, respondents are expected to submit 1 report
every 4 years.

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Hourly position reports will be used by NMFS to maintain the integrity of large geographical areas
where fishing activities are restricted. On a broad level, the VMS vessel location reports are a cost
effective tool used to facilitate enforcement of time/area closures in the fishery. The hourly position
reports, are transmitted 24 hours per day throughout the fishing year (note: that some type-approved
models have a sleep mode that automatically reduces the transmissions after an extended period of
inactivity and resumes transmission when the vessel moves) and provide NMFS and USCG with realtime vessel location and activity information. Position information will also be used by NMFS
fishery managers to evaluate fishing effort and determine whether further management measures are
needed to protect low abundance species.
Exemption reports are sent by the vessel owner or operator when they want their vessel to be excused
from the requirement to operate the mobile transceiver unit continuously 24 hours a day throughout
the fishing year. Exemption reports are optional. The exemption reports allow flexibility to the
industry participants while providing NMFS OLE with the information needed to determine why a
position report is not being received from the vessel. Approximately 500 vessels are projected to
send 2 exemption reports each per year.
Declaration reports are used by NMFS OLE to identify the fisher’s intent to use the vessel to
participate in a particular fishery with a specific gear. Because area restrictions are specific to the
gear type and target fisheries, declaration reports are needed to adequately assess the vessel’s activity
in relation to the area restrictions. In addition to the groundfish fishery, there are numerous state and
federal fisheries that occur in the EEZ off Washington, Oregon, and California. Because many of the
groundfish vessels also participate in fisheries other than groundfish, during an enforcement flyover
or from a VMS position report alone it is difficult to determine if they are fishing for groundfish or
for a species and with a gear for which harvest is allowed in the closed area. Therefore, a declaration
report is necessary to identify what gear the vessel operator intends to use.
A single gear type is typically used for multiple trips, to reduce the reporting burden each declaration
report will be valid until a new declaration is made or until en exemption report is received. This
information will be used in combination with VMS to more efficiently and effectively direct the use
of enforcement resources throughout the fishing year. Each vessel is estimated to send up to 20
declaration reports per year.
3. Describe whether, and to what extent, the collection of information involves the use of
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological techniques or other forms of
information technology.
Installation/activation certification reports The installation/activation certification reports are
available on the internet. Due to the need for the owner’s signature NMFS will use facsimile
submission for the installation report. NMFS OLE will accept mailed submissions if the vessel
owner prefers this method.
Hourly position reports are automatically sent from VMS transceivers installed aboard vessels. Once
per hour, the unit automatically determines the vessel’s location and transmits that position to a
processing center via a communication satellite. The VMS transceiver units type-approved for use in
the Pacific Coast groundfish fishery include models that automatically reduce the number
transmissions, and thus the transmission costs after and extended period of inactivity by the vessel.
In addition, vessel owners may choose to take advantage of the VMS technology by linking personal
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computers to VMS transceiver units to improve communication (by adding email capacity) and add
other services such as newspapers or weather reports.
Exemption reports and Declaration reports will be submitted by phone on a toll-free number. This
form of reporting, available 24 hours per day, creates minimal burden for fishermen reporting, as well
as for NMFS staff entering information into the database where it can be used in reports to monitor
fishing activity. NMFS has prepared an example of a worksheet - not for submission to NMFS - that
can be used by the caller to organize report information (attached).
4. Describe efforts to identify duplication.
There are no alternate sources of this information or duplicative requirements.
5. If the collection of information involves small businesses or other small entities, describe the
methods used to minimize burden.
Most of the respondents qualify as small businesses. The burden on fishery participant was
considered and only the minimum data needed to monitor compliance with regulations are being
requested from respondents.
The VMS units that have been type-approved for this fishery range in costs and service features.
This allows the vessel owner the flexibility in choosing the model that best fits the needs of their
vessel. Vessels that have already purchased VMS transceiver units for other fisheries or personal
purposes will be allowed to retain existing VMS transceivers providing they are on the list of typeapproved models and have been upgraded to the level required for the fishery.
The availability of federal funding for purchasing, installing, or maintaining VMS transceiver units,
or for funding data transmission is not known at this time. Due to the critical need to monitor the
integrity of EFH conservation areas and RCAs and GCAs that protect overfished stocks, NMFS
believes it is necessary to proceed with this rulemaking. It is necessary, therefore to require fishery
participants to bear the cost of purchasing, installing, and maintaining VMS transceiver units, hourly
VMS data transmissions, and reporting costs associated with installation and declaration
requirements. If federal funding becomes available, fishery participants may be reimbursed for all or
a portion of their VMS expenses.
The installation and activation reports request contact information from open access vessels only.
Vessels participating in the limited entry fishery are required to have permits registered to the vessels.
Contact information for vessels registered to limited entry permits will be obtained from the permits
database. There are no federal permit requirements for open access fishery participants.
The submission of declaration reports was initially proposed as per trip reports. Following
consultation with fishery participants, it was determined that the needs of NMFS OLE and the USCG
could be met with less frequently made declaration reports. Therefore, it was determined that a
declaration report identifying the type of gear being used by a vessel would remain valid until revised
by the vessel operator or an exemption report was sent. This results in a significant reduction in the
number of reports.

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Following consultation with fishery participants prior to implementation of the pilot VMS progam in
the limited entry fisheries, it was determined that some vessels may prefer to reduce the costs of
reporting when leaving the EEZ off the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and California. Because a
substantial number of permitted vessels also fish in waters off Alaska and in areas outside the EEZ,
and because vessels are commonly pulled out of the water for extended periods, a VMS hourly report
exemption option was added, which included an exemption report. During the development of the
expanded VMS program additional exemptions were considered for: vessels that transfer the limited
entry permit from the vessel and do not engage in any fishing of the west coast for the remainder of
the year, vessels that depart the open access fishery for an extended period after the end of the fishing
year, and for vessel that have had an emergency situation that resulted in vessel damage such as fire,
flooding or other extensive physical damage that would require the VMS or power source to be
disconnected. Exemption reports are optional. The exemption reports allow flexibility to the
industry participants while providing NMFS OLE with the information needed to determine why a
position report is not being received from the vessel.
6. Describe the consequences to the Federal program or policy activities if the collection is not
conducted or is conducted less frequently.
Installation/activation certification reports -- The use and submission of installation/activation
certification reports is required once for the initial installation, and again for a re-installation or when
the hardware or communications service provider changes. Less frequent reporting would prevent
NMFS and the vessel operator from confirming that the system is functioning properly.
Hourly position reports -- If the VMS was not operational, NMFS Law Enforcement agents and
USCG would be tasked with monitoring closed areas via air and surface patrols. Because the USCG
engages in multi-purpose missions, that include at sea surveillance of fisheries, homeland defense,
search and rescue, and pollution response, monitoring efforts may be diverted from monitoring depthbased and EFH conservation areas. VMS provides a level of coverage that cannot be attained by
these more traditional enforcement methods at a substantially lower cost.
A more liberal depth-based management regime is only possible if the integrity of the depth-based
RCAs can be ensured. Without VMS it is likely that the depth-based management strategy will be
discontinued. VMS is necessary to ensure the integrity of the RCAs. If this were the case, the
management structure would revert back to very restrictive limits on healthy stocks in order to protect
low abundance species.
Less frequent position reports would be ineffective in deterring the illegal activity. Along some areas
of the coast, the RCAs and EFH areas are narrow or prime fishing grounds are near the boundary line.
If reports were less frequently it would be possible for some vessels to fish within the restricted areas
without being detected. This would undermine the integrity of the RCAs.
Exemption reports allow vessels to reduce or discontinue the VMS signal under specific conditions.
If the reporting frequency were reduced, VMS signals would have to continue 24 hours per day
throughout the calendar year. The reporting frequency has been reduced to the minimum amount
needed to maintain the integrity of the RCAs.

6

Declaration reports are needed to determine if the vessels is engaged in a fishery that is allowed or
prohibited in the closed area. The declaration reports allow traditional enforcement resources to be
directed towards RCA or EFH conservation area incursions efficiently and effectively throughout the
fishing year. The reporting frequency has been reduced to the minimum amount needed to maintain
the integrity of the RCAs.
7. Explain any special circumstances that require the collection to be conducted in a manner
inconsistent with OMB guidelines.
The collection is consistent with OMB guidelines except that the VMS reports are sent multiple times
per day. More frequent reporting is necessary to effectively enforcing the RCA and EFH area
regulations.
8. Provide a copy of the PRA Federal Register notice that solicited public comments on the
information collection prior to this submission. Summarize the public comments received in
response to that notice and describe the actions taken by the agency in response to those
comments. Describe the efforts to consult with persons outside the agency to obtain their views
on the availability of data, frequency of collection, the clarity of instructions and
recordkeeping, disclosure, or reporting format (if any), and on the data elements to be
recorded, disclosed, or reported.
There were no comments on the proposed rule, RIN 0648-AU08, which applied to this proposed
information collection.
9. Explain any decisions to provide payments or gifts to respondents, other than remuneration
of contractors or grantees.
No payments or gifts are provided under this program at this time.
10. Describe any assurance or confidentiality provided to respondents and the basis for
assurance in statute, regulation, or agency policy.
Efforts were made in the design of the VMS program to ensure the security of all individual vessel
location data, including analysis and storage. The system includes measures to minimize the risk of
direct or inadvertent disclosure of fishing location information. In addition, VMS data is considered
confidential under NOAA Administrative Order 216-100, Confidentiality of Fishery Statistics, and is
subject to the confidentiality protection of Section 402 of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
11. Provide additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual
behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered
private.
No questions are asked of a sensitive nature.

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12. Provide an estimate in hours of the burden of the collection of information.
Total burden hours and annual costs for the VMS unit installation and operation are presented in
Table 1 below. Total annualized responses (activation report, hourly reports, exemption reports and
declaration reports) are 18,096,355. Total annualized hours are 38,334. Total annualized labor costs
at $30 per hour are $1,150,020.
13. Provide an estimate of the total annual cost burden to the respondents or record-keepers
resulting from the collection (excluding the value of the burden hours in #12 above).
Total burden hours and annual costs for the VMS unit installation and operation are presented in
Table 1 below. Total annualized capital expenses are $1,288,125. Total annualized reporting
expenses (for activation reports and hourly reports) are $2,258,341. Total overall expenses are
$3,546,466.
Exemption and Declaration reports -- Aside from the cost in time (see response to question 12) to
summarize and call in a report, there will be no additional cost burden for respondents. All
respondents are assumed to have access to a telephone. The telephone call will be placed through a
toll-free number so the respondent will not pay for the call. All respondents are assumed to have
access to a touch-tone telephone.

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Table 1. Total burden hours and annual costs for the VMS unit installation and operation
Installation/activation

83I

VMS Number of respondents (424 Limited Entry + 1,637 Open Access = 2,061)
Initial cost of VMS unit (vessel owner purchases type-approved model that best suits their need)
Cost of units for all respondents (unit cost * 2,061 respondents) to purchase VMS transceiver unit
Annual cost of transceiver unit for all respondents (given 4 year service life)
Total hours for installation at start-up (4 hours per vessel * 2,061 respondents)
Annual hours for installation for all respondents (4 hours per vessel * 2,061 respondents/ 4 year service
life)
Annual hours for maintenance for all respondents (4 hours per vessel * 2,061 respondents)

2,061

13a

$1,200 - $3,800 ($2500)
$2,440,800 - $7,729,200 ($5,085,000)
$610,200 - $1,932,300 ($1,288,125)

14a

8,244
2,061

13c

8,244

13c

Annual number of installation/activation reports

515

13b

Hours per respondent to prepare installation/activation report
Total hours for all respondents to prepare and submit installation/activation reports (5 minutes * 2,061
respondents)

0.08

Annual hours for installation/activation reports per year
Total cost to fax installation and activation reports (($3 per fax* 2,061 of respondents)/ 4 year service life)

172
43

13c

$1,546

14b

Hourly Reports
VMS Number of respondents

2,061

Number of responses per respondent (365 days per year * 24 transmissions per day)
Annual number of responses (8,760 responses per respondent * 2,061 respondents)
Annual hours for all respondents to send hourly position reports (5 seconds per transmission * 18,054,360
total number of responses)
VMS position report transmission costs per respondent ($1-$5/day * 365 days)
Annual VMS position report transmission costs for all respondents ($365-$1,825 * 2,061 respondents)

8,760
18,054,360

13b

25,074

13c

$365 - $1,825 ($1,095)
$752,265 - $3,761,325 ($2,256,795) 14b

Exemption reports
Estimated VMS Number of respondents

500

Annual number of exemption reports per year

800

Hours per response to prepare and submit exemption report

0.08

Annual hours for all respondents to prepare and submit exemption reports (0.08 hours * 800 reports)

64

13b
13c

Declaration reports
Estimated VMS Number of respondents

2,061

Annual number of declaration report (20 is the estimated average per respondent * 2,061 respondents)

40,680

Hours per response to prepare and submit declaration reports

13b

0.07

Annual hours for all respondents to prepare and submit declaration reports (0.07 hours * 40,680 reports)

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2,848

13c

14. Provide estimates of annualized cost to the Federal government.
NMFS is required to ensure that VMS units have been installed properly and are operational. In
addition, review of the data transmissions will be required to maintain the integrity of the restricted
GCAs, RCAs, and EFH conservation areas. NMFS has one full-time employee (FTE) (GS-13,
$85,000) and six contract employees, one at $60,000, one at $56,000 and four at $48,000 each from
the NMFS OLE who are dedicated to maintaining the system.
The cost to the government during the first year of the program includes software ($25,000) and
equipment for a base station ($54,000), software design for interactive voice report (IVR) reporting
system ($15,000), telephone usage fees ($1,500) and training, travel, office space,
etc.(approximately $50,000).
The estimated cost of the total program is $437,000 for the first year and approximately $343,000
in subsequent years. This includes the costs of maintaining the base station and continuing the
telephone reporting system. The total annualized cost is $374,334.

15. Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments reported in Items 13 or 14
of the OMB 83-I.
This new information collection requires VMS purchase, installation and reporting for 2,061 open
access fishery participant. In addition, the program will modify existing requirements for
exemption and declaration reports. Annualized hours for installation, maintenance, activation
reports, hourly reporting, and exemption and declaration reports total 38,334. Annualized costs total
$3,456,466.
16. For collections whose results will be published, outline the plans for tabulation and
publication.
No formal scientific publications based on these collections are planned at this time. The data will
be used for management reports and fishery management plan amendments and evaluations by the
NMFS and the Council. However, subsequent use of the data collected over a series of years may
include scientific papers and publications.
17. If seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the
information collection, explain the reasons why display would be inappropriate.
N/A.
18. Explain each exception to the certification statement identified in Item 19 of the OMB
83-I.
N/A.
B. COLLECTIONS OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS
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No Statistical Methods are employed.

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