How to pay fees using eFISH (instructions and screenshot

HOW TO PAY FEES USING eFISH
The following document provides step--by--step instructions on how to access the
eFISH application, activate your account, and change your password or Username.
Before logging into eFISH for the first time, you will need your Username or NMFS
ID, and your current email address must be on file with NMFS. If you need help with
your Username or NMFS ID, or need to update your email contact information with
NMFS, please contact us at:
phone: 1--800--304--4846, option 5
or email: nmfs.akr.fees@noaa.gov

Access the eFISH Application
Go to the eFISH website: https://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/webapps/efish/login

Activate Your Account
When you are ready to login to eFISH for the first time, go to the Login page, then
click ‘Activate an Account’:

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Click ‘new account activation’ if this is your first time using eFish. If you require assistance at any
point, please refer to the contact information on this web page for assistance.

If you have used eFish before, enter your Email address and Username or NMFS ID, and then
click ‘Submit’. Note: the email address must match that on file with NMFS.
Logging in with a Username is the preferred option. If you do not know your Username or have not
yet setup your account for access with a Username login, please contact the Restricted Access
Management Staff by phone at 1-800-304-4846, option 2, or Email RAM.Alaska@noaa.gov.

You should then see a message confirming that an email was sent to your email account:

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An email message will arrive within a few minutes from efish.alaska@noaa.gov. The message
contains a link to activate your eFish account. Please use the link immediately. The link expires one
hour from the time it was sent. If you do not see the email message in your inbox within a few
minutes, please check your ‘SPAM’ folder (or its equivalent).

Click on the email link to open it in a browser window, or copy and paste the entire link into a browser
window. This will bring you to the Password Creation page.

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Enter your Username or NMFS ID, then enter and re-enter your new password (conforming to
the password standards) in the fields provided, then click ‘Submit Change’. Note, your new
password should be protected and stored securely.

The Account Activation page shown below confirms that your password has been set. Click on
‘Click here to login’ to open the Login page.

Check the ‘Acknowledge and Accept’ box on the Login page, then enter your NMFS ID and
new password and click ‘Login’:

Once your account has been activated, your username or password may be changed at any
time. A lost or forgotten password may also be reset by following the account activation
process described above.
To change a Username or Password, begin by logging in to the eFISH application.
Select ‘Account’ from the top menu, then ‘Change Password’ or ‘Change Username.’ Note, the
Username change option is only available to users logging in with a Username. It is not
available for NMFS ID logins

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To change a password, select ‘Change Password’ from the ‘Account’ menu: Complete the form
shown below, then click ‘Submit Change.’

To change your Username, select ‘Change Username’ from the ‘Account’ menu:

Complete the form shown below, then click ‘Submit Change.’ Following successful completion of a
Username change, you should see a message indicating a successful change and a link to the
‘Login’ page similar to the one shown above for a password change.

U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service

Payment of Cost-Recovery or Program Fees
To pay your cost-recovery or program fees, begin by logging in to the eFISH application. If you are logging
in with a Username and have access to accounts belonging to more than one entity, be sure to select the
correct company, group, or cooperative from the ‘Account Details’ drop-down list (arrow below).
If you are logging in with a NMFS ID, you will have access only to the permit and account information
belonging to that single NMFS ID. The menu items available, including payment options are displayed
dynamically, depending on the logged-in user and account selected.
The logged-in user or selected account shown below has access to IFQ, Crab, and Observer Fee program
information:

An AFA Cooperative account is shown below:

A Rockfish Cooperative account is shown below:

A CDQ Group, with IFQ accounts is shown below:

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An A80 Cooperative account is shown below:

An AIP account is shown below:

Important! If you do not see the option to make a fee payment for a program for which your owe fees,
please contact NMFS staff for assistance. Contact information is available from the top menu by
clicking on ‘Contacts.’ Note, selecting this option will open a contacts web page in a new tab or
browser window. You will not be logged out of eFISH.

Paying Fees
From the Main Menu page, select the ‘Payments’ tab, then locate the link for the program for which
you are making a fee payment.
The Observer Fee Payment page is shown below. Note, the appearance of the screen may vary
somewhat depending on the program selected. Be sure you are in the desired fee program screen
before proceeding!

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Fee Detail Report
A Fee Detail report is available for some Cost-Recovery or Program fees. The information available in
this report varies by program. For Observer Fees, the report provides the level of detail shown below:

For other programs, the following information may be provided:

Submitting a Payment
Carefully review the Fee Payment page, then select a Payment Method and enter a Payment Amount
in the fields provided. Note, the ACH payment method option should be selected for payments of
$25,000 or more.
After clicking on ‘Submit Payment’ you will briefly see a window with a message
‘Redirecting to Pay.gov’ before you are taken to the Pay.gov payment entry screen. Pay.gov is a
secure payment service offered by the Department of Treasury used to process payments for many
government agencies including NMFS. By using
Pay.gov, NMFS does not handle the storage or processing of your credit/debit card or bank account
information.

Once at the Pay.gov screen, select a payment method. Be sure to select the same method you
selected back at the NMFS Fee Payment page:

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Payment by Credit Card
Enter all required information in the Pay.gov Credit or Debit Card entry screen. When finished, click
‘Continue.’

Review the payment information shown on the confirmation screen. Your payment will not be
processed until you click ‘Submit’ on this screen. Be sure to check to box next to ‘I authorize a
charge…’

U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service

After submitting your payment through Pay.gov, you will be redirected back to the NMFS eFISH
site to a Receipt of Payment screen.

From the Receipt of Payment screen you have the option to Print Receipt or Email Receipt. The print
receipt option will send a copy of the receipt page to your system’s default printer (if available). The
Email receipt will send an email to the email contact address on file with NMFS. It is highly
recommended that you make use of one or both of these options. Make note of the Remittance Id,
which is the unique identifier for your payment in the NMFS system.
If you do not at first see the Payment Confirmation email, look in your ‘Spam’ folder or equivalent.

Payment by ACH (Automated Clearing House)
As previously noted, payments of $25,000 or more should be made using the ACH payment method
whereby the payment amount will be withdrawn directly from your bank account. To pay by ACH, select
the ACH Payment Method from the eFISH Fee Payment page. As described in the Payment by Credit
Card section above, you will then be redirected to the Pay.gov site and prompted to (again) select a
payment method option with Pay.gov.
Be sure to select the ACH payment method at the Pay.gov screen.

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After selecting the ACH payment method in the screen shown above and then clicking
‘Continue’ you will be taken to the ACH entry screen. Enter all required information in the
Pay.gov ACH entry screen. When finished, click ‘Continue.’

Review the payment information shown on the confirmation screen. Your payment will not be
processed until you click ‘Continue’ on this screen. Be sure to check to box next to ‘I agree
to the Pay.gov authorization…’

U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service

After submitting your payment through Pay.gov, you will be redirected back to the NMFS
eFISH site to a Receipt of Payment screen. From this screen you have the option to Email or
Print a receipt. It is highly recommended that you take advantage of one or both of these
options. Additionally, it is important to make note of the Remittance Id, which is the unique
identifier for your payment in the NMFS system.

When finished you may logout of the system, or click ‘Main Menu’ to return to the main eFISH
menu page for other account access options.

If you have any questions or need assistance with eFISH, please call: (-800)
304-4846 (option #5), or email: efish.alaska.support@noaa.gov.
If you experience problems when trying to submit your fee payments, please
call: (800) 304-4846 (option #5) or (907) 586-7202 (option #5) or send an email
to: NMFS.AKR.Fees@noaa.gov.

U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service