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

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

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

5. Multispecies Example: “NMS-MUL-OPADSX” • “NMS”= Species Code (“Northeast Multispecies”) • “MUL”= Plan Code (“multispecies regular access”) • “OP” = Area ID (“Open area”) • “A” = Days-at-Sea Code (“A DAS”) • “D” = Gear Type (“Day Gillnet”) • “S” = Trip Modifier (“SNE Differential Area”) • “X” = 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) DECLARATION (CODE) FORMAT

7. 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

8. VMS Power Down Exemptions • All Vessels – Apply for ‘Letter of Exemption’ to sign out of the VMS program if out of the water for > 72 hours. • Multispecies Vessels – Apply for ‘Letter of Exemption’ to sign out of the VMS program for 30 days minimum. • 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. • Herring Vessels – May turn power to VMS unit off while in port, unless other permits held require continuous reporting.

9. Declaration Costs • SkyMate: • 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 • 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

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

11. Acknowledgment Response Times(% fleet-wide) BoatracsSkyMate <2 min 2.7% 48.0% 2 to <5 mins 41.2% 20.0% 5 to <10 mins 48.6% 14.0% 10 to <15 mins 3.9% 5.7% 15 to <30 mins 1.9% 6.3% 30 to <60 mins .85% 2.8% >60 mins .73% 2.5% Declarations Sent: 4,367 3,652

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

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

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

15. 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

16. VMS Demarcation Line -“New Bedford Triangle”