Northwest
VMS - Declaration
Requirements for Limited Entry Open Access Tribal Fishers
Effective January 1st 2004, declaration reports will
be required from the following vessel groups:
Limited Entry, Open Access, and Tribal Vessels Using Trawl Gear
All
limited entry vessels with trawl endorsements, and open access or tribal
vessels using trawl gear will be required to
send a declaration report before the vessel is used
to fish (applies to all State of Federal fisheries) in any trawl Rockfish
Conservation
Area (RCA) or a Cowcod Conservation Area (CCA).
Limited Entry Fixed gear vessels
Limited entry vessels
with longline and pot endorsements, must send a declaration
report before the vessel can fish (applies
to all State of Federal fisheries) in any non-trawl RCA or
the CCA ’s.
• Declaration reports must be submitted using the Interactive-Voice-Recording
(IVR) system described below and they must be received by NMFS Office
for Law Enforcement (OLE) before the vessel leaves port on a trip in
which the vessel is used to fish in an RCA or a CCA.
• A declaration report must be submitted and received by NMFS
OLE before leaving port on the first trip during the calendar year where
a vessel will be used to fish in a RCA or a CCA.
• A declaration report will be valid until a new declaration
report is received by NMFS or until a declaration report to cancel fishing
in a RCA or CCA is submitted and received by NMFS OLE.
• After a declaration report to cancel fishing in a RCA or a
CCA was received by NMFS OLE and before a vessel leaves port on another
trip in which the vessel will be used to fish in an RCA or a CCA, a
new declaration report must be submitted and received by NMFS OLE.
• If the type of fishing gear used to fish in a RCA or CCA changes
to a different gear declaration category (shown below), a new declaration
report must be submitted and received by NMFS before the vessel leaves
port.
•
A declaration report needs to be cancelled when a new
gear type, that is no longer consistent with the RCA requirements, will
be used by the vessel. Following the cancellation of a declaration report,
a new declaration report must be sent before the vessel leaves port
on a trip in which the vessel is used to fish in an RCA or a CCA.
The Interactive-Voice-Recording System
Declaration
reports will be submitted by using a toll free phone-in system also
referred to as an Interactive-Voice-Recording
(IVR) system. The IVR system can be accessed by dialing
1.888.585.5518. The caller will be asked a series of questions and will
use the touch-tone
keypad on the phone to respond. The phone-in system
allows vessel operators to submit their report 24 hours a day. The phone-in
system
will provide a confirmation number that you should
keep on record in case you need to verify to NMFS OLE that a report
was submitted.
When accessing the IVR system for the first time, please have the following
information available:
• Passcode (if a passcode has already been assigned to
you, be prepared to enter it. If you do not have a
passcode, follow the prompts and you will be assigned one)
• Vessel Documentation Number
• Vessel Name
• Telephone Number
•
Declaration Type & Gear Code
