West Coast Region Groundfish Trawl Fishery Monitoring and Catch Accounting Program

This request is for extension of the current collection for the West Coast Region Groundfish Trawl Fishery Monitoring and Catch Accounting Program. In January 2011, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) implemented a trawl rationalization program, a catch share program, for the Pacific coast groundfish fishery’s trawl fleet. The program was developed through Amendment 20 to the Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP), under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) and consists of an individual fishing quota (IFQ) program for the shorebased trawl fleet (including whiting and non-whiting fisheries); and cooperative (coop) programs for the at-sea mothership (MS) and catcher/ processor (C/P) trawl fleets (whiting only). Fixed allocations to the limited entry trawl fleet were developed through a parallel process with Amendment 21 to the FMP. The regulations implementing the program were effective January 1, 2011; all of the necessary tracking systems to make the program operational became active on January 11, 2011, the date fishing began under the new program. Since that time, the Council and NMFS have been addressing implementation issues as they arise. To achieve individual accountability for catch and bycatch and track total catch, the shorebased IFQ Program is subject to 100 percent monitoring both at-sea and dockside. In addition to 100 percent monitoring at-sea, motherships and catcher/processors are subject to flow scale requirements that include daily testing, reporting, and an annual inspection.

The latest form for West Coast Region Groundfish Trawl Fishery Monitoring and Catch Accounting Program expires 2027-12-31 and can be found here.

Catch Monitor: Qualifications & Appeals

Federal Enterprise Architecture: Natural Resources - Conservation, Marine and Land Management