As part of its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, NOAA Fisheries is temporarily waiving the requirement for vessels with Northeast fishing permits to carry a fishery observer or at-sea monitor.
The waiver comes into effect from 20 March and will be evaluated weekly. In a statement released by NOAA Fisheries, regional administrator, Michael Pentony said that the availability and deployment of observers was becoming increasingly challenging.
“The health and well-being of fishermen, observers, and supporting staff is not only a human health concern, but also essential to securing our nation’s seafood production,” said the statement.
Until 4 April, NOAA Fisheries will issue waivers for declared and incoming Northeast fishing trips. During this period all reporting and pre-trip notification call-in requirements remain in place, waivers will be issued for all current and newly selected fishing trips and port intercepts will be temporarily suspended. Trips that are currently at sea with an observer on board are unaffected and vessels using electronic monitoring are also unaffected.
“We will monitor fishing activity in comparison to when observers have been deployed, to track continued compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. We will evaluate weekly observer availability, ability to travel and level of fishing effort and landings.
“We will monitor for changes in current health and safety guidelines that we expect would increase observer availability. We will also monitor fishing effort and landings, which could be indicators that the temporary waiver of observer requirements could be ended,” concluded the statement.
