2023 Observer Sea Days by Trip Selection System

The Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s Fisheries Monitoring and Operations (FMO) Branch currently manages 3 observer programs and 3 systems to select commercial fishing trips in the Greater Atlantic region for observer coverage. The 3 observer programs are: the Northeast Fisheries Observer Program (NEFOP), the At-Sea Monitoring (ASM) program (or Electronic Monitoring, as a monitoring option in lieu of human observers), and the Industry Funded Scallop (IFS) observer program. The 3 selection systems are: the NEFOP Sea Day Schedule selection protocols (referred to as the Sea Day Schedule that includes trip selection by phone, email, letter, Vessel Monitoring System message, or in person at the dock communication [dock intercept]), the Pre-Trip Notification System (PTNS), and an automated Interactive Voice Response system (IVR). There are 5,630 allocated observer sea days for April 2023 through March 2024 to assess the amount and type of bycatch of fish, invertebrates, sea turtles, and marine mammals in the region. There are 2 funding source categories for the observer sea days: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) funding (sea days associated with the Standardized Bycatch Reporting Methodology [SBRM] and the Marine Mammal Protection Act [MMPA] sampling designs) and industry funding (sea days associated with the Atlantic Sea Scallop fishery management plan [FMP] IFS and Northeast Multispecies [NMS] FMP ASM). There are 3,373 SBRM NEFOP sea days, of which 2,952 sea days are apportioned to the Sea Day Schedule and 421 sea days are apportioned to the PTNS. Of the 421 SBRM NEFOP PTNS sea days, 380 sea days are assigned to fleets with NMS FMP pre-trip notification requirements and 41 sea days are assigned to fleets with the Atlantic herring (HERR) FMP pre- trip notification requirements. There are 1,696 IFS sea days assigned to the IVR for IFS fleets. There are 516 MMPA-funded sea days. Of the 516 MMPA days, 350 days are assigned for observer coverage with 55 of those days assigned to PTNS and 295 assigned to the Sea Day Schedule. There are 166 MMPA days that are not assigned as they will be days for analysis. An additional 45 Endangered Species Act (ESA)-funded sea days are apportioned to the Sea Day Schedule this year. These days will utilize the MMPA sampling design of NEFOP limited trips and are specific to the Mid-Atlantic gillnet fleet. This document describes the methods used to identify and apportion the observer sea days among selection systems, presents the numbers of sea days by fleet and selection system, and outlines the expected observer coverage by fleet provided by the SBRM NEFOP PTNS sea days. The expected contribution of SBRM NEFOP PTNS sea days toward the FMP-specific industry- funded monitoring total combined target are approximate and derived based on previous Vessel Trip Report activity. The NMS FMP industry-funded monitoring target requirement is a combination of SBRM NEFOP sea days and ASM realized coverage. The expected observer coverage values by fleet are used to inform the initial SBRM coverage settings within PTNS at the start of a sampling program. Once a sampling program is underway, coverage settings are monitored and adjusted as needed in order to optimize sea day accomplishments.