50 C.F.R. § 648.15 Facilitation of enforcement.
Title 50 - Wildlife and Fisheries
(a) General. See §600.504 of this chapter. (b) Special notification requirements applicable to surf clam and ocean quahog vessel owners and operators. (1) Vessel owners or operators are required to call the NMFS Office of Law Enforcement nearest to the point of offloading (contact the Regional Administrator for locations and phone numbers) and accurately provide the following information prior to the departure of their vessel from the dock to fish for surf clams or ocean quahogs in the EEZ: Name of the vessel; NMFS permit number assigned to the vessel; expected date and time of departure from port; whether the trip will be directed on surf clams or ocean quahogs; expected date, time, and location of landing; and name of the individual providing notice. (2) Owners or operators that have given notification of a fishing trip under this paragraph (b) who decide to cancel or postpone the trip prior to departure must immediately provide notice of cancellation by telephone to the Office of Law Enforcement to which the original notification was provided. A separate notification shall be provided for the next fishing trip. Owners or operators that discontinue a fishing trip in the EEZ must immediately provide notice of discontinuance by telephone to the Office of Law Enforcement to which the original notification was provided. The owner or operator providing notice of discontinuance shall advise of any changes in landing time or port of landing. The owner or operator discontinuing a fishing trip in the EEZ must return to port and offload any surf clams or ocean quahogs prior to commencing fishing operations in the waters under the jurisdiction of any state. (3) The vessel permits, the vessel, its gear, and catch shall be subject to inspection upon request by an authorized officer. (4) Suspension of notification requirements. The Regional Administrator may suspend notification requirements for vessels fishing under a Maine mahogany quahog permit issued pursuant to §648.4(a)(4)(i) if he determines that such notification is not necessary to enforce effectively the management measures in the Maine mahogany quahog zone. The Regional Administrator may rescind such suspension if he concludes that the original determination is no longer valid. A suspension or recision of suspension of the notification requirements by the Regional Administrator shall be published in the (c) Radio hails. Permit holders, while underway, must be alert for communication conveying enforcement instructions and immediately answer via VHF-FM radio, channel 16 when hailed by an authorized officer. Vessels not required to have VHF-FM radios by the Coast Guard are exempt from this requirement. (d) Retention of haddock by herring dealers and processors. (1) Federally permitted herring dealers and processors, including at-sea processors, that receive herring from Category 1 herring vessels, and that cull or separate out from the herring catch all fish other than herring in the course of normal operations, must separate out and retain all haddock offloaded from a Category 1 herring vessel. Such haddock may not be sold, purchased, received, traded, bartered, or transferred, and must be retained, after they have been separated, for at least 12 hr for dealers and processors on land, and for 12 hr after landing by at-sea processors. The dealer or processor, including at-sea processors, must clearly indicate the vessel that landed the retained haddock or transferred the retained haddock to an at-sea processor. Law enforcement officials must be given access to inspect the haddock. (2) All haddock separated out and retained is subject to reporting requirements specified at §648.7. (e) Prohibition on discarding haddock by Category 1 herring vessels. A Category 1 herring vessel may not discard any haddock that has been brought on the deck or pumped into the hold. [61 FR 34968, July 3, 1996, as amended at 62 FR 14648, Mar. 27, 1997; 63 FR 27485, May 19, 1998; 71 FR 46875, Aug. 15, 2006]
Title 50: Wildlife and Fisheries
PART 648—FISHERIES OF THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES
Subpart A—General Provisions
§ 648.15 Facilitation of enforcement.
