50 C.F.R. § 648.9 VMS requirements.
Title 50 - Wildlife and Fisheries
(a) Approval. The Regional Administrator will annually approve VMSs that meet the minimum performance criteria specified in paragraph (b) of this section. Any changes to the performance criteria will be published annually in the (b) Minimum VMS performance criteria. The basic required features of the VMS are as follows: (1) The VMS shall be tamper proof, i.e., shall not permit the input of false positions; furthermore, if a system uses satellites to determine position, satellite selection should be automatic to provide an optimal fix and should not be capable of being manually overridden by any person aboard a fishing vessel or by the vessel owner. (2) The VMS shall be fully automatic and operational at all times, regardless of weather and environmental conditions, unless exempted under paragraph (c)(2) of this section. (3) The VMS shall be capable of tracking vessels in all U.S. waters in the Atlantic Ocean from the shoreline of each coastal state to a line 215 nm offshore and shall provide position accuracy to within 400 m (1,300 ft). (4) The VMS shall be capable of transmitting and storing information including vessel identification, date, time, and latitude/longitude. (5) The VMS shall provide accurate hourly position transmissions every day of the year unless otherwise required under paragraph (c)(1)(ii) of this section, or unless exempted under paragraph (c)(2) of this section. In addition, the VMS shall allow polling of individual vessels or any set of vessels at any time, and receive position reports in real time. For the purposes of this specification, “real time” shall constitute data that reflect a delay of 15 minutes or less between the displayed information and the vessel's actual position. (6) The VMS shall be capable of providing network message communications between the vessel and shore. The VMS shall allow NMFS to initiate communications or data transfer at any time. (7) The VMS vendor shall be capable of transmitting position data to a NMFS-designated computer system via a modem at a minimum speed of 9600 baud. Transmission shall be in a file format acceptable to NMFS. (8) The VMS shall be capable of providing vessel locations relative to international boundaries and fishery management areas. (9) The VMS vendor shall be capable of archiving vessel position histories for a minimum of 1 year and providing transmission to NMFS of specified portions of archived data in response to NMFS requests and in a variety of media (tape, floppy, etc.). (c) Operating requirements for all vessels. (1) Except as provided in paragraph (c)(2) of this section, or unless otherwise required by paragraph (c)(1)(ii) or (iii) of this section, all required VMS units must transmit a signal indicating the vessel's accurate position, as specified under paragraph (c)(1)(i) of this section. (i) At least every hour, 24 hours a day, throughout the year. (ii) NMFS may initiate at its discretion, the transmission of a signal indicating the vessel's accurate position, at least twice per hour, 24 hours a day, for all NE multispecies DAS vessels that elect to fish with a VMS specified in §648.10(b) or that are required to fish with a VMS as specified in §648.85(a), for each groundfish DAS trip that the vessel has elected to fish in the U.S./Canada Management Areas, and as specified in §648.85(b) for each groundfish trip that the vessel has elected to fish in either the CA II Yellowtail Flounder SAP, the CA I Hook Gear Haddock SAP, the Regular B DAS Pilot Program, or the Eastern U.S./Canada Haddock SAP Pilot Program. (iii) At least twice per hour, 24 hours a day, throughout the year, for vessels issued a general scallop permit and subject to the requirements of §648.4(a)(2)(ii)(B). (2) Power down exemption. (i) Any vessel required to transmit the vessel's location at all times, as required in paragraph (c)(1) of this section, is exempt from this requirement if it meets one or more of the following conditions and requirements: (A) The vessel will be continuously out of the water for more than 72 consecutive hours, the vessel signs out of the VMS program by obtaining a valid letter of exemption pursuant to paragraph (c)(2)(ii) of this section, and the vessel complies with all conditions and requirements of said letter; (B) For vessels fishing with a valid NE multispecies limited access permit, the vessel owner signs out of the VMS program for a minimum period of 30 consecutive days by obtaining a valid letter of exemption pursuant to paragraph (c)(2)(ii) of this section, the vessel does not engage in any fisheries until the VMS unit is turned back on, and the vessel complies with all conditions and requirements of said letter; or (C) The vessel has been issued an Atlantic herring permit, and is in port, unless required by other permit requirements for other fisheries to transmit the vessel's location at all times. (D) The vessel has been issued a general scallop permit and is required to operate VMS as specified in §648.10(b)(1)(iv), is not in possession of any scallops onboard the vessel, is tied to a permanent dock or mooring, and the vessel operator has notified NMFS through VMS by transmitting the appropriate VMS power down code, that the VMS will be powered down, unless required by other permit requirements for other fisheries to transmit the vessel's location at all times. Such a vessel must repower the VMS prior to moving from the fixed dock or mooring. VMS codes and instructions are available from the Regional Administrator upon request. (ii) Letter of exemption—(A) Application. A vessel owner may apply for a letter of exemption from the VMS transmitting requirements specified in paragraph (c)(1) of this section for his/her vessel by sending a written request to the Regional Administrator and providing the following: The location of the vessel during the time an exemption is sought; and the exact time period for which an exemption is needed (i.e., the time the VMS signal will be turned off and turned on again); and, in the case of a vessel meeting the conditions of paragraph (c)(2)(i)(A) of this section, sufficient information to determine that the vessel will be out of the water for more than 72 continuous hours. The letter of exemption must be on board the vessel at all times, and the vessel may not turn off the VMS signal until the letter of exemption has been received. (B) Issuance. Upon receipt of an application, the Regional Administrator may issue a letter of exemption to the vessel if it is determined that the vessel owner provided sufficient information as required under paragraph (c)(2) of this section, and that the issuance of the letter of exemption will not jeopardize accurate monitoring of the vessel's DAS. Upon written request, the Regional Administrator may change the time period for which the exemption is granted. (d) Presumption. If a VMS unit fails to transmit an hourly signal of a vessel's position, the vessel shall be deemed to have incurred a DAS, or fraction thereof, for as long as the unit fails to transmit a signal, unless a preponderance of evidence shows that the failure to transmit was due to an unavoidable malfunction or disruption of the transmission that occurred while the vessel was declared out of the scallop fishery or NE multispecies or monkfish fishery, as applicable, or was not at sea. (e) Replacement. Should a VMS unit require replacement, a vessel owner must submit documentation to the Regional Administrator, within 3 days of installation and prior to the vessel's next trip, verifying that the new VMS unit is an operational, approved system as described under paragraph (a) of this section. (f) Access. As a condition to obtaining a limited access scallop or multispecies permit, or an Atlantic herring permit, all vessel owners must allow NMFS, the USCG, and their authorized officers or designees access to the vessel's DAS data, if applicable, and location data obtained from its VMS unit, if required, at the time of or after its transmission to the vendor or receiver, as the case may be. (g) Tampering. Tampering with a VMS, a VMS unit, or a VMS signal, is prohibited. Tampering includes any activity that is likely to affect the unit's ability to operate properly, signal, or accuracy of computing the vessel's position fix. [61 FR 34968, July 3, 1996, as amended at 62 FR 14646, Mar. 27, 1997; 63 FR 58329, Oct. 30, 1998; 64 FR 54745, Oct. 7, 1999; 65 FR 77466, Dec. 11, 2000; 69 FR 22946, Apr. 27, 2004; 69 FR 67796, Nov. 19, 2004; 70 FR 21941, Apr. 28, 2005; 70 FR 48867, Aug. 22, 2005; 70 FR 76426, Dec. 27, 2005; 71 FR 33224, June 8, 2006]
Title 50: Wildlife and Fisheries
PART 648—FISHERIES OF THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES
Subpart A—General Provisions
§ 648.9 VMS requirements.
