Observer Program Mandate and Authority

Mission of the Program

To collect data on effort, directed catch and bycatch quantity, morphometrics, biological characteristics, and interaction with marine mammals and turtles as they relate to federal fisheries regulations.

Fishery management

Federal.

Authority to place observers

Marine Mammal Protection Act and Highly Migratory Species Fisheries Management Plan.

Voluntary or mandatory

Mandatory

Funding Source

Federal

Annual Program Costs

Program duration

 1998-current

Fishery Description

Target species

Directed fishery at small and large coastal shark category species harvested inside the U.S. EEZ in the North Atlantic Ocean from West Palm Beach, Florida to North Carolina.

Other commercially landed species

Coastal teleost species (King and Spanish mackerel, Little Tunny, Bluefish, Atlantic croaker).

Bycatch

Wide variety of species.

Incidental takes

 Sea turtles, Marine Mammals

Gear Type

Gillnet

Area of Operation

Southeast United States

Fleet size

25-30 vessels.

Size Range of Vessels

 20-50 ft

Annual catch of target species

Number of fishing days per year

 200-300

Season of operation

Vessels can be active most of calendar year (directed shark catch based on quota limits; directed coastal  teleosts based on bycatch of sharks).

Observer Program Management

Brief overview of program structure

The SEFSC Panama City Laboratory is responsible for the administration of the Shark Gillnet Observer Program. The coordinators hire observer personnel under contractual agreements (1-6 individuals) and provide the observer support services (training, observer gear, documents, debriefing, data entry). Program coordinators are responsible for maintaining data storage and retrieval, quality control, and administrative support.

Service delivery type and function of each entry: NMFS is responsible for funding and overall administration of the observer program including observer training, debriefing, data management, and data analyses. Program coordinators are responsible for arranging placement of NMFS certified contractors aboard vessels. Logistics and travel support of observers to vessels selected for coverage conducted by contract administrators.

Other participating agencies

Number of Observers

 2-4

Observers Employed by

IAP World Services

Average Deployment Length

 2 weeks

Average Observer Retention Rate

Observers Unionized

No

Observer Coverage

Average number of fishing days

 196

Unit and definition of fishing effort for purpose of estimating coverage

The geographical regions of interest are the Southeast U.S. Atlantic waters. Established a level of observer coverage for vessels is equal to that which would attain a sample size needed to provide estimates of sea turtle or marine mammal interactions with an expected coefficient of variation of 0.3

Percent Observer Coverage

Established a level of observer coverage for vessels is equal to that which would attain a sample size needed to provide estimates of sea turtle or marine mammal interactions with an expected coefficient of variation of 0.3 specified in the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan and the Highly Migratory Species Fisheries Management Plan.