50 C.F.R. § 679.115

Current through September 30, 2024
Section 679.115 - Recordkeeping and reporting
(a)General recordkeeping and reporting (R&R) requirement. R&R requirements include, but are not limited to, paper and electronic documentation, logbooks, forms, reports, and receipts.
(1)Salmon logbooks and forms.
(i) The Regional Administrator will prescribe and provide logbooks required under this section. All forms required under this section are available from the NMFS Alaska Region website or may be requested by calling the Sustainable Fisheries Division at 907-586-7228. These forms may be completed online, or submitted according to the instructions shown on the form.
(ii) The operator must use the current edition of the logbooks and current format of the forms, unless they obtain prior written approval from NMFS to use logbooks from the previous year. Upon approval from NMFS, electronic versions of the forms may be used.
(iii) Commercial salmon harvest that occurred in the Cook Inlet EEZ Area must be recorded in eLandings by an SFPP or RSRP holder. See paragraph (b) of this section for more information.
(2)Responsibility.
(i) The operator of a vessel, the manager of a salmon shoreside processor (hereafter referred to as the manager), and a Registered Salmon Receiver are responsible for complying with applicable R&R requirements in this section.
(ii) The owner of a vessel, the owner of a salmon shoreside processor, and the owner of a Registered Salmon Receiver are responsible for ensuring their employees and agents comply with applicable R&R requirements in this section.
(3)Fish to be recorded and reported. The operator of a vessel or manager must record and report the following information (see paragraphs (a)(3)(i) through (iv) of this section) for all salmon, groundfish (see table 2a to this part), halibut and crab, forage fish (see table 2c to this part), and sculpins (see table 2c to this part). The operator of a vessel or manager may record and report the following information (see paragraphs (a)(3)(i) through (iv) of this section) for other species (see table 2d to this part):
(i) Harvest information from vessels;
(ii) Receipt information from vessels, buying stations, and tender vessels, including fish received from vessels not required to have an SFFP or FFP, and fish received under contract for handling or processing for another processor;
(iii) Discard or disposition information, including fish reported but not delivered to the operator or manager (e.g., fish used on board a vessel, retained for personal use, discarded at sea), when receiving catch from a vessel, buying station, or tender vessel; and
(iv) Transfer information, including fish transferred off the vessel or out of the facility.
(4)Inspection and retention of records -
(i)Inspection of records. The operator of a vessel, a manager, and a Registered Salmon Receiver must make available for inspection R&R documentation they are required to retain under this section upon the request of an authorized officer; and
(ii)Retention of records. The operator of a vessel, a manager, and a Registered Salmon Receiver must retain the R&R documentation they are required to make under this section as follows:
(A) Retain these records on board a vessel, on site at the salmon shoreside processor or stationary floating processor (see § 679.2 ), or at the Registered Salmon Receiver's place of business, as applicable, until the end of the fishing year during which the records were made and for as long thereafter as fish or fish products recorded in the R&R documentation are retained on site.
(B) Retain these records for 3 years after the end of the fishing year during which the records were made.
(5)Maintenance of records. The operator of a vessel, a manager, and a Registered Salmon Receiver must maintain all records described in this section in English and in a legible, timely, and accurate manner, based on Alaska local time (A.l.t.); if handwritten, in indelible ink; if computer-generated, as a readable file or a legible printed paper copy.
(6)Custom processing. The manager or Registered Salmon Receiver must record products that result from custom processing for another person in eLandings consistently throughout a fishing year using one of the following two methods:
(i) For combined records, record landings, discards or dispositions, and products of custom-processed salmon routinely in eLandings using processor name, any applicable RSRP number or SFPP number, and ADF&G processor code; or
(ii) For separate records, record landings, discards or dispositions, and products of custom-processed salmon in eLandings identified by the name, SFPP number or RSRP number, and ADF&G processor code of the associated business entity.
(7)Representative. The operator of a vessel, manager, and RSRP holder may identify one contact person to complete the logbook and forms and to respond to inquiries from NMFS.
(b)Interagency Electronic Reporting System (IERS) and eLandings -
(1)Responsibility.
(i) An eLandings User must obtain at his or her own expense hardware, software, and internet connectivity to support internet submissions of commercial fishery landings for which participants report to NMFS: landing data, production data, and discard or disposition data. The User must enter this information via the internet by logging on to the eLandings system at https://elandings.alaska.gov or other NMFS-approved software or by using the desktop client software.
(ii) If the User is unable to submit commercial fishery landings of Cook Inlet EEZ salmon due to hardware, software, or internet failure for a period longer than the required reporting time, the User must contact NMFS Sustainable Fisheries Division at 907-586-7228 for instructions. When the hardware, software, or internet is restored, the User must enter this same information into eLandings or other NMFS-approved software.
(2)eLandings processor registration.
(i) Before a User can use the eLandings system to report landings, production, discard, or disposition data, he or she must request authorization to use the system, reserve a unique UserID, and obtain a password by using the internet to complete the eLandings processor registration at https://elandings.alaska.gov/elandings/Register;
(ii) Upon registration acceptance, the User must print, sign, and mail or fax the User Agreement Form to NMFS at the address or fax number shown on the form. Confirmation is emailed to indicate that the User is registered, authorized to use eLandings, and that the UserID and User's account are enabled; and
(iii) The User's signature on the registration form means that the User agrees to the following terms:
(A) To use eLandings access privileges only for submitting legitimate fishery landing reports;
(B) To safeguard the UserID and password to prevent their use by unauthorized persons; and
(C) To ensure that the User is authorized to submit landing reports for the processor permit number(s) listed.
(3)Information required for eLandings processor registration form. The User must enter the following information (see paragraphs (b)(3)(i) through (ix) of this section) to obtain operation registration and UserID registration:
(i) Select the operation type from the dropdown list;
(ii) Enter a name that will refer to the specific operation. For example, if the plant is in Kodiak and the company is East Pacific Seafoods, the operation name might read "East Pacific Seafoods-Kodiak;"
(iii) Enter ADF&G processor code;
(iv) Enter all the Federal permits associated with the operation;
(A) If a processor for Cook Inlet EEZ salmon, enter the SFPP number; and
(B) If a Registered Salmon Receiver, enter the RSRP number;
(v) Enter the home port code (see tables 14a, 14b, and 14c to this part) for the operation;
(vi) If a tender operation, the operator must enter the ADF&G vessel identification number of the vessel;
(vii) If a buying station or Registered Salmon Receiver operation is a vehicle, enter vehicle license number and the state of license issuance;
(viii) If a buying station, tender vessel, or custom processor, enter the following information to identify the associated processor where the processing will take place: operation type, ADF&G processor code, and applicable SFPP number, and RSRP number; and
(ix) Each operation requires a primary User. Enter the following information for the primary User for the new operation: create and enter a UserID, initial password, company name, User name (name of the person who will use the UserID), city and state where the operation is located, business telephone number, business fax number, business email address, security question, and security answer.
(4)Information entered automatically for eLandings landing report. eLandings autofills the following fields from processor registration records (see paragraph (b)(2) of this section): UserID, processor company name, business telephone number, email address, port of landing, operation type (for catcher/processors, motherships, or stationary floating processors), ADF&G processor code, and Federal permit number. The User must review the autofilled cells to ensure that they are accurate for the landing that is taking place. eLandings assigns a unique landing report number and an ADF&G electronic fish ticket number upon completion of data entry.
(5)Information submitted in an eLandings landing report. The manager and a Registered Salmon Receiver that receives salmon from a vessel issued an SFFP under § 679.114 and that is required to have an SFPP or RSRP under § 679.114(c) or (d) must use eLandings or other NMFS-approved software to submit a daily landing report during the fishing year to report processor identification information and the following information under paragraphs (b)(5)(i)(A) through (C) of this section:
(i) Information entered for each salmon delivery to a salmon shoreside processor or Registered Salmon Receiver. The User for a shoreside processor, stationary floating processor, or Registered Salmon Receiver must enter the information specified at (b)(5)(i)(A) through (C) of this section for each salmon delivery provided by the operator of a vessel, the operator or manager of an associated buying station or tender vessel, and from processors for reprocessing or rehandling product into eLandings or other NMFS-approved software:
(A)Delivery information. The User must:
(1) For crew size, enter the number of licensed crew aboard the vessel, including the operator;
(2) Enter the management program name in which harvest occurred (see paragraph (a)(1)(iii) of this section);
(3) Enter the ADF&G salmon statistical area of harvest;
(4) For date of landing, enter date (mm/dd/yyyy) that the delivery was completed;
(5) Indicate (YES or NO) whether delivery is from a buying station or tender vessel;
(6) If the delivery is received from a buying station, indicate the name of the buying station;
(7) If the delivery is received from a tender vessel, enter the ADF&G vessel registration number;
(8) If delivery is received from a vessel, indicate the ADF&G vessel registration number of the vessel; and
(9) Mark whether the vessel logsheet has been received.
(B)Catch information. The User must record the number and landed scale weight in pounds of salmon, including any applicable weight modifier such as delivery condition code, and disposition code of fish by species.
(C)Discard or disposition information.
(1) The User must record discard or disposition of fish: that occurred on and was reported by a vessel; that occurred on and was reported by a salmon shoreside processor or Registered Salmon Receiver; and that occurred prior to, during, and/or after production at the salmon shoreside processor.
(2) The User for a salmon shoreside processor or Registered Salmon Receiver must submit a landing report containing the information described in paragraph (b)(5)(i) of this section for each salmon delivery from a specific vessel by 1200 hours, A.l.t., of the day following completion of the delivery. If the landed scale weight required in paragraph (b)(5)(i)(B) of this section is not available by this deadline, the User must transmit an estimated weight and count for each species by 1200 hours, A.l.t., of the day following completion of the delivery, and must submit a revised landing report with the landed scale weight for each species by 1200 hours, A.l.t., of the third day following completion of the delivery.
(3) By using eLandings, the User for a salmon shoreside processor or a Registered Salmon Receiver and the operator of the vessel providing information to the User for the salmon shoreside processor or Registered Salmon Receiver accept the responsibility of and acknowledge compliance with § 679.117(b)(5) .
(ii) [Reserved]
(c)Logbooks -
(1)Requirements.
(i) All Cook Inlet EEZ Area logbook pages must be sequentially numbered.
(ii) Except as described in paragraph (c)(1)(iii) or (iv) of this section, no person may alter or change any entry or record in a logbook;
(iii) An inaccurate or incorrect entry or record in printed data must be corrected by lining out the original and inserting the correction, provided that the original entry or record remains legible. All corrections must be made in ink; and
(iv) If after an electronic logsheet is signed, an error is found in the data, the operator must make any necessary changes to the data, sign the new logsheet, and export the revised file to NMFS. The operator must retain both the original and revised logsheet reports.
(2)Logsheet distribution and submittal. The operator of a vessel must distribute and submit accurate copies of logsheets to the salmon shoreside processor or Registered Salmon Receiver and to NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement Alaska Region according to the logsheet instructions.
(3)Salmon drift gillnet vessel daily fishing log. The operator of a vessel that is required to have an SFFP under § 679.114(b) , and that is using drift gillnet gear to harvest salmon in the Cook Inlet EEZ Area, must maintain a salmon drift gillnet vessel daily fishing log.
(4)Reporting time limits. The operator of a vessel using drift gillnet gear must record in the daily fishing log the information from the following table for each set within the specified time limit:

Reporting Time Limits, Catcher Vessel Drift Gillnet Gear

Required informationTime limit for recording
(i) SFFP number, set number, date and time gear set, date and time gear hauled, beginning and end positions of set, length of net deployed, total number of salmon, and estimated hail weight of groundfish for each setWithin 2 hours after completion of gear retrieval.
(ii) Discard and disposition informationPrior to landing.
(iii) Submit an accurate copy of the groundfish discards reported on the daily fishing log to shoreside processor or Registered Salmon Receiver receiving catchAt the time of catch delivery.
(iv) All other required informationAt the time of catch delivery.
(v) Operator sign the completed logsheetsAt the time of catch delivery.

50 C.F.R. §679.115

89 FR 34759, Apr. 30, 2024; 89 FR 46334, May 29, 2024
89 FR 34759, 5/30/2024; 89 FR 46334, 5/29/2024