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pdfNational Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)
Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office
Special Instructions for Gillnet Vessel Owners ‐ 2019
General gillnet vessel designation and tagging requirements:
A vessel owner electing to fish with gillnet gear in the Northeast (NE) multispecies or monkfish fisheries
must complete a gillnet tag form. All vessels issued a limited access NE multispecies permit in
Categories A, E, or F that fish with gillnet gear must obtain an annual designation as either a Day or Trip
gillnet vessel. Declarations are to be made on a form provided by the Greater Atlantic Regional Office
(GARFO) and signed by the vessel owner or an authorized representative of the vessel. This form is
enclosed. It can also be obtained by calling the Permit Office at (978) 282‐8438, or through the Greater
Atlantic Regional Office website: https:// www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov/aps/forms.html
All NE multispecies Category A, E, and F Day gillnet vessels fishing for NE multispecies and/or vessels
fishing under a monkfish DAS using gillnet gear must tag their gillnets with BLUE gillnet tags. Vessels
must indicate the number of gillnet tags that are being requested on the gillnet tag form provided by
GARFO and provide a check for the cost of the tags, if appropriate. Once a declaration form has been
received, GARFO will send a gillnet tag certificate and category designation letter to the vessel owner
that serves as written confirmation from the Regional Administrator that the vessel is a Day or Trip
gillnet vessel. This confirmation must be retained on board the vessel when fishing under a NE
multispecies Category A, E, or F
permit with gillnet gear.
Vessels with a NE multispecies Category A, E, or F permit are limited to 150 gillnet tags. Vessels with a
Monkfish Category C, D, F, G, or H permit with a limited access NE multispecies permit are also limited
to 150 tags. Vessels with Monkfish Category A or B permits only are limited to 160 gillnet tags. A vessel
may have tags on board the vessel that are in excess of the number of tags corresponding to the
allowable number of nets for a given Regulated Mesh Area (RMA), provided such tags are available for
immediate inspection. Vessels participating in a NE multispecies sector may have different gillnet
requirements. If participating in a NE multispecies sector, please reference your Letter of Authorization,
or contact your sector manager for complete details of your sector’s exemptions.
A gillnet vessel may stow additional nets on board that are in excess of the allowable nets for a given
RMA. Day gillnet vessels may stow up to 150 nets, including the number of deployed nets. Trip gillnet
vessels are not restricted to the number of nets that can be stowed on board the vessel. All nets in
excess of the allowable number of nets for a given RMA must be stowed according to the regulations.
General gillnet gear requirements: For purposes of gillnet gear requirements, gillnets are defined as
follows:
Roundfish gillnet: A gillnet constructed with floats on the float line and no tie‐down twine
between the float line and the lead line.
Flatfish gillnet: A gillnet constructed with no floats on the float line, or with floats on the float line
and that has tie‐down twine between the float line and the lead line not more than 48 inches in
length and spaced not more than 15 feet apart.
Special Instructions for Gillnet Vessel Owners (2019) – continued
Vessels fishing under the Large Mesh DAS program using gillnets:
Vessels that hold a valid limited access NE Multispecies Large Mesh Individual DAS category (Category F)
permit must fish with nets having a mesh size of at least 8.5 inches when fishing in the Gulf of Maine,
Georges Bank, or Southern New England Regulated Mesh Areas, and at least 7.5 inches for diamond mesh
or 8 inches for square mesh when fishing in the Mid‐Atlantic Regulated Mesh Area when fishing under the
NE multispecies DAS program.
Gillnet Tag Series for Fishing Years 2004 – 2019
The current gillnet tag series (BLUE in color) will remain valid through the 2019 fishing year
(May 1, 2019 – April 30, 2020), unless otherwise notified.
Current Gillnet Regulations
A summary of the current gillnet gear requirements is contained in the table below. Vessels participating
in a NE multispecies sector may be exempt from certain gillnet regulations that are in the table below. If
participating in a NE multispecies sector, please reference your Letter of Authorization or contact your
sector manager for complete details of your sector’s exemptions.
Gear Restrictions for the NE Multispecies FMP by Regulated Mesh Areas.
Gulf of Maine
NE Multispecies
Day Gillnet
Category*
Roundfish nets
6.5" (16.5 cm) mesh;
50-net allowance;
2 tags/net
Flatfish nets
6.5" (16.5 cm) mesh;
100-net allowance;
1 tag/net
NE Multispecies
Trip Gillnet
Category*
Monkfish Vessels**
All nets
6.5" (16.5 cm) mesh
Georges Bank
Southern New England
All nets
6.5" (16.5 cm) mesh;
50-net allowance;
2 tags/net
All nets
6.5" (16.5 cm) mesh;
75-net allowance;
2 tags/net
All nets
6.5" (16.5 cm) mesh
All nets
6.5" (16.5 cm) mesh
Mid-Atlantic
Roundfish nets
6.5" (16.5 cm) mesh;
75-net allowance;
2 tags/net
Flatfish nets
6.5" (16.5 cm) mesh;
75-net allowance;
2 tags/net
All gillnet gear
6.5" (16.5 cm) mesh
10" (25.4 cm) mesh/150-net allowance
1 tag/net
* When fishing under NE multispecies regulations. Large Mesh Individual DAS category holders have a different mesh size
requirement than A DAS vessels.
** Monkfish Category C, D, F, and H vessels, when fishing under a monkfish DAS
Gillnet Tag form must be completed if your vessel will be fishing with gillnets with a
Northeast (NE) Multispecies Category A, E or F permit; or fishing under a
Monkfish DAS during the 2019 fishing year (May 1, 2019 - April 30, 2020).
• If you have a limited access NE multispecies permit or a limited access NE multispecies permit and a limited
access monkfish permit, you must fill out Section 1 , Section 2 (if requesting add'l tags), and Section 3 .
• If you have a limited access monkfish permit only (and no limited access multispecies permit), you must fill
out Section 2 if you're requesting additional tags (not to exceed 160 tags) and Section 3.
Section 1 - Limited access NE multispecies Category A, E or F permit holders who intend to use gillnet gear must
declare into one of the following gillnet category designations by selecting one of the following two categories with
a check mark: (please read the “Special Instructions to Gillnet Vessel Owners” if you do not know which
category you should choose)
Trip Gillnet Category ___s_____
or
Day Gillnet Category ________
Section 2
All gillnet vessel owners must utilize BLUE gillnet tags. If you don’t currently possess BLUE gillnet tags, you
must purchase them. Please indicate how many tags that you wish to purchase by filling out the following
information.
Number of tags requested:
Please check here if you do not need tags: ____
(Multispecies tags are limited to 150, Monkfish tags are limited to160 for Category A and B vessels, 150 for
Monkfish Category C, D, F, G, or H vessels with a limited access NE multispecies permit. The BLUE gillnet tags
cost $1.20 each. (NOTE: An additional shipping and handling charge of $5.00 must be included for orders of
20 or less tags.) (NOTE: The total cost for 150 tags is $180.00 and $192.00 for 160 tags.)
Total amount enclosed $_________________________________________ NOTE: If you do not need tags you
must still fill in your name, address,
Name and Address _____________________________________________ phone # and complete section 3 to
_____________________________________________________________ receive your annual certificate. This
_____________________________________________________________ certificate must be carried on board
Phone Number ________________________________________________ your vessel.
Please make checks payable to : National Band and Tag Company and complete Section 3 below.
Tags will be shipped to you directly from the tag manufacturer.
Section 3
Vessel Name
Documentation #
or State Registration #
Federal Permit # ________________________
Signature
Date
________________________________________
Please call the National Marine Fisheries Permit Office at (978) 282-8438 if you have any questions about this form.
Return this form and payment to:
NMFS Permits Office, Gillnet Program
55 Great Republic Drive
Gloucester, MA 01930-2276
OMB Control # 0648-0202
OMB Expiration Date 08/31/2019
The information from this form will be used in the management of the NE multispecies and
monkfish fisheries. One of the regulatory steps taken by NOAA Fisheries to carry out the
conservation and management objectives of these fishery management plans is limiting fishing
vessel effort. The application to designate a gillnet category and order gillnet tags is meant to
allow industry members to designate their appropriate gillnet category and order the appropriate
number of gillnet tags in accordance with 50 CFR 648.4(c)(2)(iii) and 648.80(a)(3)(iv),
648.80(a)(4)(iv), 648.80(b)(2)(iv), and 648.80(b)(2)(v). Since this requirement has been adopted as
part of the effort reduction programs under the NE Multispecies and Monkfish Fishery
Management Plans (FMPs) it is viewed as consistent with the conservation goals of these FMPs.
BURDEN STATEMENT: Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to
average 5 minutes per response, including time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data
sources, gathering and maintaining data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of
information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or suggestions for reducing this
burden to: Regional Administrator, National Marine Fisheries Service, Greater Atlantic Region, 55
Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930‐2276.
The information collected on this form is not confidential and can be made available to the general
public. All other data submitted will be handled in accordance with NOAA Administrative Order
216‐100, Protection of Confidential Fishery Statistics and Section 402(b) of the Magnuson‐Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management Act.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person is required to respond to nor shall a person
be subject to penalty for failure to comply with, a collection of information subject to the
requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act, unless that collection of information displays a
current valid OMB Control Number.
OMB Control # 0648‐0202 OMB Expiration Date 08/31/2019
File Type | application/pdf |
File Title | Microsoft Word - 2019 - Vessel Gillnet Tag Instructions |
Author | Ted.Hawes |
File Modified | 2019-08-13 |
File Created | 2019-02-13 |