NMFS Alaska Region Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) Program

Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS) are required to be used in certain commercial fisheries off Alaska to provide vessel location information to monitor compliance with time, area, and gear closures and area-specific quota allocations. VMS units automatically transmit the location of a vessel several times per hour using a Global Positioning System satellite. A communications service provider receives the transmission and relays it to NOAA Fisheries Office for Enforcement. The VMS unit is passive and automatic, requiring no reporting effort of the vessel operator. This collection is revised due to the associated rule (RIN 0648-BI65) for Amendment 118 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) Management Area, which authorizes retention of legal-size halibut in pot-and-line and longline pot gear used to fish for halibut or sablefish in the BSAI. Under this action, all vessels fishing sablefish or halibut with pot gear will be required to use VMS.

The latest form for NMFS Alaska Region Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) Program expires 2021-01-31 and can be found here.

VMS Purchase, Installation, Maintenance, Transmission Costs, & Troubleshooting

Federal Enterprise Architecture: Natural Resources - Conservation, Marine and Land Management