Gulf of Mexico Electronic Logbook

This request is for extension of a current information collection. The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) authorizes the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) to prepare and amend fishery management plans for any fishery in waters under its jurisdiction. NMFS manages the commercial shrimp fishery in Federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) under the Fishery Management Plan for the Shrimp Fishery of the Gulf. The electronic logbook (ELB) regulations for the Gulf shrimp fishery may be found at 50 CFR 622.51(a)(2). The ELB is a device that records the position of the vessel every ten minutes. The tracks of the vessels can be examined to determine when and where shrimp trawling is occurring. As of May 1, 2023, there are approximately 1,319 valid or renewable Federal permits to commercially harvest shrimp from the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the Gulf. Monitoring shrimp vessels, operating together with many other fishing vessels of differing sizes, gears types used, and fishing capabilities, is made even more challenging by seasonal variability in shrimp abundance and price, and the broad geographic distribution of the fleet. ELBs provide a precise means of estimating the amount of shrimp fishing effort. Using ELBs to estimate fishing effort serves an important role to help estimate bycatch in the Gulf shrimp fleet.

The latest form for Gulf of Mexico Electronic Logbook expires 2027-05-31 and is listed under ICR 202309-0648-010.