Electronic VTRs:
A New Era in Quota Tracking

by Croy Carlin

 

The captain leans out of the wheelhouse, calling to the crew that it’s time to haul it in. He just heard from the sector manager. The group had a relatively high catch of yellowtail flounder today and they need to be careful.

But the price for cod is down, so it’s not a tough call to wrap it up early to avoid using more yellowtail quota.

The new marketing plan has really paid off. They’re getting the best price of anyone now that the retailer can trace the fish back to their boat. The captain is still getting some grief about the poster of the crew at the seafood counter, but for the extra money it puts in their pockets, the supermarket can put up a billboard if it wants.

As they’re steaming in, the captain finishes entering the day’s catch data into the laptop computer and, once they get closer to port and his computer picks up the Wi-Fi signal from the dock, he sends out a copy of the vessel trip report to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and his sector manager.

The crew unloads the catch, and the captain is quickly done with his responsibilities. He’s home even before the crew hits the bar.

This is how fishing can work. It already does in some parts of the country and the world, pieces of this process are now becoming a reality here in the Northeast.

With the manifestation of Amendment 16 and the catch share system in the groundfish fishery, accurate reporting of catch and discard weights for each species is paramount.

Late in June, NMFS announced that it would accept electronic versions of the vessel trip report (VTR) from groundfish vessels to provide near real-time monitoring and management of catch and discard data.

Until this point, catch and discard weights have been determined through a combination of observer data, dealer landing reports, and the VTR, the paper report that captains have been filling out and mailing to their sector manager, their dealer, and NMFS.

By transitioning to electronic reporting, captains will be able to send VTRs to all parties practically at once, while at the same time benefiting from an increase in reporting efficiency and access to near real-time quota tracking.

Over the past year, the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) in Portland, ME has been working with the groundfish industry and NMFS to help launch electronic reporting in the Northeast.

This work primarily has focused on familiarizing groundfish captains with electronic logbook software and showing them how to complete the logbook and transmit their VTR file to NMFS.
The electronic logbook is essentially a computer program that mimics the paper VTR, but it remembers vessel-specific information and gear preferences.

This greatly simplifies and reduces the time the captain has to spend completing the logbook since the only new data he has to enter relates to the day's fishing—what was caught, where it was caught, etc. Once the logbook is completed, the software program self-checks for errors and then produces a secure encrypted file for transmission to NMFS.

Transmission options

Because the VTR file is encrypted, fishermen can use a variety of transmission options. They can send the file from the vessel via: the VMS, the Internet using a Wi-Fi link if it is available at the dock, a cell phone with a 3G card, or a land-based Internet connection using data saved to a USB memory stick. These options vary in cost, reliability, and range.

Once the file is transmitted, the captain can confirm within one or two hours that NMFS has received the data by logging onto a NMFS VTR website and checking its list of recently completed fishing trips. Doing this also allows the captain to closely monitor his quota.

Many captains who have worked with GMRI to begin submitting their VTRs electronically have good things to say about the process. They say the software is easy to learn and use. They also have adapted to finding ways to transmit the data and are excited to be doing away with the paper logs.

In addition to increased efficiency and organization in the wheelhouse, sector managers also will benefit from being able to manage their members’ quotas in near real time. Also, by reducing the amount of time spent manually entering data, the manager will be better able to concentrate on the needs of the sector.

In the near future, the rapid reporting generated from electronic VTRs can be used to warn vessels of bycatch hotspots, further assisting in quota management and increasing profitability.

“As we are looking for ways to reduce the cost of running sectors while requiring quality, timely data, electronic reporting has to be part of that equation,” remarked Ben Martens, manager of the Port Clyde Sector.

In summary, electronic reporting allows captains to spend less time reporting their fish and more time catching them. It also allows sector managers to spend less time entering data and more time determining what to do with the data to improve industry profitability.

Croy Carlin is a research technician at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI). GMRI is currently working with several vessels to begin electronic vessel trip reporting. The institute is available to help other interested fishermen with installing software and hardware, training captains to use the program and answering questions regarding the current state of electronic reporting.

For more information on this program, call Carlin at (207) 228-1686 or e-mail him at ccarlin@gmri.org.