NMFS is sending out an email with a pdf attachment of reminders for the participants in the Gulf IFQ Program. We’ve converted it from the pdf to plain text and repost it here and on the IFQBrokers.com site.
Southeast Fishery Bulletin
National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Regional Office, 263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, Florida 33701-5505
FOR INFORMATION CONTACT: December 21, 2009 IFQ Customer Service FB09-070 (866) 425-7627, FAX (727) 824-5308
SER-IFQ.Support@noaa.gov
Gulf of Mexico Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) Program Reminders
On August 31, 2009, a rule was published in the Federal Register establishing a grouper and tilefish IFQ program for commercial fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf). This rule also made changes to the red snapper IFQ program to align that program with the grouper and tilefish IFQ program. On January 1, 2010, the administrative functions of both IFQ programs will be merged into one online IFQ system with an updated format (https://ifq.sero.nmfs.noaa.gov). Anyone holding a federal Gulf commercial reef fish vessel permit fishing for groupers, tilefishes, or red snapper must abide by the federal regulations for the IFQ program regardless of where in the Gulf the fish are harvested.
Shareholder and Vessel Accounts
In October, each commercial reef fish permit holder eligible for initial grouper and tilefish shares and allocation should have received a letter from NOAA Fisheries Service. Included in this letter (on page 4) was a User ID for their IFQ shareholder account in the online IFQ system. In mid-December, these same individuals should have received another letter with their personal identification number (PIN) for their account. If you did not receive either of these letters, please call IFQ Customer Service.
The User ID and PIN can be used to log in to the shareholder account at any time. However, no transfers or transactions can take place in the new accounts until January 1, 2010. If you currently have a red snapper IFQ account, the new PIN will only be valid for the new IFQ system. At first log in the shareholder must change the PIN and establish secret questions and answers for retrieving forgotten PINs. Instructions for using the online system can be found on the new IFQ homepage.
An IFQ vessel account will be required for a person aboard a vessel to commercially land IFQ species in the Gulf. A person who has established an IFQ shareholder account online will maintain a vessel account through that IFQ account for each vessel. User IDs and PINs for vessel accounts can be found on the Update Account page of the shareholder account. Allocation must be transferred from the shareholder account into a vessel account to be used for landing IFQ species. Allocation can only be transferred out of a vessel account into the shareholder account of the vessel owner.
Landing Notification
A fisherman must give 3-12 hours advanced notice of landing. Landing is defined as arriving at a dock, berth, seawall, or ramp. A landing notification can be made via the vessel monitoring system (VMS), by phone (1866- 425-7627), or online. Before a landing notification for the vessel is submitted, the vessel account associated with that vessel must have enough allocation for the IFQ species on board. To improve enforceability of the IFQ program, the estimated pounds (gutted weight) of each IFQ species on board must be included in the landing notification.
Pre-approval of Landing Locations
Beginning January 1, 2010, only pre-approved landing locations may be used to land IFQ species. To ensure review of a landing location by NOAA Fisheries Service Office for Law Enforcement by the end of a calendar- year quarter, the location should be submitted at least 45 days before the end of that calendar-year quarter. New landing locations can be submitted for review online through the shareholder account or by calling IFQ Customer Service. Pre-approved landing locations must be publicly accessible by land and water and have a street address. If a particular landing location has no street address on record, global positioning system (GPS) coordinates for an identifiable geographic location must be provided.
Offloading and Transport
IFQ species can only be offloaded between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., local time. Offloading is defined as removing IFQ species from the vessel. Before IFQ species are transported on land from the landing location (including trailering a vessel with IFQ species on board), the dealer or fisherman must accurately weigh the fish and connect electronically to the online IFQ system to complete a dealer landing transaction and obtain a transaction approval code. A copy of the dealer’s endorsement must accompany any IFQ species from the landing location through possession by a dealer.
Dealer Requirements
Anyone holding a federal reef fish dealer permit must abide by the federal regulations for the IFQ program when purchasing groupers, tilefishes, or red snapper regardless of where in the Gulf the fish are harvested. A dealer wishing to purchase IFQ species must have an IFQ dealer account and a dealer endorsement. The endorsement is free and can be printed from within the IFQ dealer account.
The dealer must initiate a landing transaction at the time of purchasing any IFQ species. The transaction must include the date, time, and location of the transaction, weight (in gutted pounds) and ex-vessel price per pound of IFQ species landed and sold, and information necessary to identify the fisherman, vessel, and dealer involved in the transaction. The fisherman must validate the landing transaction report by entering the PIN for the vessel account when the landing transaction is submitted.
The initial dealer must be able to produce transaction approval codes for any IFQ species in his possession until those fish are sold. Between purchase by the initial dealer and subsequent sale, any vehicle transporting IFQ species must also have a copy of the dealer endorsement and the transaction approval codes for any IFQ species on board.
A cost recovery fee of three percent must be withheld from the ex-vessel value paid to the fisherman. The cost recovery fee must be paid quarterly by the dealer through the dealer’s IFQ account using pay.gov. Cost recovery fees are due no later than 30 days after the end of the calendar-year quarter.
This bulletin provides only a summary of the information regarding the existing regulations. Any discrepancies between this bulletin and the regulations as published in the Federal Register will be resolved in favor of the Federal Register.
You can download this from us in text format or in pdf format. It is also available on the IFQBrokers.com site.