All owners and all operators of vessels in bottom or pelagic longline fisheries with an HMS permit must attend those Safe Handling seminars if you want to keep renewing your permits. NOTE: This includes directed and indirect permits. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that because you don’t target shark, for instance, and only have a permit to bring in one once in a while as incidental catch, that this doesn’t apply to you. You will lose that Limited Access Shark Indirect Permit or that Limited Access Swordfish Indirect Permit if you do not get the certificate that says you attended one of these workshops.
Make sure you take note of the schedule and attend one close to you when it comes around. If you miss the one nearby you will really resent having to make an out of town trip with the added expense of fuel and hotel rooms added to the time you will spend listening to an infomercial and learning how to do something you either already know how to do or may well never be called upon to do.
Shark ID workshops (required for dealers)
Safe Handling and Release Workshops (required for owners and operators)