Section 60. Reporting requirements by menhaden fishery sector

A. Each licensee of any purse seine vessel that harvests menhaden must submit a Captain's Daily Fishing Report to the commission on each nonweekend or nonholiday day that either purse seine sector is open for harvest. The Captain's Daily Fishing Report is produced by the National Marine Fisheries Service and provides preliminary estimates of harvest. Pursuant to § 28.2-204 of the Code of Virginia, those same licensees must submit to the commission actual weekly harvest reports that include vessel name and exact weight of menhaden landed, in pounds, by Wednesday of the following week. Once 97% of either purse seine sector's quota is projected and announced to have been met, each licensee of that purse seine sector must provide daily harvest totals to the commission's Interactive Voice Recording System.

B. The nonpurse seine menhaden commercial bait sector shall submit daily reports according to the schedule and reporting requirements established by 4VAC20-610-10, Pertaining to Commercial Fishing and Mandatory Harvest Reporting.

C. When the commissioner announces that 90% of the nonpurse seine menhaden bait quota has been reached, each harvester of this sector is required to report his previous 10 days of landings to the commission's Interactive Voice Recording System and must continue to report his additional landings every 10 days until it is announced that the nonpurse seine bait quota has been attained. More frequent reporting is permissible. The commission may also implement other harvest conservation measures such as trip limits.

Historical Notes

Derived from Volume 29, Issue 17, eff. April 1, 2013.

Statutory Authority

§ 28.2-201 of the Code of Virginia.