635.5—Recordkeeping and reporting.

Information on HMS vessel and dealer reporting requirements may be obtained from the Division Chief or where otherwise stated in this part.
(a) Vessels— (1) Logbooks. If an owner of an HMS charter/headboat vessel, an Atlantic tunas vessel, a shark vessel, or a swordfish vessel, for which a permit has been issued under § 635.4(b), (d), (e), or (f), is selected for logbook reporting in writing by NMFS, he or she must maintain and submit a fishing record on a logbook form specified by NMFS. Entries are required regarding the vessel's fishing effort and the number of fish landed and discarded. Entries on a day's fishing activities must be entered on the logbook form within 48 hours of completing that day's activities or before offloading, whichever is sooner. The owner or operator of the vessel must submit the logbook form(s) postmarked within 7 days of offloading all Atlantic HMS. If no fishing occurred during a calendar month, a no-fishing form so stating must be submitted postmarked no later than 7 days after the end of that month. If an owner of an HMS charter/headboat vessel, Atlantic tunas vessel, shark vessel, or swordfish vessel, permitted under § 635.4(b), (d), (e), or (f), is selected in writing by NMFS to complete the cost-earnings portion of the logbook(s), the owner or operator must maintain and submit the cost-earnings portion of the logbook postmarked no later than 30 days after completing the offloading for each trip fishing for Atlantic HMS during that calendar year, and submit the Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Annual Expenditures form(s) postmarked no later than the date specified on the form of the following year.
(ii) Before fishing under a chartering arrangement, the owner of a fishing vessel subject to U.S. jurisdiction must apply for, and obtain, a chartering permit as specified in § 635.32 (e) and (f). If a chartering permit is obtained, the vessel owner must submit catch information as specified in the terms and conditions of that permit. All catches will be recorded and counted against the applicable quota of the Contracting Party to which the chartering foreign entity is a member and, unless otherwise provided in the chartering permit, must be offloaded in the ports of the chartering foreign entity or offloaded under the direct supervision of the chartering foreign entity.
(b) Dealers. Persons who have been issued a dealer permit under § 635.4 must submit reports to NMFS, to an address designated by NMFS, and maintain records as follows:
(1) Atlantic HMS. (i) Dealers that have been issued or should have been issued an Atlantic tunas, swordfish, and/or sharks dealer permit under § 635.4 must submit to NMFS all reports required under this section. All reports must be species-specific and must include information about all HMS landed regardless of where harvested or whether the vessel is Federally permitted under § 635.4. For sharks, each report must specify both the total fin weight and the total dressed weight of the carcass(es) separately from each other. In cases where different dealers handle the fins and the shark meat, either the report required in this section or the weighout slip required in paragraph (a)(2) of this section must indicate which part of the sharks being landed (e.g., fins or meat) was handled by the dealer submitting the report. As stated in § 635.4(a)(6), failure to comply with these recordkeeping and reporting requirements may result in the existing dealer permit being revoked, suspended, or modified, and in the denial of any permit applications.
(ii) Reports of Atlantic tunas, swordfish, and/or sharks received by dealers from U.S. vessels, as defined under § 600.10 of this chapter, on the first through the 15 th of each month, must be received by NMFS not later than the 25 th of that month. Reports of Atlantic tunas, swordfish, and/or sharks received on the 16 th through the last day of each month must be received by NMFS not later than the 10th of the following month. If a dealer issued an Atlantic tunas, swordfish, or sharks dealer permit under § 635.4 has not received any Atlantic HMS from U.S. vessels during a reporting period as specified in this section, he or she must still submit the report required under paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this section stating that no Atlantic HMS were received. This negative report must be received by NMFS for the applicable reporting period as specified in this section. This negative reporting requirement does not apply for bluefin tuna.
(2) Requirements for bluefin tuna— (i) Dealer reports— Each dealer with a valid Atlantic tunas permit issued under § 635.4 must submit a completed landing report on a form available from NMFS for each BFT received from a U.S. fishing vessel. Such report must be submitted by electronic facsimile (fax) or, once available, via the Internet, to a number or a web address designated by NMFS not later than 24 hours after receipt of the BFT. A landing report must indicate the name and permit number of the vessel that landed the BFT and must be signed by the permitted vessel's owner or operator immediately upon transfer of the BFT. The dealer must inspect the vessel's permit to verify that the required vessel name and vessel permit number as listed on the permit are correctly recorded on the landing report and to verify that the vessel permit has not expired.
(B) Bi-weekly reports. Each dealer with a valid Atlantic tunas permit under § 635.4 must submit a complete bi-weekly report on forms available from NMFS for BFT received from U.S. vessels. For BFT received from U.S. vessels on the 1 st through the 15 th of each month, the dealer must submit the bi-weekly report form to NMFS, to be received by NMFS, not later than the 25 th of that month. Reports of BFT received on the 16 th through the last day of each month must be received by NMFS not later than the 10 th of the following month.
(ii) Dealer tags. NMFS will issue numbered dealer tags to each person issued a dealer permit for Atlantic tunas under § 635.4. A dealer tag is not transferable and is usable only by the dealer to whom it is issued. Dealer tags may not be reused once affixed to a tuna or recorded on a package, container, or report.
(1) Bluefin tuna. The owner of a vessel permitted, or required to be permitted, in the Atlantic HMS Angling or Atlantic HMS Charter/Headboat category must report all BFT landings under the Angling category quota designated at § 635.27(a) through the NMFS automated catch reporting system within 24 hours of the landing. Such reports may be made by calling 1-888-872-8862 or by submitting the required information over the Internet at: www.nmfspermits.com.
(e) Inspection. Any person authorized to carry out enforcement activities under the regulations in this part has the authority, without warrant or other process, to inspect, at any reasonable time, catch on board a vessel or on the premises of a dealer, logbooks, catch reports, statistical records, sales receipts, or other records and reports required by this part to be made, kept, or furnished. An owner or operator of a fishing vessel that has been issued a permit under § 635.4 or § 635.32 must allow NMFS or an authorized person to inspect and copy any required reports and the records, in any form, on which the completed reports are based, wherever they exist. An agent of a person issued a permit under this part, or anyone responsible for offloading, storing, packing, or selling regulated HMS for such permittee, shall be subject to the inspection provisions of this section.
(f) Additional data and inspection. Additional data on fishing effort directed at Atlantic HMS or on catch of Atlantic HMS, regardless of whether retained, may be collected by contractors and statistical reporting agents, as designees of NMFS, and by authorized officers. A person issued a permit under § 635.4 is required to provide requested information about fishing activity, and a person, regardless of whether issued a permit under § 635.4, who possesses an Atlantic HMS is required to make such fish or parts thereof available for inspection by NMFS or its designees upon request.
[64 FR 29135, May 28, 1999]

Code of Federal Regulations

Editorial Note: For Federal Register citations affecting § 635.5 , see the List of CFR Sections Affected, which appears in the Finding Aids section of the printed volume and on GPO Access.

Code of Federal Regulations

Effective Date Note: At 75 FR 57701, Sept. 22, 2010, § 635.5 was amended by revising the first sentence of paragraph (c)(2) , effective January 1, 2011. For the convenience of the user, the added and revised text is set forth as follows: § 635.5 Recordkeeping and reporting. (c) *** (2) The owner, or the owner('s) designee, of a vessel permitted, or required to be permitted, in the Atlantic HMS Angling or Atlantic HMS Charter/Headboat category must report all non-tournament landings of Atlantic blue marlin, Atlantic white marlin, roundscale spearfish, and Atlantic sailfish, and all non-tournament and non-commercial landings of North Atlantic swordfish to NMFS by telephone to a number designated by NMFS, or electronically via the internet to an internet website designated by NMFS, or by other means as specified by NMFS, within 24 hours of that landing. ***