NMFS Alaska Region Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) Program

This is a resubmission, with the final rule, of a request by the National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS), Alaska Regional Office, for extension and revision of this currently approved information collection for the NMFS Alaska Region Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) Program. NMFS requires owners and operators of selected vessels participating in federally managed groundfish and crab fisheries off Alaska to obtain, install, and maintain an operational, NMFS-approved VMS. Tracking vessel location using VMS is required to monitor compliance with area-specific catch allocations, monitor compliance with requirements to redeploy or remove fishing gear from commercial fishing grounds, and monitor compliance with complicated time and area closures in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands to protect Steller sea lion or essential fish habitat. This information collection is revised due to the final rule (RIN 0648-BM42) to implement Amendment 16 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Salmon Fisheries in the EEZ Off Alaska. Amendment 16 and the rule establish Federal fishery management for all salmon fishing that occurs in the Cook Inlet Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which includes commercial drift gillnet and recreational salmon fishery sectors. This collection is revised to include vessels commercially fishing for salmon in the Cook Inlet EEZ Area that will be required to install and maintain an operational VMS. This increases the number of respondents for this collection.This rule will also add a new information collection for the Cook Inlet EEZ commercial salmon fishery under new OMB control number 0648-0818. NMFS is submitting a separate request for the new collection. No changes were made to the requirements in this collection from the proposed rule to the final rule.

The latest form for NMFS Alaska Region Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) Program expires 2027-06-30 and can be found here.

VMS Purchase, Installation, Maintenance, Transmission Costs, & Troubleshooting

Federal Enterprise Architecture: Natural Resources - Conservation, Marine and Land Management