HYANNIS – NOAA Fisheries has announced a plan to cover the 2018 costs of at-sea monitoring for ground fish sector vessels in the Northeast.
The agency also plans to contribute more reimbursements to vessels for the 2017 at-sea costs, bringing the total reimbursement for that year up to 85-percent.
The at-sea monitors participate in a series of sector trips to estimate the total catch of quota of the species kept and discarded by the vessel. NOAA says at-sea monitoring also helps groundfish vessels keep track of the pace to which they fill their quotas for each species.
“Effective at-sea monitoring is essential to the success and sustainability of this fishery. This $10.3 million increase from Congress for groundfish at-sea monitoring provides additional economic stability for the sector vessels,” said Northeast Fisheries Science Center Director Jon Hare.
NOAA will reimburse the costs of the monitoring for Fishing Year 2018 sector trips beginning on or after May 1 until April 30, 2019.
By TIM DUNN, CapeCod.com News Center
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