(a) General. Vessel owners, operators, and managers are jointly and severally responsible for their vessel's compliance with observer requirements specified in this section and within Sec. Sec. 660.140, 660.150, 660.160, 660.216, or 660.316.
(b) Purpose. The purpose of the Groundfish Observer Program is to collect fisheries data necessary and appropriate for, among other relevant purposes, management, compliance monitoring, and research in the groundfish fisheries and for the conservation of living marine resources.
(c) Observer coverage requirements. The following table provides references to the paragraphs in the Pacific coast groundfish subparts that contain fishery specific requirements. Observer coverage required for the Shorebased IFQ Program, MS Coop Program, or C/P Coop Program shall not be used to comply with observer coverage requirements for any other Pacific coast groundfish fishery in which that vessel may also participate. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) Shorebased IFQ Program--Trawl Sec. 660.140(h).................... West Coast Groundfish.
Fishery.(2) MS Coop Program--Whiting At-sea Sec. 660.150(j)....................
Trawl Fishery.
(i) Motherships................ At-sea Hake.
(ii) Catcher Vessels........... West Coast Groundfish.(3) C/P Coop Program--Whiting At- Sec. 660.160(g).................... At-sea Hake.
sea Trawl Fishery.(4) Fixed Gear Fisheries........... Sec. 660.216.......................
(i) Harvester vessels.......... West Coast Groundfish.
(ii) Processing vessels........ West Coast Groundfish.(5) Open Access Fisheries.......... Sec. 660.316.......................
(i) Harvester vessels.......... West Coast Groundfish.
(ii) Processing vessels........ West Coast Groundfish.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(d) Observer certifications and responsibilities. For the Shorebased IFQ Program seeSec. 660.140(h), for the MS Coop Program seeSec. 660.150(j), and, for the C/P Coop Program see Sec. 660.160(g).
(e) Application process to become an observer provider. See Sec. 660.18. [75 FR 78376, Dec. 15, 2010, as amended at 80 FR 22280, Apr. 21, 2015]