Please read the following notice which was sent to federal shrimp permit holders whose vessels are equipped with Electronic Logbooks (ELBs) for collecting shrimp fishing effort data.
As the notice indicates, the automatic cellular transmission of data from vessels equipped with ELBs will cease on December 31, 2020. You will no longer be charged the monthly fee for that cell service.
However, essential data will continue to be stored on the unit.
PLEASE keep your ELBs powered-up so that shrimp fishing effort data continues to be stored on your unit.
NMFS is now developing a system to retrieve this data manually and will contact you about that. NMFS is also working with SSA to replace this system with a new one in the future.
This is critically important! Shrimp fishing effort data is absolutely essential to shrimp fishery science and management.
Under the law, our entire fishery could lose access to the Gulf of Mexico if this data is not collected.
So again, please read the following notice, and please keep your ELB up and running.
If you have any questions or problems with your unit, please contact Rebecca Smith at NMFS via email at rebecca.smaith@noaa.com
Thank you –
John Williams,
Executive Director
____________________________
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Marine Fisheries Service
Galveston Laboratory
4700 Avenue U
Galveston, TX 77551
November 29, 2020
F/SEC4:RS:FW.rs
«RECPT_NAME»
«ADDRESS»
«CITY», «STATE» «ZIPCODE»
Dear «PERMIT» Permit Holder:
NOAA Fisheries Galveston Laboratory cELB (cellular electronic logbook) Program would like to thank you for participating. We are writing to inform you that your Gulf of Mexico Shrimp Permit, «PERMIT» that is associated with vessel, «VESSEL_NAME» and US Coast Guard Doc #«VSBN», is still selected to be outfitted with a cELB. However, as the technology advances, the original cELB that you have been paying the monthly cellular service with KORE Wireless will stop transmitting data to NOAA as of December 31, 2020. The good news is that the silver 3G unit that is onboard your vessel will continue to collect data as long as it is powered up, maintaining the continuity of the current system.
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) has contacted t KORE Wireless, the cellular service provider, to request cancellation of all recurring monthly charges from the credit card you have on file with KORE (starting January 1, 2021). As of December 31, 2020, the 3G cellular technology will no longer be available; therefore, KORE Wireless cannot provide that service and will no longer charge you.
Please continue to power up your cELB device so that it collects the data required to keep your permit. If your cELB unit stops operating please let us know and we will ship you a new 3G unit for you to install. This process will continue until an alternative approach is developed. The units have ample memory to continue to collect information for a number of years. We will contact you with a letter in the future as we develop a process to access and secure data residing on your cLEB.
In the meantime, the Agency is working with industry and the Gulf Council to develop a long-term solution to ensure timely and cost-effective collection and transmission of effort data.
Please check your credit card statements and emails for the December 2020 charge, and then check again that there is no longer a charge in January 2021 from KORE Wireless. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Rebecca Smith via email at rebecca.smith@noaa.gov.
Thank you for your cooperation, without which, collection of this critical information would not be possible.
Sincerely,
Farron Wallace, Lab Director
NOAA Fisheries Galveston