Pursuant to Regulation 10(3) of the Fisheries (Benthic Protection Areas) Regulations 2007, the Chief Executive of the Ministry of Fisheries gives the following notice.
C i r c u l a r
1. Title-This circular is the November 2007 electronic net monitoring systems (ENMS) circular.
2. Commencement-This circular shall come into effect on the day after the date of its notification in the New Zealand Gazette.
3. Interpretation-In this circular:
"approved supplier" means a person approved by the manufacturer to be able to supply, install and test the ENMS.
"benthic protection areas" mean the areas established by Regulation 6 of the Fisheries (Benthic Protection Areas) Regulations 2007.
"ENMS" has the same meaning as in Regulation 4 of the Fisheries (Benthic Protection Areas) Regulations 2007.
"NMEA 0183" is an interface standard produced by the National Maritime Electronics Association that defines electrical signal requirements, data transmission protocol and time, and specific sentence formats to allow communications between various pieces of marine electronic equipment.
4. Application and purpose of circular-(1) This circular specifies the standards and requirements applying to ENMS for use within a benthic protection area.
(2) The standards and requirements in this circular apply to any fishing vessel using a trawl net within a benthic protection area under Regulation 8 of the Fisheries (Benthic Protection Areas) Regulations 2007 and using an ENMS as required under Regulation 9 of those regulations.
5. Minimum standards and requirements for the ENMS and its operation-(1) Only ENMS that produce information to the requirements set out in the NMEA 0183 Standard or any subsequent version of that standard as applies at the time of installation may be used.
(2) The operator of a vessel must ensure that the ENMS is maintained and used in accordance with the manufacturer's specifications.
6. Installation of ENMS on vessel-The ENMS must be installed by an approved supplier of the ENMS or a person recommended by the manufacturer or approved supplier.
7. Form, frequency and type of ENMS information-(1) Operators of a vessel must keep and update a record of all serial numbers and other identifiers relating to the ENMS equipment, on board the vessel.
(2) ENMS information must be generated, retained and maintained in a format consistent with the NMEA 0183 Standard or any subsequent version of that standard as applies at the time of installation of the ENMS.
(3) ENMS information must be recorded with a minimum frequency of once every 15 seconds.
8. Supply of information from ENMS to the chief executive-(1) ENMS information must be provided to the chief executive no later than 7 days from the completion of every fishing trip where a trawl net was used within any benthic protection area.
(2) ENMS information must be provided in an electronic format either emailed to bpa_data@fish.govt.nz or sent to BPA Data, Fisheries Communication Centre, PO Box 1020, 101-103 The Terrace, Wellington.
9. Maintenance and certification of ENMS equipment-(1) Every ENMS must be tested by an approved supplier or a person recommended by the manufacturer or approved supplier to certify the ENMS is in proper working order and correctly installed and calibrated.
(2) Every ENMS must be tested within one year prior to each fishing trip where a trawl net is used in any benthic protection area.
(3) The operator of a vessel must keep records of any certification for a minimum of three years from the date of certification.
RUSSELL BURNARD, Manager Regulatory and Information.
Explanatory Note
This note is not part of the circular, but is intended to indicate its general effect.
The intent of this circular is to set out the standards and requirements relating to the use of ENMS on-board fishing vessels intending to use a trawl net within a benthic protection area. It specifies the method of installing and maintaining the ENMS, minimum standards for ENMS monitoring equipment, the form and frequency of information to be generated from the
ENMS, and the supply of ENMS information to the chief executive. This circular applies to all vessels that use a trawl net in any benthic protection areas.