April 6, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA:
NOAA Fisheries has reviewed the feedback and developed final guidance for Councils and NOAA Fisheries to develop data retention requirements for EM programs. As part of this guidance, our recommendation is that programs retain electronic monitoring (EM) data for at least 12-months once fishing is over and the catch monitoring processes are completed. This recommendation balances the fishing industry’s request to reduce unnecessary costs, while considering the length of time data must be retained to meet various program objectives. As noted in this guidance, as we learn more about program functions and costs, we can revisit this guidance in the future. The final procedural directive is published here and is attached.
NOAA Fisheries published a draft procedural directive in August 2019 on how long to retain data collected under an EM service provider “third-party” model. In these programs, the fishing industry is responsible for the data storage costs. As you know, the use of EM is an effective tool for collecting critical fishery-dependent data for science and management purposes. Unlike traditional means of data collection in fisheries (e.g., via at-sea observer programs or logbooks), the raw EM data video, imagery, or sensor data during fishing operations—can require substantially more storage capacity and make up a large portion of EM costs. We appreciate the expressed concerns over EM data storage costs, received and responded to input, and expect this guidance will resolve some uncertainty as EM programs continue development. We recognize there are other remaining questions too, such as retention of federal records. NOAA Fisheries is working on this issue and will provide an update shortly.