Quick Reporting Vessel Information

WDFW staff need to be able to track landings to the individual vessel level faster than what the current fish ticket/quick reporting systems allow. Recent ocean troll seasons have included measures like weekly vessel landing limits of as few as 10 fish, and last season’s South Puget Sound chum fishery was conducted as a limited participation opportunity with a small subset of 5 purse seine and 10 gillnet vessels selected to participate each week. Having information included in quick reports that made each landing identifiable to vessel in these fisheries would allow WDFW staff to make in-season catch estimates and projections with more certainty much sooner than the current rules allow, as we would be able to match up landings reported to vessels that were observed participating in each fishery. This change would not require collection of any additional information, but would require people to transmit the information already being collected the day after fish are purchased.