CFR

CFR

648.9—VMS vendor and unit requirements.

(a) Approval. The type approval requirements for VMS MTUs and MCSPs for the Northeast Region are those as published by the NMFS Office of Law Enforcement in the Federal Register, and are available upon request. Both the minimum national standards and any established regional standards must be met in order to receive approval for use in the Northeast Region. The Regional Administrator shall approve all MTUs and MCSPs operating in the Northeast Region.

(b) Maintenance. Once approved, VMS units must maintain the minimum standards for which they were approved in the type approval requirements. Any changes made to the original submission for approval of an MTU or MCSP by NMFS must follow the procedures outlined in the type approval requirements.

(c) Notification. A list of approved VMS vendors will be published on the Northeast Regional Office Web site and in each proposed and final rule for implementing or modifying VMS requirements for specific fisheries.

(d) Revocations. In the event that a VMS vendor is deleted from the list of approved vendors, vessel owners that purchased a VMS unit from that vendor to meet Northeast requirements will be considered authorized to use that unit for the remainder of the unit's service life.

[74 FR 20530, May 4, 2009]