§ 600.1416 Requirements for exempted state designation based on submission of state license holder data.

(a) A state must annually update and submit to NMFS, in a format consistent with NMFS guidelines, the name, address and, to the extent available in the state's database, telephone number and date of birth, of all persons and for-hire vessel operators, and the name and state registration number or U.S. Coast Guard documentation number of for-hire vessels that are licensed to fish, or are registered as fishing, in the EEZ, in the tidal waters of the state, or for anadromous species. The Memorandum of Agreement developed in accordance with § 600.1415(b)(2) will specify the timetable for a state to compile and submit complete information telephone numbers and dates of birth for its license holders/registrants. The waters of the state for which such license-holder data must be submitted will be specified in the Memorandum of Agreement. (b) A state is eligible to be designated as an exempted state even if its licensing program excludes anglers who are: (1) Under 17 years of age; (2) Over age 59 (see § 600.1416(d)(1)); (3) Customers on licensed for-hire vessels; (4) Customers on state-licensed fishing piers, provided that the pier license holder provides to the state complete angler contact information or angler effort information for users of the pier; (5) On active military duty while on furlough; or (6) Disabled or a disabled Veteran as defined by the state. (7) Fishing on days designated as “free fishing days” by states. “Free fishing days” means fishing promotion programs by which states allow new anglers to fish for a specified day without a license or registration. (c) Unless the state can demonstrate that a given category of anglers is so small it has no significant probability of biasing estimates of fishing effort if these anglers are not included in a representative sample, a state may not be designated as an exempted state if its licensing or registration program excludes anglers in any category other than those listed in paragraph (b) of this section. (d) Required enhancements to exempted state license-holder data. An exempted state must submit the following angler identification data by Jan. 1, 2012, or within two years of the effective date of the Memorandum of Agreement, whichever is later, and thereafter in accordance with the Memorandum of Agreement. States that provide NMFS with notice that they are required to enact legislation or to enter into formal memoranda of agreement or contracts with other state agencies to comply with this requirement must submit the data within three years of the effective date of the Memorandum of Agreement: (1) Name, address and telephone number, updated annually, of excluded anglers over age 59, unless the state can demonstrate that the number of anglers excluded from the license or registration requirement based on having a date of birth before June 1, 1940 is so small it has no significant probability of biasing estimates of fishing effort if these anglers are not included in a representative sample; (2) Name, address and telephone number, updated annually, of holders of state lifetime and multi-year licenses; (3) Name, address and telephone number of state combination license holders who fished in tidal waters in the prior year, or who intend to fish in tidal waters. The Memorandum of Agreement will define the boundaries of the state's tidal waters for this purpose.