On-Demand Gear Guide

The Greater Atlantic Region On-Demand Gear Guide

We have published a guide that outlines next steps toward providing fishermen options to use on-demand gear systems as an alternative to fishing with surface marking systems. The guide acknowledges that on-demand gear may not be an option for all fishing operations in all locations. However, operations that choose to use an on-demand system could access areas otherwise closed to fishing with buoy lines under the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan.

Refer to the January 2025 printed guide (PDF, 42 pages) to learn more about:

• The case for on-demand gear
• The authority for, and history of, take reduction planning in the Northeast
• Other take reduction tools
• Regional on-demand gear research
• Steps toward standardizing digital gear marking for detection and retrieval 

We are working concurrently in six task areas to bring on-demand gear into operation. Details on each task are in the guide, but we will provide updates on progress as we reach target completion dates on this page.

Areas Closed to Persistent Buoy Lines Protect Whales

Entanglement is a key risk to endangered North Atlantic right whales, as well as fin whales and humpback whales. Removing persistent buoy lines from the water in U.S. fisheries is the most effective tool NOAA Fisheries has to reduce entanglements. Removing these lines would also reduce the incidental injuries and mortalities they cause.

Buoys connected by a line to the end of a gillnet or trap/pot are used to mark the location of gear. On-demand gear systems remove buoys and buoy lines from the water column. They also provide a new way to mark the location of gear fished on or near the ocean floor.

Potential Benefits of On-Demand Systems

On-demand fishing can support healthy fisheries and fishing communities while providing needed protections for large whales. On-demand fishing gear will require both time and investment to fully develop. Once operational, it could provide many opportunities including:

• Allowing fishermen access to fishing grounds where persistent buoy lines are prohibited to protect species at risk of entanglement
• Allowing gear to be visualized in all conditions (including, for example, darkness and fog)
• Allowing for fishing with gear less vulnerable to current and storm drag
• Reducing the potential for lost gear, as displaced on-demand gear can be located using acoustics
• Providing a spatially resilient management solution as both protected species and fisheries shift movement patterns in response to climate change

Next Steps

For on-demand fishing to become a reality, fishermen, managers, policy makers, technology experts, researchers, and law enforcement must work collaboratively toward this goal. We will continue to work with all interested partners to:

• Test new and existing brands and models of on-demand gear and other equipment
• Develop strategies around governance, data sharing, and privacy necessary to make on-demand gear operable in the real world
• Identify new areas of investigation and funding opportunities
• Develop clear and understandable regulations that will lead to a future where both large whales and fishermen not only survive, but thrive

Task Area 1: Expand Gear Research

Given increased interest in on-demand gear technology, we are accelerating research to make it a widely available option. Others are also expanding research, many in collaboration with fishing communities. For example, organizations funded through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s New England Gear Innovation Fund are working to:

• Improve and expand access to on-demand retrieval devices
• Further develop gear marking and gear detection technologies
• Build solutions to support gear conflict avoidance, enforceability, and safety

Our Northeast Fisheries Science Center will continue to collaborate with organizations to facilitate efficient, non-duplicative, research. The Greater Atlantic Region Fisheries Office will continue to support research through reviewing and issuing exempted fishing permits.

We have focused on increasing the number of fishermen collaborators and the amount and diversity of on-demand devices available for testing. Getting more fixed and mobile gear fishermen involved allows us to test on-demand fishing technologies at larger scales, with increased complexity and refined research goals.

Updated May 2025

NEFSC: Northeast Fisheries Science Center
GARFO: Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office

Task Area 2: Modify Regulations

Multiple laws govern commercial fishing in federal waters and each has specific regulations that may apply to on-demand fishing. This guide focuses on the laws that NOAA Fisheries administers.

The Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team (Team) discussed and recommended additional restricted areas during its 2022 meetings (PDF, 68 pages) as measures to reduce entanglement risk. NOAA Fisheries plans to reconvene the Team for a new set of discussions and recommendations in 2025 and 2026. This task includes steps to implement measures developed from Team recommendations. On-demand gear could be used in areas that are closed to gear that uses persistent vertical lines. This task requires further economic analyses, methods for reducing gear conflict, and amendments to fishery management plans.

Updated May 2025

GARFO: Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office
MAFMC: Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council
NEFMC: New England Fishery Management Council
ASMFC: Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission

Task Area 3: On-Demand Gear Performance Standards

On-demand systems are still in the research and development phase. There are multiple designs, tailored for specific fishing conditions and operations. To achieve more widespread use, we are working with stakeholders, including manufacturers and suppliers, to develop minimum safety, reliability, and durability standards. Manufacturers, suppliers, and users may also need minimum standards for gear maintenance, training, and customer support. Further, other entities, such as law enforcement, will need methods for assessing, hauling, and resetting on-demand technology.

This task area addresses a number of questions to consider in developing performance standards and an approval process:

• What success rate would be required to demonstrate device reliability and how would this be demonstrated?
• How would safety and durability be demonstrated?
• How will law enforcement needs be supported through the standards and approval process?
• Will there be minimum performance standards for gear suppliers or will this be left to market forces?
• Will there be a mandatory training component before fishermen deploy gear?

Updated May 2025

NEFSC: Northeast Fisheries Science Center
GARFO: Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office
OST: NOAA Fisheries Office of Science and Technology

Task Area 4: Develop Data Specifications

Depending on the methods that eventually support on-demand fishing gear on a commercial scale, best practices around data governance, privacy, cybersecurity, and other elements will need to be resolved. NOAA Fisheries’ role must also be defined. As development continues, we will consider both recommendations from the community and lessons learned from the development of other fisheries' electronic technologies.

In May 2025, we published A Proposal for Functional Data Specifications of On-Demand Fishing Gear based on multiple workshops with stakeholders, including fishermen, state resource managers, and enforcement officers. This document is a springboard for discussion and we expect to gather additional input from management partners, on-demand gear manufacturers, and other interested parties.

Updated May 2025

GARFO: Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office
NEFSC: Northeast Fisheries Science Center
OST: NOAA Fisheries Office of Science and Technology

Task Area 5: Approval for New Systems

NOAA Fisheries must change existing regulations before on-demand systems are used in regular commercial fishing operations. Fishery regulations must be changed to allow it. NOAA Fisheries is considering implementing a regulatory regime that would require Greater Atlantic regional administrator approval before a fishery could use a new on-demand system during the normal course of fishing operations.

NOAA Fisheries is also considering other regulatory options, such as restricting gear without surface marks to certain areas, or developing specific area-management protocols such as seasonal rotations or area-specific gear-setting conventions that allow bottom sharing between fisheries to further reduce the likelihood of gear conflict.

Performance standards could be adopted by regulation to ensure that on-demand systems replicate the functions of surface markings. Below is a preliminary checklist of items, developed in consultation with multiple partners, that may be required for an on-demand system:

• Achieves consistent deployment and recovery by fixed gear fishermen
• Allows operations in the vicinity of the gear to detect and visualize it on the ocean bottom within a specified radius using a device universally available at a reasonable cost
• Provides information regarding the gear, vessel, and/or permit as required by relevant regulations
• Provides an effective means for enforcement to haul and reset gear as part of normal enforcement operations
• Meets acoustic communication and interoperability standards, if applicable

Updated May 2025

GARFO: Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office

Task Area 6: Enforcement Practices

Inspecting fixed gear is an important part of the mission of NOAA’s Northeast Division Office of Law Enforcement and our state and federal enforcement partners. These inspections help us verify compliance with gear requirements outlined in Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Conservation and Management Act regulations, as well as configuration requirements designed to protect marine mammals under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Fixed gear inspections are challenging and resource-intensive aspects of state and federal fisheries law enforcement. Current challenges to inspecting fixed gear with traditional surface markings include:

• Locating gear
• Finite state and federal personnel resources
• Specialized skills and training needed to handle the various gear types and region specific fixed gear configurations.
• Inherent dangers involved in gear hauling and redeployment

To conduct enforcement in an on-demand fishery, NOAA Office of Law Enforcement and their joint enforcement partners will need new practices, particularly regarding locating gear, triggering gear to the surface, and redeployment methods. We recognize there will be training needs for enforcement to effectively inspect on-demand gear consistent with the system performance standards that will be adopted. Not only do we need to be able to accomplish our fixed gear enforcement objectives, but need to be able to reset on-demand gear the way we find it. Due to limited deck space on patrol vessels and training of law enforcement personnel, law enforcement favors a single deck box capable of hauling all gear in an operational on-demand fishery. 

Updated May 2025

GARFO: Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office
NEFSC: Northeast Fisheries Science Center
OLE: NOAA Office of Law Enforcement