Attachment_3-_EM_Systems_Specifications.pdf

National Marine Fisheries Service April 24, 2018 Northeast Fisheries Science Center Fisheries Sampling Branch

Electronic Monitoring System Specifications

Background

Electronic Monitoring (EM) technologies hold promise as data collection resources across a wide range of fisheries and gear types. The Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) conducted several collaborative studies over the last 8 years, beginning in 2010. The EM providers that have worked with the NEFSC are Archipelago Marine Research, Ltd., EcoTrust Canada/Gulf of Maine Research Institute, and Saltwater, Inc. Over the course of the studies, the number of vessels fluctuated, ranging from 10 to 18 participating vessels. The individual project goals were based on the specific objectives of each project. The studies looked into the utility of EM to observe fishing behavior, monitor catch allocations for quota monitoring, and if slippage (partial release, full release, operational discards, etc) could be detected with EM.

Information presented in this document was based on NEFSC’s data collection with EM systems, and incorporates information obtained through numerous EM service providers. The purpose of this document is to inform implementation planning activities in the consideration of developing EM standards in an operational program. Items listed below are minimum requirements and not required for all EM programs.

Electronic Monitoring System

EM systems are designed for the automated collection of fisheries data while vessels are at sea. They collect high-frequency sensor data and closed-circuit television (CCTV) imagery during fishing or related activities which are then reviewed post-trip to provide data needed for fisheries management, compliance, and/or science. EM systems typically consist of a control center, a user interface (monitor and keyboard), a suite of sensors (including but not limited to a GPS receiver, hydraulic pressure transducer, drum rotation sensor, motion and light sensor, etc.) and waterproof armored-dome CCTV digital cameras. Suitable technological alternatives (e.g., fast frame photographic systems) that are capable of meeting data needs may be accepted if approved by NMFS.

Electronic Monitoring Data Needs

Program needs will dictate the specific features an EM system must have in order to meet defined objectives. The objectives listed below are not an exhaustive list, but rather, a synopsis of program goals used in previous studies.

● Identify, count, and assign a catch disposition (kept or discarded) for individual catch items,

● Obtain an estimated length per catch item (required to obtain a weight estimate),

● Obtain an estimated weight per catch item, species, or species group by haul o Individual fish, volumetric weight, scale or tote weight, etc.

● Monitor fishing activity (as defined by program needs),

● Monitor regulatory compliance (as defined by program needs), and

● Verify area fished

The purpose of this document is to identify specific EM product features needed to meet primary objectives for fisheries management data. Product features include those identified during the NEFSC studies as an example of characteristics that may be needed for a catch share monitoring program or for

Attachment 3 EM System Specifications

Fisheries Sampling Branch compliance regulation. Additional product features may be needed for an operational program or will vary depending on the program data needs and objectives.

● Classify and identify discarding events that occur during the trip (e.g. partial release, full release, or operational discards).

● Distinguish and identify commercially important species and/or common bycatch.

● Maintain a running count of individual fish during a trip by species (trip duration estimated 1-15 days total).

● Provide a length estimate for each discarded item by species.

● Provide weight estimates (derived from length measurement) by species on a haul basis incorporating standardized length-weight regressions generated by the Northeast Fisheries Science Center.

● Monitor fishing activity, including; catch sorting, discarding, transit, towing gear, hauling gear, setting gear, and stowage of kept fish.

● Verify area fished through means of GPS data that corresponds to still shots, video clips, or video streams.

● Activate recording activity through the use of sensors or other means (e.g, manual, etc.).

● Store data for retrieval by or transmission to NMFS or approved vendor.

● Meet data confidentiality standards of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

● Meet chain of custody and data integrity needs for enforcement purposes.

Functional Requirements

An EM system consists of two major elements; hardware and software. The proposed specifications are based on the general EM program objectives included above for a catch share monitoring program.

Incorporating more defined objectives (i.e., data timelines or turnaround, volumetric measurements, etc.) may negate or alter some of the specifications listed below. The standards below are set as minimum requirements, as advancements in technology improve these standards may be amended.

Specifications listed in this document as “preferred” are not required.

Hardware

I. General

● Hardware should be adaptable and transferrable in application to enable deployment on a variety of fishing vessels (size, gear, and target species).

● Hardware should be easily maintained by the vessel crew and spare parts readily available in close proximity to the vessel port.

● Hardware, including but not limited to wires, cameras, control box, and sensors, shall be adequately shielded to prevent radio frequency interference (RFI) with Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) units (http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/ole/docs/2015/040815_noaa_fisheries_service_type.pdf).

● All vessel electronics need to work together simultaneously.

Fisheries Sampling Branch

II. Power

● Ability to run off DC or AC power supply, inverters, or generators.

o Power draw should be minimal (with 8 digital cameras, a maximum of 120 watts).

o Power wires should be resistant to damage, water, weather, sun, etc.

o Provide safeguards to retain data in the event of electrical failure or power spikes.

o Vessels interested in using EM should note the power requirements of the system.

III. Vessel Data Storage

● The system should have sufficient data storage capacity to store all video and sensor data for an entire month (minimum of 500 gigabytes storage capacity). Each frame of stored image data should record a datetime stamp in the specified format1.

o Data storage hardware should be resistant to damage and data loss.

● The system must include a means of removing data from the EM unit, such as;

o At least two external USB ports, o Removable storage device (e.g., hard drive) approved by NMFS or, o Other approved means of transferring data approved by NMFS.

IV. Cameras and Review

● Cameras (number of cameras will vary by vessel and program needs) should be enclosed in a waterproof armored-dome. Cameras should have a minimum IP rating of 66.

● Cameras should be capable of point-to-point or point-to-multipoint transmission (not penly transmitted) on all monitors.

● All cameras within a system should operate in synchronization for review and analyses purposes. Synchronized playback should occur with a 10 second timeframe.

● Cameras should be capable of operating continuously to meet data needs.

● Each camera should be easily surface mounted on vessels and provide manually adjustable viewing positions.

● Each camera should at minimum be compatible with a range of fixed focal length lenses to enable swapping of lenses or have varifocal lenses to achieve monitoring goals.

● Cameras must provide the option to produce still images for enhanced species identification and measurement.

o Preferred option would allow viewer to zoom in/enhance still or video images to enhance species ID and measurement.

● Cameras must be able to trigger automatically to record fishing, catch handling, transiting or any other vessel activity.

● Camera resolution must be a minimum of 1,280 x 720 (720p) for enhanced identification and measurement during video review. Resolution must be sufficient to discern individual fish (detect, count, and identify to species level) from distance. NMFS strongly

1 Datetime: values are represented as a ten-digit number in the format YYMMDDHH24MI. YY = two digit year, MM = two digit month, DD = two digit day of the month, HH = two digit hour using 24 hour clock, MI = two digit minutes. All values are two digits padded with zeros. Full datetime must be a ten-digit numeric value. Dates and times should be determined based on local time on the fishing vessels at the time of fishing activity.

encourages the use of higher resolutions than those described above whenever possible.

● Each camera should be able to record at a speed of no less than 15 unique frames per second while fishing and 2 frames per second while steaming to the grounds.

● Some manufacturers use proprietary compression formats that require the use of proprietary software in order to view the video sequence or images. Use of such software can prevent or hinder law enforcement from viewing or otherwise accessing these images. If such software is used, then steps must be taken to ensure that law enforcement will be able to access them when needed.

● Cameras must have sufficient fields of view to observe all areas where fish could be sorted, processed, and discarded.

● Cameras must have auto-iris capabilities and produce color footage with the ability to revert to black and white video output when light levels become too low for color recognition.

o Cameras must be capable of functioning during low light conditions to account for nighttime fishing activity. “Functioning” is defined as allowing video reviewers to count, identify, and measure individual fish and otherwise account for fishing activity and catch handling.

● Monitors should be appropriate to the vessel size and power supply, such that the monitor size is sufficient for the captain and EM technician to access and evaluate the EM system performance before, during, and after a fishing trip. Power draw by the monitor should be such that it will not overburden the vessel's power supply. The video monitor must:

o Display all cameras simultaneously;

o Operate at all times, including when fish are handled or sorted; and o Be securely mounted and readily accessible to the EM technician and captain and crew.

● If required, measurement grids (discard chute, sorting table panel, etc.) should be designed and tailored to each gear type and vessel size, compatible with common species caught by the vessel, and approved by NMFS.

● If required, measuring strips will be installed on board the vessels and at least one camera view will be focused on the measuring station.

o Measuring strips should be constructed of a material that allows catch to flow smoothly without snagging o The strips should be marked in 2 centimeter increments. Red lines are used to indicate 10 centimeter markings. It is recommended to have the centimeter bars span the width of the length strip for easy reviewing.

● All components (including cameras, sensors, control box, and wiring) of a robust system must be capable of starting up and functioning during extreme weather conditions (temperatures in the Northeast range from -7 to 29 degrees Celsius) wherever and whenever groundfish vessels are actively fishing. The Northeast groundfish fleet includes a number of small boats with semi-enclosed wheelhouses. Spray, condensation, cold, and heat occasionally enter the wheelhouse on these vessels.

Weather conditions include:

o Extreme heat, freezing rain/spray, ice, snow, fog, and hail.

o Waves ranging from spray inducing chop to damaging large waves.

o Violent pitching or rolling.

V. Sensors

● The system must include a minimum of at least two sensors to trigger camera recording

(one main sensor may be used to trigger recording but a second sensor is required as a back-up in case the primary sensor fails).

o Sensors may include a hydraulic sensor, drum sensor, motion triggered sensors, or other means of triggering cameras (must be approved by NMFS).

o Sensors must be compatible with standard vessel equipment.

● The system must include an independent GPS unit to produce track of vessel transit and fishing activity.

VI. Preferred Features

● The system should have electronic reporting capabilities and the option to link with eVTR software.

● Hard drives should be durable drives that are able to withstand postal mailing.

● Hard drives should be pre-formatted for ease of use and to allow the captain to exchange hard drives readily.

● Regular system upgrades as technology advances.

Software

I. EM Data Review

● The software must include basic video and navigation functions (at a minimum: record, start, stop, bookmarking, play, synchronized playback, standard viewing capabilities, copy and save functions, etc.).The system must output video files to an open source format or, if custom or licensed-based software is used, access to data must be supplied (server, licenses, etc.) to the government for data processing purposes throughout the duration of program.

● Software should include the ability to accomplish the below functions;

o Assess video quality based on standard requirements including but not limited to; complete sensor data (if applicable), camera functionality, presence of video gaps (missing or incomplete), clarity of images (are cameras dirty, focused, covered by salt spray, etc.), sufficient camera angle to monitor catch, species identification, and sufficient view of catch handling practices, etc.

o Allow reviewers to identify each catch item caught to the species level or the highest taxonomic level or at minimum store images of unknown species for later identification and inclusion in the catch record.

II. Security

● Data encryption

● Tamper evident features (video and sensor)

● Software must be secure, have the ability to lock and protect data, and detect if the EM system was tampered with at any point during the fishing trip (tamper evident) III. Compatibility

● Software must be compatible with:

o Personal Computers (PC), o Windows-based operating systems, and o Chrome or Firefox and other commonly used browsers

● Software must produce data in a file format such as .xls or .xml that is compatible with an Oracle database

● The system must use commercially available software or provide access to proprietary licenses.

IV. Pre-trip System Check

● Software must include a pre-trip assessment of the EM system to indicate all components are functional prior to trip start.

V. Data Verification

● Software must include the ability to verify a complete trip (complete EM trip is defined as a trip where video (and sensor?) was recording 100% of the time, trip start to trip end).

● Software shall be capable of producing data elements outlined in the NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office Electronic Monitoring Summary Data File Technical Requirements2;

o Software shall include identifying datetime stamps3, location, vessel name, and permit number, and a GPS unit to facilitate review.

o Software shall utilize datetime stamp and sensor data to determine number of hauls and haul begin time for the trip (video data may be used to verify haul begin time).

o Software shall capture and document all system failures and image or sensor data gaps

VI. Shoreside Data Storage

● System data and video footage should be stored by the provider for 3 years after collection and must include sufficient data backup features to protect data.

VII. Data Output

● Software shall be capable of producing data elements outlined in the NOAA Fisheries

Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office Electronic Monitoring Summary Data File Technical Requirements4;

VIII. Preferred Features

● Automated species ID, automated measurement, and automated weight estimate.

o Software should be able to incorporate additional species for automated processing.

o Able to handle automated ID of multiple fish at a time (i.e. not single file fish fed down a chute), multiple fish orientations, weather conditions, light conditions, etc.

● Ability for captains to enter comments at the haul and trip level to flag events, add explanation for power loss, record questions, etc.

● Remote transmission of EM data within 24 hours of vessel landing.

2 Document outlines file format, security, submission protocol, and file structure for EM summary reports.

3 Datetime: values are represented as a ten-digit number in the format YYMMDDHH24MI. YY = two digit year, MM = two digit month, DD = two digit day of the month, HH = two digit hour using 24 hour clock, MI = two digit minutes. All values are two digits padded with zeros. Full datetime must be a ten-digit numeric value. Dates and times should be determined based on local time on the fishing vessels at the time of fishing activity.

4 Document outlines file format, security, submission protocol, and file structure for EM summary reports.

● Software must be easily modified to incorporate regional preferences.

● The system should be portable between platforms (fishing vessels) where peripherals

(cameras, sensors) are static and core components (computer, software, discard chute) are transferred.