Starting in 2005, all primary buyers in Massachusetts are required to report their purchases of any marine species (including those intended for bait purposes) from fishermen. A primary buyer is defined as any MA Seafood Dealer who purchases marine species directly from fishermen. A primary buyer may also be a fisherman who has a dealer’s permit and is acting as their own dealer and selling product that they’ve caught, (essentially, they are “buying from themselves”). The primary buyer status will be printed on your 2008 MA DMF dealer’s permit.
Reporting requirements depend on which type of dealer permit(s) you have:
|Do you buy directly from fishermen?|
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|not a Primary Buyer|
no reporting requirements
|Do you have a federal permit?|
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|Are you currently reporting electronically under Federal requirements?|
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"Federal-Reporting" Dealers (already reporting electronically)
As of Jan 1, 2005 , all primary buyers in Massachusetts , whether federally permitted or not, are required to report. However, “federal-reporting” dealers, or those which started reporting on May 1, 2004 under federal requirements, will continue to do so according to federal requirements. All other primary buyers, or “state-reporting” dealers in MA, will report their purchases according to state requirements.
"State-Reporting" Dealers (including federal dealers not already reporting electronically)
Federal dealers who do not have to report under federal requirements, or dealers which do not have a federal permit, and are primary buyers of any marine species will report their purchases based on state requirements. If you only purchase from other seafood dealers, you are not considered a primary buyer. State requirements are as follows:
- All transactions with fishermen, or primary purchases, must be reported. This includes purchases of bait products as well as species caught and sold by fishermen acting as their own dealer.
- Information or data elements to be collected for each transaction and submitted by the dealer are as follows:
- Date purchased - Date the marine species was purchased. If you are a fisherman acting as your own dealer, this would be the date landed.
- Date landed - Date the marine species was landed (brought to port).
- Fisherman name - The name of fisherman who sold the marine species as it appears on the state commercial fishing permit. Dealers must not purchase any marine species from fishermen who do not possess a state commercial permit issued by DMF. In order to sell any marine product in Massachusetts, a fisherman must have a state commercial permit whether that fisherman has a federal permit or not.
- Permit ID Number – The number which appears on the state commercial fishing permit above the permit holder’s name and to the left of the expiration date. This number used to be called the DMF ID Number. The ID number uniquely identifies the permit, and it is important that this number is recorded with each transaction.
- Port landed - The port or town where the marine species was landed (brought to port). If caught from shore, list the town in which the marine species was landed.
- Vessel name - Enter the name of the vessel if the marine species was caught from a vessel. Enter N/A if cau reference table ght from shore.
- VTR # - Most federally permitted vessels must complete a Vessel Trip Report (VTR) when landing their catch. Each VTR contains a unique number and this number must be recorded by all dealers when buying from a federally permitted vessel which requires a VTR.
- Gear Type - The gear used to catch or harvest the marine species. See the gear type reference table
- Species - The marine species purchased.
- Grade - The grade of the marine species purchased.
- Market category - The market category of the marine species purchased.
- Harv Area – For shellfish harvested in MA territorial waters, the designated shellfish growing area of the shellfish purchased. See the list of shellfish harvest areas and the shellfish species for which this is required
- Unit - The unit of measure (pounds, bushels, pieces, etc.) of the marine species purchased.
- Disposition - The disposition or intention of the marine species purchased. See the disposition reference table
- Amount - The quantity of marine species purchased at the unit specified.
- Price per unit - The price per unit paid for the marine species purchased.
Transactions must be submitted in paper form to MA DMF either by mail or FAX (800-532-FISH or 617-727-3337). Once an account is established, transactions can also be entered electronically directly via the Internet to ACCSP using the SAFIS (Standard Atlantic Fisheries Information System) application. Other options for submitting data (ie. upload from dealer accounting software or other software) will be explored with individual dealers, depending on capabilities.
- A reporting period is defined as a week beginning 00:01 on Sunday and ending at 24:00 on the following Saturday. All transactions for a reporting period must be (a) postmarked, if by mail, or (b) received, if by fax, no later than 24:00 on Tuesday of the following week, or within 3 days of the end of the week. If the primary buyer did not purchase any marine species for that reporting period, they must file a "negative report" indicating so. A negative report is required for each reporting period when no purchases of any marine species were made.
- If a transaction is missing price information, and this information is not known
until after the reporting period due date, dealers can resubmit transactions with updated information after the reporting period. Dealers should make copies of their worksheet forms before submitting, and then fill in the missing information when it is known. If the transactions are being resubmitted, Dealers should indicate so under section (3d) on the initial page of the worksheet form.