A court has scuttled a reporting system for fishing charters. What now?

In late February, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth District set aside the final rule implementing the SEFHIER data-collection program for charter fishing boats in the Gulf of Mexico. This means the gulf program is currently not in effect. The ruling does not affect the South Atlantic SEFHIER program.

It is a vessel monitoring system in the Southeast For-Hire Integrated Electronic Reporting data collection program.

More:'It pulled too good': John Graham wins Sheepshead Shootout with 9.6-pound fish

"This program was initiated by federally permitted charter and headboat vessel owners and operators all around the Gulf," said Capt. Jim Green, president of the Charter Fisherman's Association and captain of the New Florida Girl's American Spirit in Destin.

"It was a grassroots effort started over a decade ago by businessmen and women to improve the harvest, effort and economic data instead of using estimated and extrapolated data that limited access for the anglers that use our industry as their mode to access their fishery," Green said.

More:333-pound grouper bit in 15 seconds at Destin Fishing Rodeo. Then came the hard part

Now that the program has been struck down, what does this mean for the local charter fishermen and headboats?

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council says there may be different effects for different fishing situations.

The Marine Recreational Information Program dockside sampling program is not affected by this ruling. NOAA Fisheries continues to encourage participation in the MRIP program, as the data helps the agency assess and manage gulf stocks.

If your vessel has been selected to report to the SRHS, the reporting requirements have reverted to the requirements prior to the SEFHIER program.

From 2017:Electronic log books could mean more fish days

This means that unless otherwise notified by NOAA Fisheries, trip level reports must be submitted weekly (reporting week is Monday-Sunday), by the following Sunday after the reporting week.

SRHS vessels are no longer required to have a VMS or hail-out, or to land at a pre-approved landing location.

Electronic reporting requirements for vessels with Atlantic/South Atlantic federal for-hire permits, such as those for Atlantic coastal migratory pelagic species, Atlantic dolphin and wahoo, or South Atlantic snapper-grouper, remain unchanged. The software applications used to report logbooks were used by the Gulf and Atlantic/South Atlantic, therefore those applications will continue to be used in the Atlantic/South Atlantic.

Federally permitted vessels with both Gulf and Atlantic/South Atlantic for-hire permits that have been reporting under the gulf requirements must now report under the Atlantic/South Atlantic reporting requirements.

Atlantic/South Atlantic reporting requirements include weekly trip-level reporting through an approved vendor (reporting week is Monday-Sunday), trip-level logbooks for any for-hire fishing trip due by the Tuesday following the reporting week, and a "Did Not Fish" report in place of the logbook if no fishing occurred within the fishing week.

Federal Gulf for-hire permitted vessels that also hold a Gulf commercial reef permit must continue to abide by commercial reef fish reporting requirements but are not required to comply with the Gulf for-hire VMS or electronic logbook reporting requirements.

NOAA Fisheries is reviewing the court ruling and will provide further guidance if appropriate. NOAA Fisheries intends to discuss the court ruling with the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council during its upcoming meeting April 3-6.

This information was provided by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, which falls under of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.