Blue Crab Electronic Reporting Pilot Project Newsletter
 
November 2013
 
 
 
 
 
Quick Links






"The pilot system is quick and easy. I couldn't imagine going back to paper reporting."

- Irving Chappelear, Maryland Crabber and Pilot Participant




Jodi Dew-Baxter
Want to ask a question or provide feedback related to the Blue Crab Pilot Project?   
 
 
 
 
 
FastFACTS™

 

133 crabbers

have been trained to use pilot system

 

4,985 crabbing trips have been reported so far this season

 

Spot checks have been successful 79% of the time this season, versus 34% during the 2012 season*

*Unsuccessful spots checks were mainly due to watermen landing early and not revising their landing time.




"I have done so little paperwork this year that I almost forget how to sign my name."

- Billy Scerbo, Maryland Crabber and Pilot Participant




Are you a Crab Dealer?  
Take our survey and tell us what you think about electronic reporting! 







In the News


Greetings!

Happy Thanksgiving and welcome back to the Blue Crab Electronic Reporting newsletter. This month's newsletter is all about wrapping up the Pilot Project. Please take a look at the dates, times and locations where meetings will occur and RSVP to a meeting. We will follow this newsletter up with a letter via mail or email. As always, please share this newsletter with others by posting it to your website, blog, Facebook page, over email or print it out and share it with your friends.  

Did You Know...

End-of-the-Season Pilot Feedback Meetings 

These meetings are a time to hear some preliminary Pilot results, provide your final thoughts and talk with other Pilot Project participants. Your feedback helps make the entire project better. You can also expect to have dinner and take a short questionnaire. Here are the locations and dates you can choose from:  

  • Monday, Dec. 2 (6-8pm):  Cambridge Holiday Inn Express
  • Tuesday, Dec. 3 (TBD):  Smith Island Firehouse 

  • Wednesday, Dec. 4 (6-8pm): Grasonville Holiday Inn Express   

  • Thursday, Dec. 5 (6-8pm): Prince Frederick Holiday Inn Express 

  • Friday, Dec. 6 (6-8pm): Annapolis DNR Tawes Building C-1 Conference Room 

  • Monday, Dec. 9 (6-8pm):  Essex, Baltimore County Public Library

Please RSVP to one of the meetings today: 
  

 

Done Crabbing for Year?

  • Please take a minute and call the Help Line to let us know when you are finished crabbing for the year!        1-877-979-1820 

We Want To Hear from Dealers 

  • We have been meeting with crab dealers over the last several weeks to get their feedback on electronic dealer reporting.  We want feedback from as many as possible. Call us (877-979-1820) if you are a dealer and want to contribute.  You can also fill out the survey by clicking here.
 
You've Spoken and We're Listening

We called you back in September (and talked to about 70 of you) to see how things were going and here is some of the feedback we heard:  

  • Roving monitors are collecting accurate harvest information
  • Frequency of monitoring has been acceptable
  • A third of participants said they received a text at 5pm reminding them to report harvest and it was helpful
  • Many participants were still taking advantage of the flexible day off 

We would like to get your final thoughts so please plan to attend one of the feedback meetings we have scheduled.

 
Waterman Spotlight:  Eddie Evans Sr.

"Believe me, that's fast enough", said Eddie Evans Sr., as he waited for the screen of his tablet computer to refresh after submitting a harvest log this Fall.  Edward "Eddie" Evans Sr. is one of nine watermen from Smith Island participating in this year's Pilot.

 

Eddie also participated last year using the Call Center and a cell phone provided by the project.  Before the Pilot began he rarely used a cell phone to make calls and had never used a tablet computer.  Nevertheless, Eddie was committed to supporting an industry-led initiative to evaluate if the industry had the capability to report harvest using mobile technology.  Thanks to his participation, Eddie has contributed much to the improvement of the Pilot reporting system and evaluation of technology.

 

After a few months of reporting and working through the challenges of inconsistent cellular signal, Eddie had mastered reporting using the Call Center option. He had seen several of his fellow watermen reporting their catch using Smartphones and tablets and was curious about how reporting harvest worked on those devices.  So Eddie requested the opportunity to evaluate a tablet to see if he could report his catch like that.

 

Eddie was trained by the Pilot Project Team on how to use the tablet and the FACTS™ website. Eddie ran into the same problems of poor cell signal and more challenges because sending data over a network required more signal strength than a phone call to the Call Center.  Therefore, Eddie went back to reporting most of his daily harvest from his home phone to the Call Center.  All the while, the Pilot Project Team was determined to find a solution that would allow Eddie the opportunity to report using the tablet on Smith Island.

 

In the summer of 2013, our team installed a booster antenna on Eddie's shanty.  The antenna is designed to boost the cellular signal in a local area.  The booster worked right away and resolved the cell service issue that Eddie was dealing with at his shanty.  Since then, Eddie has been reporting his harvest successfully each day using the tablet computer.  This is just one example of how this industry-led Pilot Project identified, evaluated and designed a solution to provide the Maryland DNR with more timely, accurate and verifiable blue crab harvest.  Thanks Eddie!

The Pilot Project Team is happy to have the chance to work with the Blue Crab Industry Design Team and all the watermen who volunteered to participate in the 2013 Pilot Project. We look forward to sharing the details of the project when we meet in early December at the Pilot Project feedback meetings. Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Sincerely,

Ward Slacum

Blue Crab Pilot Project Manager

 

Direct Line: 410.740.6046

Office: 410.740.6046   

Email: wslacum@versar.com

Visit us at: www.versar.com