🦀Fee Adjustment in Bering Sea Crab Fisheries
NMFS issues this notice to decrease the fee rate to 1 percent for the Bristol Bay red king crab reduction endorsement fishery to repay the $17,129,957.23 subloan of the $97,399,357.11 reduction loan to finance the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands (BSAI) King and Tanner crab fishing capacity reduction program. The fee rates for the other reduction endorsement fisheries within the BSAI King and Tanner crab fishing capacity reduction program remain unchanged at 5 percent.
Learn More🎣Temporary Re-Opening of Blueline Tilefish Harvest in the South Atlantic
NMFS announces the re-opening of commercial harvest for blueline tilefish in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the South Atlantic through this temporary rule. The most recent data for commercial landings of blueline tilefish indicate the commercial annual catch limit (ACL) for the 2025 fishing year has not yet been reached. Therefore, NMFS re-opens the commercial sector to harvest blueline tilefish in the South Atlantic EEZ for 6 days. The purpose of this temporary rule is to allow for the commercial ACL of blueline tilefish to be harvested while managing the risk of exceeding the commercial ACL.
Learn More🐢2026 Sea Turtle Observer Requirement and Its Business Impact
NMFS is providing notification that the agency will not identify additional fisheries to observe on the 2026 Annual Determination (AD), pursuant to its authority under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Through the AD, NMFS identifies U.S. fisheries operating in the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of America, and Pacific Ocean that will be required to take observers upon NMFS' request. The purpose of observing identified fisheries is to learn more about sea turtle bycatch in a given fishery, evaluate measures to prevent or reduce sea turtle bycatch, and implement the prohibition against sea turtle takes. Fisheries identified on the 2020 and 2023 ADs (see table 1) remain on the AD for a 5-year period and are required to carry observers upon NMFS' request until September 29, 2025, and December 31, 2027, respectively.
Learn More🎣Notice of Public Meeting for Pacific Fishery Management Council
The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Pacific Council) Ad- hoc Sacramento River Fall Chinook (SRFC) Workgroup will hold an online meeting in October 2025.
Learn More🦈Atlantic Shark Workshops
Free Atlantic Shark Identification Workshops and Safe Handling, Release, and Identification Workshops will be held in October, November, and December of 2025. Certain fishermen and shark dealers are required to attend a workshop to meet regulatory requirements and to maintain valid permits. Specifically, the Atlantic Shark Identification Workshop is mandatory for all federally permitted Atlantic shark dealers. The Safe Handling, Release, and Identification Workshop is mandatory for vessel owners and operators who use bottom longline, pelagic longline, or gillnet gear, and who have also been issued shark or swordfish limited access permits. Additional free workshops will be conducted in 2025 and will be announced in a future notice. In addition, NMFS has implemented online recertification workshops for persons who have already taken an in-person training.
Learn More🎣Notice of Pacific Fishery Management Council Public Meeting
The Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Pacific Council) Groundfish Subcommittee of the Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) will hold a meeting to review additional analyses of 2025 groundfish stock assessments and other requests from the September 2025 Pacific Council meeting. This meeting is open to the public.
Learn More🐟Management Track Assessment Review Meeting for Fish Stocks
NMFS will convene the Management Track Assessment Peer Review Meeting for the purpose of reviewing Acadian redfish, white hake, Georges Bank winter flounder, Cape Cod/Gulf of Maine yellowtail flounder, and Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic yellowtail flounder stocks. The Management Track Assessment Peer Review is a formal scientific peer-review process for evaluating and presenting stock assessment results to managers for fish stocks in the offshore U.S. waters of the northwest Atlantic. Assessments are prepared by the lead stock assessment scientist and reviewed by an independent panel of stock assessment experts. The public is invited to attend the presentations and discussions between the review panel and the scientists who have participated in the stock assessment process.
Learn More🎣Massachusetts Transfers Bluefish Quota to North Carolina
NMFS announces that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is transferring a portion of their 2025 commercial bluefish quota to the State of North Carolina. This quota adjustment is necessary to comply with the Atlantic Bluefish Fishery Management Plan (FMP) quota transfer provisions. This announcement informs the public of the revised 2025 commercial bluefish quotas for Massachusetts and North Carolina.
Learn More🎣Atlantic Spanish Mackerel Commercial Harvest Closure Regulations
NMFS implements an accountability measure (AM) for the commercial harvest of Spanish mackerel in the northern zone of the Atlantic exclusive economic zone (EEZ). NMFS projects that landings will soon reach the revised commercial quota for Spanish mackerel in the northern zone of the Atlantic EEZ for the 2025-2026 fishing year. According to regulations for Spanish mackerel in the Atlantic, NMFS closes the northern zone for commercial harvest to protect this fishery resource.
Learn More🌊Quota Transfer from North Carolina to New York for Summer Flounder
NMFS announces that the State of North Carolina is transferring a portion of its 2025 commercial summer flounder quota to the State of New York. This adjustment to the 2025 fishing year quota is necessary to comply with the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan (FMP) quota transfer provisions. This announcement informs the public of the revised 2025 commercial quotas for North Carolina and New York.
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