New Proposed Rule: Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Electronic Reporting Requirements
NOAA Fisheries is proposing new logbook requirements for vessel owners holding specific HMS permits, including Charter/Headboat, Atlantic Tunas General category, and Swordfish General Commercial permits. Additionally, the proposal includes modifications to reporting options for private recreational vessel owners with HMS Angling permits. For individuals with an HMS Angling permit, the proposed rule mandates that reporting […]
Bluefin Tuna Closure for Angling Category
Based on the best available landings information from NOAA Fisheries, the 2.3-mt sub-quota of the Southern Area Trophy Fishery has been reached and exceeded. Effective as of February 9th, 2024, the closure will remain throughout the rest of the year, officially ending on December 31st, 2024. The area in question is defined as south of […]
Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Retention Adjustment
NOAA has announced big changes in daily retention limits for bluefin tuna in the Atlantic Ocean. These changes increase retention for those operating with an HMS Angling permit or an HMS Charter/Headboat permit when fishing recreationally in the Atlantic. Anglers may still catch/tag and release bluefin tuna of all sizes. Please note that these changes do not apply to the Gulf of Mexico, in which targeted fishing for bluefin tuna is prohibited. The adjusted limits go into effect on May 2, 2020, and extend through December 31, 2020, unless modified by a later action. Angling category and HMS
Atlantic Swordfish and Bluefin Landings Update
NOAA Fisheries announced landings updates for Atlantic swordfish and bluefin tuna. This update includes all fish landed between January 1st and October 31st of this year. For swordfish, a total of 835.2 metric tons dressed weight (mt dw) has been landed, totaling 28.4% of the 2,937.6 mt dw baseline quota for 2019. Of this, 791.2 mt dw has been caught intentionally by commercial fisheries, 7.4 mt dw has been reported as commercial bycatch, and 36.6 mt dw has been caught by recreational anglers. At this time in 2018, only 606.9 mt dw had been landed, resulting in a 228.3
