Rule2025-22949
Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries Off West Coast States; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; 2025-2026 Biennial Specifications and Management Measures; Inseason Adjustments
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
December 16, 2025
Effective
December 16, 2025
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
This final rule announces routine inseason adjustments to management measures in recreational groundfish fisheries. This action is intended to allow recreational fishing vessels to access more abundant groundfish stocks while protecting overfished and depleted stocks.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 239 (Tuesday, December 16, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 239 (Tuesday, December 16, 2025)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 58170-58171]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-22949]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 660
[Docket No. 241022-0278]
RIN 0648-BO12
Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries Off West Coast States;
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; 2025-2026 Biennial Specifications and
Management Measures; Inseason Adjustments
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule; inseason adjustments to biennial groundfish
management measures.
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SUMMARY: This final rule announces routine inseason adjustments to
management measures in recreational groundfish fisheries. This action
is intended to allow recreational fishing vessels to access more
abundant groundfish stocks while protecting overfished and depleted
stocks.
DATES: This final rule is effective December 16, 2025.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christopher Biegel, 503-231-6291,
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5f3c372d362c2b302f373a2d713d363a383a331f31303e3e71383029"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="02616a706b71766d726a67702c606b6765676e426c6d63632c656d74">[email protected]</span></a>.
Electronic Access
This rule is accessible via the internet at the Office of the
Federal Register website at <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov">https://www.federalregister.gov</a>. Background
information and documents are available at the Pacific Fishery
Management Council's website at <a href="https://www.pcouncil.org/">https://www.pcouncil.org/</a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (PCGFMP) and
its implementing regulations at title 50 in the Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR), part 660, subparts C through G, regulate fishing for
over 90 species of groundfish off the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and
California. The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) develops
groundfish harvest specifications and management measures for 2-year
periods (i.e., a biennium). NMFS published the final rule to implement
harvest specifications and management measures for the 2025-2026
biennium for most species managed under the PCGFMP on December 16, 2024
(89 FR 101514). In general, the management measures set at the start of
the biennial harvest specifications cycle help the various sectors of
the fishery attain, but not exceed, the catch limits for each stock.
The Council, in coordination with Pacific Coast Treaty Indian Tribes
and the States of Washington, Oregon, and California, recommends
adjustments to the management measures during the fishing year to
achieve this goal.
At its September 2025 meeting, the Council recommended an inseason
action for the Pacific Coast groundfish fishery. This action involves a
canary rockfish sub-bag limit for recreational fishing off the coast of
California.
California Recreational Canary Rockfish Sub-Bag Limit
In June 2025, the Council's Scientific and Statistical Committee
(SSC) adopted a new benchmark assessment for California quillback
rockfish. At the same meeting, the Council adopted an inseason action
to relax recreational fishing management measures off the coast of
California that were originally implemented to reduce angler
interactions with quillback rockfish. The June 2025 action included
restoring recreational fishing access to all depths between the
California/Oregon border and Point Conception (42[deg] N. lat. to
37[deg]07' N. lat.). In summer 2025, the California Fish and Game
Commission (FGC) also took emergency action to implement complementary
changes within state regulations to restore recreational fishing access
to all depths along that portion of the California coast. In addition,
the FGC approved a recreational 2-fish sub-bag limit for the state
recreational fishery canary rockfish within the state regulations.
This FGC 2-fish sub-bag limit action was effective on August 28,
2025, and only applies to state jurisdictional waters. Currently, there
is no sub-bag limit for canary rockfish in federal regulations for the
California recreational fishery, only the 10 fish aggregate bag limit
for rockfish, cabezon, and greenlings. The previous changes to allow
increased recreational fishing access to depth limits along the
California coast allow increased access to the depth range where canary
rockfish are commonly encountered in the recreational fishery; thus
increasing the likelihood that the California share of the coastwide
canary rockfish allocation would be exceeded if additional management
measures to address the probability of higher canary rockfish mortality
along the California coast were not addressed for the 2025-2026
biennium. Thus, in a September 2025 supplemental California Department
of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) report, CDFW recommended inseason action to
implement a recreational 2-fish sub-bag limit for canary rockfish off
California within federal regulations. This action is expected to keep
canary rockfish mortality off California within limits and accountable
to the states' sharing agreements on the percentage of catch to occur
off each state, which are contained in the Pacific Coast groundfish
fishery Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation (SAFE) document
available at <a href="https://www.pcouncil.org/documents/2024/08/status-of-the-pacific-coast-groundfish-fishery-stock-assessment-and-fishery-evaluation-july-2025.pdf/">https://www.pcouncil.org/documents/2024/08/status-of-the-pacific-coast-groundfish-fishery-stock-assessment-and-fishery-evaluation-july-2025.pdf/</a>. Additionally, this inseason action would
establish consistency across state and federal regulations, and thus
across jurisdictional boundaries, which would
[[Page 58171]]
reduce regulatory complexity for the angling public.
The Council moved, and NMFS is implementing, a sub-bag limit for
canary rockfish of 2 in the recreational fishery in federal waters off
California, as recommended by CDFW.
Classification
This final rule makes routine inseason adjustments to groundfish
fishery management measures, based on the best scientific information
available, consistent with the PCGFMP and its implementing regulations.
This action is taken under the authority of 50 CFR 660.60(c) and is
exempt from review under Executive Order 12866.
The aggregate data upon which these actions are based are available
for public inspection by contacting Christopher Biegel in NMFS West
Coast Region (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section above), or
view at the NMFS West Coast Groundfish website: <a href="https://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/fisheries/groundfish/index.html">https://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/fisheries/groundfish/index.html</a>.
Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b), NMFS finds good cause to waive prior
public notice and an opportunity for public comment on this action, as
notice and comment would be impracticable and contrary to the public
interest. The adjustments to management measures in this document are
designed to keep catch within allocations established by the 2025-2026
harvest specifications. No aspect of this action is controversial, and
changes of this nature were anticipated in the final rule for the 2025-
2026 harvest specifications and management measures, which published on
December 16, 2024 (89 FR 101514).
The Council recommended, and NMFS is implementing, a sub-bag limit
for canary rockfish off the coast of California of 2 fish to be
consistent with the CDFW bag limit. This inseason change is in response
to new information about the fishery and to conservation issues that
need to be addressed for the 2025 and 2026 fishing years. Delaying
implementation to allow for public comment would impact NMFS's ability
to keep the fishery within catch targets set for sustainable fishing.
For these same reasons, NMFS finds reason to waive the 30-day delay in
effectiveness pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(1) so that this final rule
may become effective upon publication in the Federal Register. These
adjustments were requested by the Council's advisory bodies, as well as
members of industry during the Council's September 2025 meeting, and
recommended by the Council. No aspect of this action is controversial,
and changes of this nature were anticipated in the biennial harvest
specifications and management measures for 2025-2026 (89 FR 101514),
which were established through a notice and comment rulemaking.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 660
Fisheries, Fishing, Indian Fisheries.
Dated: December 11, 2025.
Kelly Denit,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, NMFS amends 50 CFR part
660 as follows:
PART 660--FISHERIES OFF WEST COAST STATES
0
1. The authority citation for part 660 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq., 16 U.S.C. 773 et seq., and 16
U.S.C. 7001 et seq.
0
2. In Sec. 660.360, revise paragraph (c)(3)(ii)(B) to read as follows:
Sec. 660.360 Recreational fishery--management measures.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
(3) * * *
(ii) * * *
(B) Bag limits, hook limits. In times and areas when the
recreational season for the RCG Complex is open, there is a limit of
two hooks and one line when fishing for the RCG complex. The bag limit
is 10 RCG Complex fish per day coastwide, with the following sub bag
limits: 4 fish for vermilion/sunset rockfish between 42[deg] N lat. and
40[deg]10 N lat., 2 fish for vermilion/sunset rockfish south of
40[deg]10 N lat., 2 fish for canary rockfish, and 1 fish for copper
rockfish. These sub-bag limits count towards the bag limit for the RCG
Complex and are not in addition to that limit. Retention of yelloweye
rockfish, bronzespotted rockfish, quillback rockfish, and cowcod is
prohibited. Multi-day limits are authorized by a valid permit issued by
California and must not exceed the daily limit multiplied by the value
of days in the fishing trip.
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[FR Doc. 2025-22949 Filed 12-15-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on December 16, 2025.
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