Proposed Rule2026-02291
Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries Off West Coast States; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan; Amendment 37; Stock Definitions
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Published
February 5, 2026
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS announces that the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) has submitted amendment 37 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (Groundfish FMP) to the Secretary of Commerce for review. If approved, amendment 37 would define stocks that are in need of conservation and management in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ), consistent with the provisions and guidelines of the Magnuson- Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). Amendment 37 would define stocks for 27 species within the fishery management unit. Amendment 37 is necessary for NMFS to make stock status determinations, which in turn will help prevent overfishing, rebuild overfished stocks, and achieve optimum yield. Amendment 37 is administrative in nature and does not change harvest levels or timing and location of fishing, nor does it revise the goals and objectives or the management frameworks of the Groundfish FMP.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 24 (Thursday, February 5, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 24 (Thursday, February 5, 2026)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 5245-5247]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-02291]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Parts 600 and 660
[RTID 0648-XF363]
Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries Off West Coast States;
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan; Amendment 37; Stock
Definitions
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of availability of proposed fishery management plan
amendment; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Pacific Fishery Management Council
(Council) has submitted amendment 37 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish
Fishery Management Plan (Groundfish FMP) to the Secretary of Commerce
for review. If approved, amendment 37 would define stocks that are in
need of conservation and management in the exclusive economic zone
(EEZ), consistent with the provisions and guidelines of the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).
Amendment 37 would define stocks for 27 species within the fishery
management unit. Amendment 37 is necessary for NMFS to make stock
status determinations, which in turn will help prevent overfishing,
rebuild overfished stocks, and achieve optimum yield. Amendment 37 is
administrative in nature and does not change harvest levels or timing
and location of fishing, nor does it revise the goals and objectives or
the management frameworks of the Groundfish FMP.
DATES: Comments on amendment 37 must be received no later than April 6,
2026.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document, identified by
NOAA-NMFS-2025-1428, by the following method:
<bullet> Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> and enter NOAA-NMFS-2025-1428 in the Search box.
Click the ``Comment'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter or
attach your comments.
Instructions: Comments must be submitted by the above method to
ensure that the comments are received, documented, and considered by
NMFS. Comments sent by any other method, to any other address or
individual, or received after the end of the comment period, may not be
considered. All comments received are a part of the public record and
NMFS will post for public viewing on <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>
without change. All personal identifying information (e.g., name,
address, etc.), confidential business information, or otherwise
sensitive information submitted voluntarily by the sender is publicly
accessible. NMFS will accept anonymous comments (enter ``N/A'' in the
required fields if you wish to remain anonymous).
Electronic copies of proposed amendment 37 and the draft analysis
(the Analysis) prepared for this action may be obtained from <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>, from the NMFS West Coast Region website at <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/region/west-coast">https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/region/west-coast</a>, and from the Council's
website at <a href="https://www.pcouncil.org">https://www.pcouncil.org</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Megan Mackey, Fishery Management
Specialist, at 206-526-6140, or <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#b0ddd5d7d1de9eddd1d3dbd5c9f0dedfd1d19ed7dfc6"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="64090103050a4a0905070f011d240a0b05054a030b12">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS manages the groundfish fisheries in the
exclusive economic zone (EEZ) seaward of Washington, Oregon, and
California under the Groundfish FMP. The Council prepared and NMFS
implemented the Groundfish FMP under the authority of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act, 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. and by regulations at 50 CFR parts
600 and 660. The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires that each regional
fishery management council submit any fishery management plan (FMP) or
plan
[[Page 5246]]
amendment it prepares to NMFS for review and approval, disapproval, or
partial approval by the Secretary of Commerce. The Magnuson-Stevens Act
also requires that NMFS, upon receiving an FMP or amendment,
immediately publish notification that the FMP or amendment is available
for public review and comment. This notification announces that the
proposed amendment 37 to the Groundfish FMP is available for public
review and comment. NMFS will consider the public comments received
during the comment period described above in determining whether to
approve, partially approve, or disapprove amendment 37 to the
Groundfish FMP.
Background
In 2021, NMFS was unable to make stock status determinations for
stocks that were assessed in 2021, because the ``stocks'' for which the
Council was expecting status determinations did not exist in the
Groundfish FMP. At that time, the Groundfish FMP contained a list of
over 80 species and did not describe whether each species is a single
stock within the fishery management unit (FMU) (i.e., the jurisdiction
of the Groundfish FMP from 3 to 200 nautical miles offshore between the
United States border with Canada and the United States border with
Mexico) or if it is multiple (e.g., regional) stocks. NMFS advised the
Council that steps must be taken to draw the Groundfish FMP into
compliance with the Magnuson-Stevens Act and the National Standards by
defining the groundfish species in need of conservation and management
in the EEZ as stocks. The Council initiated a process, called phase 1,
to correct this issue. Phase 1 developed a process to define stocks of
managed species and, over the course of amendment 31 (88 FR 78677,
November 16, 2023) and amendment 35 (approved on June 2, 2025), defined
28 stocks of 21 species managed in the Groundfish FMP. Phase 1 was used
to define stocks of species that were undergoing stock assessments, and
were therefore the most likely candidates to be the subject of NMFS'
forthcoming status determinations, which are often based on new
assessments. A second Phase, or Phase 2, was planned to complete the
process of identifying and defining those stocks of species currently
managed in the Groundfish FMP that are found to be in need of
conservation and management in the EEZ.
Phase 2 was initiated by the Council at the November 2023 Council
meeting, and at the June 2025 and September 2025 Council meetings, the
Council recommended stock definitions for 27 species of Pacific Coast
groundfish managed under the Groundfish FMP that were determined to be
in need of conservation and management in the EEZ. Amendment 37 is
administrative in nature, and the economic impacts, if any, will come
when stock assessments are completed, the status of the stocks are
determined by NMFS, and appropriate fishery management actions are
taken by the Council.
During the development of amendment 31, the Council was advised by
the Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) that indications of
population structure within a species should be an indicator of whether
stock status should be determined at a finer scale than coastwide.
Therefore, the Council evaluated a literature review of the best
scientific and biological information available for each species, which
is appended to the analyses developed for amendment 35 and amendment
37, available on the Council website (see ADDRESSES section).
The analysis pertaining to the amendment 37 species considered a
single stock definition alternative for all but four of the species
(darkblotched and greenspotted rockfishes, boccacio, and cowcod, as
explained below). Generally, species with no known population
structure, based on the literature review, or with known single-
population structure based on genetic information, were considered
under a single stock definition alternative.
The analysis assumed each alternative stock definition considered
by the Council was adopted, then applied the Groundfish FMP's harvest
specifications framework to each stock to assess some of the biological
and fishery management trade-offs that might be expected from
implementation of future management actions based on the alternative
stock definition. Impacts of these stock definitions are expected to
flow from future, subsequent action(s) to set harvest specifications
and management measures for the stock(s), but the analysis provided
information for the Council to consider in making its decision. The
Council considered these tradeoffs when making its final stock
definition recommendations for the amendment 37 species at its June and
September 2025 meetings.
The Council considered 23 of the 27 amendment 37 species under a
single stock definition (arrowtooth flounder, aurora rockfish, bank
rockfish, big skate, blackgill rockfish, California scorpionfish,
flathead sole, greenstriped rockfish, longnose skate, longspine
thornyhead, Pacific cod, Pacific hake, Pacific Ocean perch, Pacific
sanddab, redstripe rockfish, rosethorn rockfish, sharpchin rockfish,
shortraker rockfish, silvergray rockfish, splitnose rockfish, starry
rockfish, stripetail rockfish, and yellowmouth rockfish). Specifically,
California scorpionfish and starry rockfish were considered under a
California-only stock, due to their known geographic range, whereas the
others were considered under a single coastwide stock definition.
Except for blackgill rockfish (as discussed below), all of these
species have been consistently considered a single population, assessed
as a single geographic unit, and have historically had a single
overfishing limit (OFL) established under the FMP. At present,
genetics, larval dispersal, and/or adult movement data do not support
delineating these 23 species on a finer geographic scale than
coastwide, or as less than a single California stock for starry
rockfish and California scorpionfish, which can be more finely defined
based on their known geographic range.
Blackgill rockfish has been assessed north and south of 40[deg]10'
N lat. and is currently managed as a component stock to the slope
rockfish complexes north and south of 40[deg]10' N lat. Under a single
coastwide stock definition, this management structure is assumed to
continue and is not expected to trigger future allocative actions,
increase management burden during the next biennial cycle as compared
to 2025-2026, or result in short-term or long-term biological impacts,
if status is determined at a coastwide scale. Therefore, the Council
recommended and NMFS is proposing to approve a single coastwide stock
of arrowtooth flounder, aurora rockfish, bank rockfish, big skate,
blackgill rockfish, flathead sole, greenstriped rockfish, longnose
skate, longspine thornyhead, Pacific cod, Pacific hake, Pacific Ocean
perch, Pacific sanddab, redstripe rockfish, rosethorn rockfish,
sharpchin rockfish, shortraker rockfish, silvergray rockfish, splitnose
rockfish, stripetail rockfish, and yellowmouth rockfish, and single
California-only stocks of California scorpionfish and starry rockfish
in the Groundfish FMP, as only a single geographic delineation clearly
aligned with past and recent fishery management and policy decisions
and with the best scientific information available for these species.
For the four species considered under multiple alternatives, the
following narrative provides species-specific information, in
alphabetical order by common name, and rationale for the stock
definition for each species that
[[Page 5247]]
would be implemented by amendment 37.
Bocaccio (Sebastes Paucispinis)
Bocaccio (Sebastes paucispinis) range from the Shumagin Islands in
the Gulf of Alaska to Punta Blanca, Mexico. They are most abundant from
northern California to Bahia San Quentin, with some relatively high
densities in British Columbia. Bocaccio has little evidence of
population structure, but has two sub-area assessments. As noted by the
2017 update stock assessment (He and Field, 2017), the range of
bocaccio extends considerably further north and there is some evidence
that there are two demographic clusters centered around southern/
central California and the West Coast of British Columbia. This finding
is supported by apparent differences in growth, maturity, and
longevity, although genetic evidence seems to indicate a single West
Coast population. Therefore, bocaccio was initially considered under
two alternatives: one as a single stock definition and a second
alternative defining it as two stocks separated at 40[deg]10' N lat.
Due to a lack of scientific evidence of distinct population structure
off the U.S West Coast, the Council recommended and NMFS is proposing a
single coastwide stock of bocaccio in the FMU. A single geographic
delineation aligns with the best scientific information available.
Cowcod (Sebastes Levis)
Cowcod (Sebastes levis) range from Newport, Oregon to central Baja
California, Mexico and are relatively abundant south of Cape Mendocino,
California. Cowcod was last assessed in 2019 with two sub-areas: south
of 34[deg]27' N lat. and north of 34[deg]27' N lat. but has been
managed as a single stock off California. Microsatellite and
mitochondrial DNA data suggest as many as three genetically distinct
lineages of cowcod off California: one north of Point Conception and
two south of Point Conception. The Council considered cowcod under two
alternatives: as a single stock definition (California-only) and as two
stocks (California and Oregon stocks). However, a two-stock definition
of California and Oregon would require new harvest specifications for
an Oregon stock, which has never been assessed, and it would not align
with the best scientific information available. Therefore, the Council
recommended and NMFS is proposing to approve a single California stock
of cowcod in the Groundfish FMP as it aligns best with the available
science and aligns with past and recent fishery management and policy
decisions for the species.
Darkblotched Rockfish (Sebastes Crameri)
Darkblotched rockfish (Sebastes crameri) range from the Aleutian
Islands to Laguna Beach, California but are most common from Yakutat,
Alaska to Catalina Island, California. The 2017 assessment treated the
species as a single coastwide stock, due to the lack of biological and
genetic data supporting the presence of multiple stocks. At present,
status is determined at the coastwide scale. The literature review and
the assessment both noted microsatellite analyses of spatial genetic
structure in darkblotched rockfish and indicated some level of genetic
differentiation in the stock along the coast, but the level of
differentiation was low, sample size was small, and the findings
supported by a limited genetic study.
The Council considered darkblotched rockfish under all three
alternatives: a single coastwide stock, two separate stocks north and
south of 40[deg]10' N lat., and three stocks (a California stock, an
Oregon stock, and a Washington stock). Because a single coastwide
geographic delineation aligns well with the best scientific information
available, as well as with past and recent fishery management and
policy decisions for the species, the Council recommended and NMFS is
proposing to approve a single coastwide stock of darkblotched rockfish
in the Groundfish FMP.
Greenspotted Rockfish (Sebastes Chlorostictus)
Greenspotted rockfish (Sebastes chlorostictus) range from Copalis
Head, WA to Baja California, Mexico and are most abundant south of
Mendocino, CA (Dick et al., 2011). Survey-based indices of abundance
suggest increasing biomass densities of greenspotted rockfish from
Washington to California (Wetzel and Hastie, 2022). A benchmark
assessment was conducted in 2011 for the portion of the stock off
California and was modeled as two area assessments north and south of
Point Conception, California (34[deg]27' N lat.).
The Council considered greenspotted rockfish as two separate stocks
(a stock north of 34[deg]27' N lat. and a stock south of 34[deg]27' N
lat.) to account for differences in growth rates and exploitation
histories. However, because a single coastwide geographic delineation
reflects the range of the species, with little impact to the management
burden expected, the Council recommended and NMFS is proposing to
approve a single coastwide stock of greenspotted rockfish in the
Groundfish FMP.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: February 2, 2026.
Kelly Denit,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2026-02291 Filed 2-4-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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