Rule2026-03504
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Revised 2026 Atlantic Mackerel Specifications
Primary source
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Published
February 23, 2026
Effective
February 23, 2026
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS is adjusting the specifications for the 2026 Atlantic mackerel fishery to reflect the results of an updated mackerel management track stock assessment. This in-season action is intended to continue rebuilding the mackerel stock, help the mackerel fishery achieve optimum yield, and ensure that management measures are based on the best scientific information available.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 35 (Monday, February 23, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 35 (Monday, February 23, 2026)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 8386-8389]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-03504]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 260218-0049; RTID 0648-XF362]
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Revised 2026
Atlantic Mackerel Specifications
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Interim final rule.
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SUMMARY: NMFS is adjusting the specifications for the 2026 Atlantic
mackerel fishery to reflect the results of an updated mackerel
management track stock assessment. This in-season action is intended to
continue rebuilding the mackerel stock, help the mackerel fishery
achieve optimum yield, and ensure that management measures are based on
the best scientific information available.
DATES: Effective February 23, 2026. Public comments must be received by
March 25, 2026.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document, identified by
NOAA-NMFS-2025-1594, by any of the following methods:
<bullet> Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Visit <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> and type NOAA-NMFS-2025-1594 in the Search box.
Click on the ``Comment'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter
or attach your comments.
Instructions: 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 by NMFS. All comments received are a part of the
public record and will generally be posted 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), confidential business information,
or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily by the sender
will
[[Page 8387]]
be publicly accessible. NMFS will accept anonymous comments (enter ``N/
A'' in the required fields if you wish to remain anonymous).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Maria Fenton, Fishery Policy Analyst,
(978) 281-9196.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
NMFS and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council)
manage the Atlantic mackerel fishery pursuant to the Mackerel, Squid,
and Butterfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP). Regulations implementing
the Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish FMP appear at 50 CFR part 648,
subpart B. Section 302(g)(1)(B) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act; 16 U.S.C.
1852(g)(1)(B)) states that the Scientific and Statistical Committee
(SSC) for each regional fishery management council shall provide its
council with ongoing scientific advice for fishery management
decisions, including recommendations for acceptable biological catch
(ABC), preventing overfishing, maximum sustainable yield (MSY), and
achieving rebuilding targets. The regulations at Sec. 648.22(d)(1) set
forth the process by which the Council recommends, and NMFS approves
and implements, annual fishing specifications for the Atlantic mackerel
fishery and provide that if annual specifications for mackerel are not
published in the Federal Register prior to the start of the fishing
year, the previous year's annual specifications will remain in effect.
By operation of this provision, the 2025 mackerel specifications will
be in effect in fishing year 2026 until replaced with a new action.
Additionally, the regulations at Sec. 648.22(e) provide the Regional
Administrator with the authority to adjust mackerel specifications in-
season, after consulting with the Council, by publishing such an
adjustment in the Federal Register.
Previous Stock Assessments and Regulatory Actions
In 2017, the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (Science Center)
completed a benchmark stock assessment (Stock Assessment Workshop 64)
that concluded that the mackerel stock was overfished and subject to
overfishing. In response to these findings, the Council developed
Framework Adjustment 13 (Framework 13) to the Mackerel, Squid, and
Butterfish FMP to establish a rebuilding plan that would rebuild the
mackerel stock within 5 years (i.e., by 2023). NMFS published a final
rule implementing Framework 13 on October 30, 2019 (84 FR 58053).
In 2021, the Science Center completed a management track stock
assessment that concluded that the mackerel stock remained overfished
and subject to overfishing. The assessment also found that, because
previous assumptions about recruitment had not come to fruition, the
rebuilding plan that was implemented through Framework 13 was no longer
adequate and rebuilding by 2023 was not possible. In light of this new
information, the Council developed Amendment 23 to the Mackerel, Squid,
and Butterfish FMP, which revised the rebuilding plan and established a
new rebuilding timeline of 10 years (i.e., by 2032). NMFS published a
final rule implementing Amendment 23 on February 1, 2023 (88 FR 6665).
In 2023, the Science Center completed an updated management track
stock assessment that concluded that the mackerel stock remained
overfished but was no longer subject to overfishing. The assessment
also found that the stock had unexpectedly failed to rebuild, and
projections indicated that overfishing would occur in 2023 if the full
quota was landed. In response to the preliminary assessment results,
the Council requested that NMFS take emergency action to limit directed
mackerel fishing for the remainder of 2023, and, on October 13, 2023,
NMFS published a temporary rule implementing reduced trip limits of
20,000 pounds (lb) (9.08 mt) for all limited access permits and 5,000
lb (2.27 mt) for open access permits (88 FR 70909). Following a peer
review of the 2023 assessment, the Council recommended reducing the
mackerel ABC from 8,094 mt in 2023 to 3,200 lb in 2024-2025, which
resulted in the domestic annual harvest (DAH; i.e., commercial quota)
decreasing by 76 percent from 3,639 mt in 2023 to 868 mt in 2024-2025.
Because of the low commercial quota, the Council also recommended
maintaining the trip limits that were set through NMFS' October 2023
temporary rule. NMFS published a final rule implementing the Council's
recommended 2024 and projected 2025 mackerel specifications on April
12, 2024 (89 FR 25820), and later reaffirmed the 2025 specifications
via a final rule published on September 23, 2025 (90 FR 45674).
Updated 2025 Management Track Stock Assessment and Council
Recommendations for 2026 Specifications
In 2025, the Science Center completed a new updated management
track stock assessment for mackerel. The results of the 2025 assessment
indicate that the stock remains not subject to overfishing and is no
longer overfished and projected to reach its rebuilding target by 2025.
This change in stock status is likely due to recent closures of the
Canadian directed commercial mackerel fishery, reductions in U.S.
mackerel catch, and increased recruitment. The assessment found that
recruitment in 2022-2024 was above the time series average, with 2024
recruitment being the highest estimate since 1983.
The Council's SSC met in October 2025 to review the 2025 assessment
results and develop 2026-2027 mackerel ABC recommendations. The SSC
expressed concern that the 2024 recruitment estimate was unreliable as
it was based on only one year of fishery age composition data and would
likely be revised downward in a future assessment, as has been the
trend with mackerel assessments. Due to this uncertainty, the SSC
recommended substituting a lower short-term (2009-2023) median
recruitment for the assessment's initial 2024 recruitment estimate when
computing 2026-2027 ABCs, and maintaining an overfishing limit (OFL)
coefficient of variation (CV) of 100 percent. Substituting the short-
term median value reduced the 2024 recruitment estimate by 93 percent,
which in turn altered future projected biomass and ABCs. Revised
projections using the reduced 2024 recruitment value revealed that,
relative to the 2025 spawning stock biomass (SSB) projection that was
initially generated for the assessment, projected 2025 SSB decreased by
61 percent. However, even considering these uncertainties, the SSC
agreed that all stock projections indicate increased biomass and the
opportunity for higher catch limits.
The Council's Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Committee met jointly
with its River Herring and Shad Committee in November 2025 to discuss
the 2025 assessment results, SSC recommendations, Advisory Panel input,
and staff recommendations. The Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish
Committee considered four alternatives for rebuilding scenarios and
fishery specifications for 2026-2027:
<bullet> Alternative A1: Maintaining the status quo, 2026-2027 ABCs
= 3,200 mt;
<bullet> Alternative A2: Applying the Council's standard P* risk
policy, 2026 ABC = 10,714, 2027 ABC = 14,485 mt;
<bullet> Alternative A3: Applying a constant F of 0.12 (60-percent
probability of rebuilding by 2032), 2026 ABC = 12,252, 2027 ABC =
14,164 mt; and
<bullet> Alternative A4: Applying a constant F of 0.15 (51-percent
probability of
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rebuilding by 2023), 2026 ABC = 15,134, 2027 ABC = 17,107 mt.
Because the SSC already built a significant scientific uncertainty
buffer into its ABC recommendations with the use of a revised 2024
recruitment estimate and a 100 percent CV, the Mackerel, Squid, and
Butterfish Committee determined that an adequate level of precaution
was already incorporated into each alternative. Therefore, it
recommended Alternative A4, which would result in the highest quotas
for 2026-2027. Additionally, the River Herring and Shad Committee
recommended maintaining a status quo 129-mt river herring/shad (RH/S)
catch cap in 2026-2027.
During its December 2025 meeting, the Council took final action on
a mackerel framework adjustment, which included recommendations for
2026 and projected 2027 mackerel fishery specifications. Consistent
with the Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Committee, the Council
recommended rebuilding and specifications Alternative A4. In accordance
with the regulations at Sec. 648.22(e), the Regional Administrator
consulted with the Council during this meeting on a potential in-season
adjustment to modify the rollover mackerel specifications at the start
of fishing year 2026. In prior years when the total mackerel quota was
higher, there was substantial fishing activity early in the year,
especially in January and February. Between 2018 and 2021, the
commercial fishery landed more than 3,600 mt each year between January
1 and February 28. Because completing notice-and-comment rulemaking for
the framework will delay full implementation of the new 2026
specifications until after the start of the fishing year on January 1,
2026, absent an intervening action to adjust the 2026 specifications,
the fishery would initially be constrained to the rollover
specifications from 2025, including a commercial quota of 868 mt.
Therefore, the Council requested that NMFS use an in-season adjustment
to increase the 2026 specifications as soon as possible in order to
decrease the risk of the fishery failing to achieve optimum yield and
avoid unnecessarily limiting economic opportunities.
In-Season Adjusted 2026 Specifications
Through this interim final rule, NMFS is implementing an in-season
adjustment to increase the 2026 mackerel fishery specifications above
the 2025 specifications that are in place by operation of the rollover
provisions of Sec. 648.22(e). In advance of considering the Council's
recommended 2026 mackerel specifications contained in the framework,
here NMFS is implementing 2026 specifications consistent with those in
Alternative A2 of the Council's framework, which were calculated by
applying the Council's standard risk policy (85 FR 81152; December 15,
2020). The risk policy specifies the acceptable probability of
overfishing (P*) when recommending ABCs. The acceptable P* for a stock
is based on the ratio of current biomass (B) to the biomass target (B
at maximum sustainable yield, or ``B<INF>MSY</INF>'') for that stock.
Under the risk policy, a higher level of risk is acceptable for stocks
that are healthy and at or above their biomass targets. The risk policy
seeks to prevent stocks from being overfished by reducing the
probability of overfishing under lower biomass conditions, while
allowing for increased risk and greater economic benefits under higher
biomass conditions. For mackerel in 2026, the B/B<INF>MSY</INF> ratio
was calculated as 0.67, which results in a P* of 0.231 and a fishing
mortality rate (F) of 0.10. This approach results in the mackerel stock
having a 51-percent probability of rebuilding by 2032.
The 2026 specifications being implemented through this in-season
action are all increases relative to those that are currently in place
with the exception of the RH/S catch cap which is remaining status quo
(table 1). The 2026 mackerel ABC is 235 percent higher than the 2025
ABC. The 2026 specifications include a 500-mt deduction to account for
expected Canadian mackerel catch, which is based on an announcement
from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada stating that the
commercial mackerel fishery would remain closed, but there will be an
annual total allowable catch of 500 mt for mackerel in 2026 (440 mt for
the personal-use bait fishery, 20 mt for the bluefin tuna fishery, 20
mt for scientific sampling, and 20 mt of estimated bycatch). After
subtracting the Canadian catch deduction from the ABC, the resulting
2026 ACL is 227 percent higher than the 2025 ACL. These 2026 in-season
specifications also include a 2,500-mt deduction to account for
expected recreational mackerel catch, which is 17 percent higher than
it was in 2025. This increase reflects general variability in
recreational catch and uncertainty in recreational catch estimates, as
well as the fact that the Council recommended an increase to
recreational possession limits as part of the pending mackerel
framework adjustment. The 610-mt 2026 management uncertainty buffer was
calculated based on one day of high-volume landings in a highly
productive year for the mackerel fishery and is designed to help ensure
that the commercial mackerel fishery can be closed in time to prevent
overages of the commercial ACT and ACL. Commercial discards in 2026
(287 mt) were calculated based on average annual commercial discards
over the most recent two years. Finally, the 2026 DAH (i.e., commercial
quota) is 685 percent higher than the 2025 DAH.
Table 1--Current 2025 and Adjusted 2026 Mackerel Specifications in
Metric Tons (mt)
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Specification Current 2025 New 2026
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ABC................................. 3,200 10,714
Canadian Catch Deduction............ 74 500
U.S. ABC/Annual Catch Limit......... 3,126 10,214
Recreational Catch Deduction........ 2,143 2,500
Management Uncertainty Buffer....... 0 610
Commercial Annual Catch Target...... 983 7,104
Commercial Discards................. 115 287
DAH/Domestic Annual Processing...... 868 6,817
RH/S Catch Cap...................... 129 129
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The new 2026 specifications being implemented through this interim
final rule represent an incremental increase, falling between the
current 2025 mackerel specifications and the recommended 2026
specifications that the Council voted on at its December 2025 Council
meeting but are not yet under review by NMFS. The decision to
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set the interim 2026 specifications at the level consistent with
Alternative A2 does not prejudice NMFS' future consideration of the
Council's recommendation to approve specifications based on Alternative
A4. This action is intended to provide the fishing industry with access
to a substantial quota increase as soon as possible in the 2026 fishing
year. NMFS will consider the Council's recommendation for final 2026
specifications upon receipt of the framework document and proceed with
notice-and-comment rulemaking after that review. The 2026
specifications being set through this action will remain in effect
until they are replaced by final 2026 specifications contained in the
pending framework action.
Classification
NMFS is issuing this rule pursuant to 305(d) of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act. The reason for using this regulatory authority is that in
a previous action implemented under section 304(b) of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act, the regulations at Sec. 648.22(e) authorize NMFS to take
this action under section 305(d).
Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), there is good cause to waive prior
notice and an opportunity for public comment on this action, as notice
and comment would be contrary to the public interest. The mackerel
fishing year started on January 1, 2026. Absent some intervening action
to adjust mackerel specifications for 2026, the fishery will continue
to be constrained to low rollover specifications from 2025. These
specifications are based on an outdated 2023 stock assessment and
therefore no longer reflect the best scientific information available.
An updated 2025 stock assessment found that, relative to 2023, the
status of the mackerel stock has improved and can support higher
harvest levels. In prior years when mackerel catch limits were higher,
there was substantial mackerel fishing activity early in the year.
Between 2018 and 2021, the commercial fishery landed more than 3,600 mt
of mackerel annually between January 1 and February 28, which is more
than the commercial quota (868 mt) that would rollover from 2025.
Providing for prior notice and an opportunity for public comment would
delay the implementation of revised 2026 mackerel specifications,
raising a significant risk that fishing opportunities would not be
available when resource and market conditions would provide substantial
economic opportunity for the fishery and communities that depend upon
it. Additionally, a delay in implementing new, higher 2026
specifications would increase the risk that the fishery would fail to
achieve optimum yield. We are inviting public comment on this interim
final rule, and we will also seek public comment on the framework
action once it has been submitted by the Council. Comments received
from the public in response to this notice will be considered as part
of the framework rulemaking, which will determine if the 2026
specifications will remain the same as set forth here or will be
modified for the remainder of the year. For the same reasons, and
because this action relieves a restriction for the mackerel fishery by
providing a substantially higher commercial quota, waiver the 30-day
delay in effective date is appropriate pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(1)
and 553(d)(3).
This interim final rule is exempt from the procedures of Executive
Order (E.O.) 12866 because this action contains no implementing
regulations.
This final rule is not an E.O. 14192 regulatory action because this
action is not significant under E.O. 12866.
NMFS has determined that this action would not have a substantial
direct effect on one or more Indian Tribes, on the relationship between
the Federal Government and Indian Tribes, or on the distribution of
power and responsibilities between the Federal Government and Indian
Tribes; therefore, consultation with Tribal officials under E.O. 13175
is not required, and the requirements of sections (5)(b) and (5)(c) of
E.O. 13175 also do not apply. A Tribal summary impact statement under
section (5)(b)(2)(B) and section (5)(c)(2)(B) of E.O. 13175 is not
required and has not been prepared. Because prior notice and
opportunity for public comment are not required for this rule by 5
U.S.C. 553, or any other law, the analytical requirements of the
Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq., are inapplicable.
This final rule contains no information collection requirements
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648
Fisheries, Fishing, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: February 18, 2026.
Sarah Malloy,
Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2026-03504 Filed 2-20-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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