Rule2026-05252
Fisheries Off West Coast States; Coastal Pelagic Species Fisheries; Biennial Specifications; 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 Specifications for Pacific Mackerel
Primary source
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Published
March 18, 2026
Effective
April 17, 2026
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS is implementing annual harvest specifications and management measures for Pacific mackerel in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the West Coast for the fishing year July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026, and the fishing year July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027. These specifications include overfishing limits (OFL), allowable biological catch (ABC), annual catch limits (ACL), harvest guidelines (HG), and annual catch targets (ACT) for each respective fishing year. If the fishery attains the ACT for either fishing year, 8,143 metric tons (mt) for 2025-2026 or 9,448 mt for 2026-2027, the directed fishery will close, reserving the 1,000 mt difference between the HG and ACT as a set-aside for incidental landings in other coastal pelagic species (CPS) fisheries and other sources of mortality. The HG is 9,143 mt for 2025-2026 and 10,448 mt for 2026-2027. This rulemaking is made pursuant to the CPS Fishery Management Plan (FMP), and is intended to conserve and manage the Pacific mackerel stock off the U.S. West Coast.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 52 (Wednesday, March 18, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 52 (Wednesday, March 18, 2026)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 12933-12934]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-05252]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 660
[Docket No. 260210-0044]
RIN 0648-BN75
Fisheries Off West Coast States; Coastal Pelagic Species
Fisheries; Biennial Specifications; 2025-2026 and 2026-2027
Specifications for Pacific Mackerel
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: NMFS is implementing annual harvest specifications and
management measures for Pacific mackerel in the U.S. exclusive economic
zone (EEZ) off the West Coast for the fishing year July 1, 2025,
through June 30, 2026, and the fishing year July 1, 2026, through June
30, 2027. These specifications include overfishing limits (OFL),
allowable biological catch (ABC), annual catch limits (ACL), harvest
guidelines (HG), and annual catch targets (ACT) for each respective
fishing year. If the fishery attains the ACT for either fishing year,
8,143 metric tons (mt) for 2025-2026 or 9,448 mt for 2026-2027, the
directed fishery will close, reserving the 1,000 mt difference between
the HG and ACT as a set-aside for incidental landings in other coastal
pelagic species (CPS) fisheries and other sources of mortality. The HG
is 9,143 mt for 2025-2026 and 10,448 mt for 2026-2027. This rulemaking
is made pursuant to the CPS Fishery Management Plan (FMP), and is
intended to conserve and manage the Pacific mackerel stock off the U.S.
West Coast.
DATES: Effective April 17, 2026.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laura Gray, West Coast Region, NMFS,
(301) 427-8490, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#e9a5889c9b88c7ae9b8890a987868888c78e869f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="f6ba97838497d8b184978fb698999797d8919980">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), 16 U.S.C. 1801
et seq., NMFS manages the Pacific mackerel fishery in the U.S. EEZ off
the West Coast in accordance with the CPS FMP. The CPS FMP and its
implementing regulations (50 CFR 660.508) require NMFS to set annual
harvest specifications for the Pacific mackerel fishery based on the
annual specification framework and control rules in the FMP. The
Pacific mackerel fishing season runs from July 1 to June 30. The
purpose of this action is to implement harvest specifications for the
2025-2026 and 2026-2027 fishing seasons: OFL, ABC, ACL, HG, and ACT.
This final rule adopts, without changes, the harvest specifications
that NMFS proposed in the rule published on August 25, 2025 (90 FR
41376). The proposed rule for this action included additional
background on the specifications and details on how the Pacific Fishery
Management Council (Council) derived its recommended specifications for
Pacific mackerel. Those details are not repeated here.
NMFS is implementing Pacific mackerel harvest specifications for
both the 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 fishing seasons, as recommended by the
Council (table 1). Any Pacific mackerel harvested between July 1, 2025,
and the effective date of the final rule will count toward the 2025-
2026 OFL, ABC, ACL, HG, and ACT. These harvest specifications are based
on the OFL and ABC control rules established in the CPS FMP,
recommendations from the Council's Scientific and Statistical Committee
(SSC) and other advisory bodies, and biomass estimates of 61,737 mt
(2025-2026) and 67,954 mt (2026-2027). The biomass estimates are the
result of a catch-only stock assessment the NMFS Southwest Fishery
Science Center (SWFSC) completed in March 2025. At the April 2025
Council meeting, the Council's SSC reviewed and endorsed, and the
Council adopted, the 2025 catch-only stock assessment and resulting
biomass estimates as the best scientific information available for
setting harvest specifications for the 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 Pacific
mackerel fishing seasons. The uncertainty surrounding these biomass
estimates for Pacific mackerel for the 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 fishing
seasons was explicitly taken into consideration in the development of
these harvest specifications.
Table 1--Pacific Mackerel Harvest Specifications for the 2025-2026 and
2026-2027 Fishing Seasons
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2025-2026 2026-2027
Harvest specifications (mt) (mt)
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OFL............................................. 12,965 14,270
ACL = ABC....................................... 10,084 11,099
HG.............................................. 9,143 10,448
ACT............................................. 8,143 9,448
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Under this action, in the unlikely event that catch reaches the ACT
in either fishing season, directed fishing would close, while the
difference between the HG and ACT (1,000 mt) would be reserved as a
set-aside for incidental landings in other fisheries and other sources
of mortality.\1\ For the remainder of the fishing season, incidental
landings in CPS fisheries would be constrained to a 45 percent
incidental catch allowance (in other words, no more than 45 percent by
weight of the CPS landed per trip may be Pacific mackerel); and in non-
CPS fisheries, up to 3 mt of Pacific mackerel
[[Page 12934]]
incidental catch could be landed per fishing trip. The incidental catch
set-aside is intended to allow continued operation of fisheries for
other stocks, particularly other CPS stocks that may school with
Pacific mackerel.
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\1\ Directed fishing for live bait and minor directed fishing is
allowed to continue during a closure of the directed fishery.
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The Regional Administrator, NMFS West Coast Region, will publish a
notice in the Federal Register announcing the date of any closure of
directed fishing if and when harvest levels reach or exceed the ACT.
Additionally, to ensure the regulated community is informed of any
closure, NMFS will also make announcements through other means
available, including by email to fishermen, processors, and state
fishery management agencies.
The 30-day public comment period for the proposed rule (90 FR
41376, August 25, 2025) ended on September 24, 2025. Two comments in
support of the rulemaking were received.
Classification
Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the
NMFS Assistant Administrator has determined that this final rule is
consistent with the CPS FMP, other provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens
Act, and other applicable law.
This final rule has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of Executive Order 12866. This final rule is exempt from the
requirements of E.O. 14192 because it is a routine fishing action.
The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business
Administration during the proposed rule stage that this action would
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities for the purposes of the Regulatory Flexibility Act. The
factual basis for the certification was published in the proposed rule
(90 FR 41376, August 25, 2025) and is not repeated here. No comments
were received regarding this certification. As a result, a final
regulatory flexibility analysis was not required and none was prepared.
A Tribal summary impact statement under section (5)(b)(2)(B) and
section (5)(c)(2)(B) of E.O. 13175 was not required for this final rule
because this action does not impose substantial direct compliance costs
on Indian Tribal Governments and this action does not preempt Tribal
law. A Tribal summary impact statement has therefore not been prepared.
This final rule contains no information collection requirements
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. There are no relevant
Federal rules that may duplicate, overlap, or conflict with the
proposed action.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 660
Fisheries, Fishing, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: February 26, 2026.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, 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. 660.511, revise paragraphs (i)(1) and (2) to read as
follows:
Sec. 660.511 Catch restrictions.
* * * * *
(i) * * *
(1) For the Pacific mackerel fishing season July 1, 2025, through
June 30, 2026, the harvest guideline is 9,143 mt and the ACT is 8,143
mt; and
(2) For the Pacific mackerel fishing season July 1, 2026, through
June 30, 2027, the harvest guideline is 10,448 mt and the ACT is 9,448
mt.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2026-05252 Filed 3-17-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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