Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Fisheries; Longline Category Quota Transfer

What it does

NMFS is transferring 30.8 metric tons (mt) of Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT) quota from the Reserve category to the Longline category. With this transfer, the adjusted Longline category quota for the 2026 fishing season is 240.1 mt and the adjusted Reserve category quota is 7.4 mt. The 2026 BFT Longline category is open until December 31, 2026, or until the Longline category quota is reached, whichever comes first. NMFS will distribute the transferred quota to permitted Atlantic Tunas Longline vessels with recent fishing activity. As a result of this transfer, each associated Individual Bluefin Quota (IBQ) account will receive 893 pounds (lbs) (0.4 mt) of IBQ. Note that NMFS intends to take separate action as soon as possible in 2026 to consider modifying the baseline BFT quota consistent with the quota adopted at the 2025 International Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) annual meeting.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's summary, as published in the Federal Register.

What changed in the regulation

1 part of Title 50 of the Code of Federal Regulations:

50 CFR 635

Wording on eCFR: the day before it took effect and from the day it took effect (first part listed).

Compared with

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has published 186 final rules in 2026 so far, compared with 184 in all of 2025.

Counted by the Tribune from Federal Register records since Jan. 1, 2025.

What happens next and when

The quota transfer is effective February 9, 2026, through December 31, 2026.

The agency's dates, word for word.

Check it yourself

• The document in the Federal Register
• Docket NOAA-NMFS-2019-0042 on Regulations.gov
• Title 50 on eCFR

The record as published

Source: the Federal Register (public domain). The document in the Federal Register