Fisheries Off West Coast States; West Coast Salmon Fisheries; 2026 Specifications and Management Measures

What it does

Through this final rule, NMFS establishes fishery management measures for the ocean salmon fisheries off Washington, Oregon, and California for the season beginning May 16, 2026, until the effective date of the 2027 management measures which we expect to be May 16, 2027 (the 2026 ocean salmon fishing season), under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA). The fishery management measures include fishing areas, seasons, quotas, legal gear, recreational fishing days and catch limits, harvest guidelines, possession and landing restrictions, and minimum lengths for salmon taken in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) off Washington, Oregon, and California. These measures are intended to prevent overfishing while achieving, on a continuing basis, the optimum yield from the fishery, to provide for the exercise of federally recognized fishing rights by West Coast Indian Tribes, to allow a portion of the salmon runs to escape the ocean fisheries in order to provide for spawning escapement, and to apportion the ocean harvest reasonably among non-Indian commercial and recreational fisheries.

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 660

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 185 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.

Before this

No earlier Federal Register document under regulation identifier 0648-BO06 since Jan. 1, 2025.

Since then:

• Sept. 3, 2026 Final rule; correcting amendment. Fisheries Off West Coast States; West Coast Salmon Fisheries; 2026 Specifications and Management Measures; Correction

What happens next and when

This final rule is effective from 0001 hours Pacific Daylight Time, May 16, 2026, until the effective date of the 2027 management measures, as published in the Federal Register, which we expect to be 0001 hours Pacific Daylight Time, May 16, 2027.

The agency's dates, word for word.

Check it yourself

• The document in the Federal Register
• Docket NOAA-NMFS-2026-0001 on Regulations.gov
• Title 50 on eCFR

The record as published

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