Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; North Atlantic Swordfish, South Atlantic Swordfish, North Atlantic Albacore, and Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Quotas

What it does

In this final rule, NMFS is implementing binding recommendations of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) on quotas for North Atlantic swordfish, South Atlantic swordfish, North Atlantic albacore tuna (northern albacore), and Atlantic bluefin tuna, including aspects of the management procedures for North Atlantic swordfish and northern albacore. For bluefin tuna, this action implements the increased U.S. baseline quota adopted by ICCAT in 2025, dividing it among the established regulatory domestic subquota categories, and implements changes to the bluefin tuna quota associated with pelagic longline bycatch adopted by ICCAT in 2025. Finally, this action transfers 30.8 metric tons (mt) of bluefin tuna quota from the Longline category to the Reserve category and temporarily adjusts the baseline quotas for U.S. North and South Atlantic swordfish, northern albacore, and the Atlantic bluefin tuna Reserve category for 2026 based on 2025 underharvests and applicable international quota transfers.

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 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

1 earlier Federal Register document under regulation identifier 0648-BN60 since Jan. 1, 2025.

• May 7, 2026 Proposed rule; request for comments. Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; North Atlantic Swordfish, South Atlantic Swordfish, North Atlantic Albacore, and Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Quotas

What happens next and when

The final rule is effective August 19, 2026. The temporary quota adjustments and transfer are effective August 19, 2026, through December 31, 2026.

The agency's dates, word for word.

Check it yourself

• The document in the Federal Register
• Docket NOAA-NMFS-2025-0053 on Regulations.gov
• Title 50 on eCFR

The record as published

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