Fishing Regulations

Federal fishing regulations are not always the same as state fishing regulations. For species that are not managed by federal regulations, states have the authority to extend state rules into federal waters for residents of that state or vessels landing a catch in that state.

Federal Fishing Regulations

Code of Federal Regulations

The best place to look for current federal fishing regulations is the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (ECFR). Sections of the ECFR pertaining to Council-managed fisheries are linked below.

• General Provisions (note: permitting and reporting requirements are contained in this section)

• Mackerel (Atlantic and chub), Squid (Illex and longfin), and Butterfish

• Atlantic Surfclam and Ocean Quahog

• Summer Flounder

• Scup

• Black Sea Bass

• Atlantic Bluefish

• Spiny Dogfish

• Golden and Blueline Tilefish

• Monkfish

• Mid-Atlantic Forage Species

• Mid-Atlantic Council ABC Control Rules and Mid-Atlantic Council Risk Policy - these are the regulations used to generally determine the upper limit on Acceptable Biological Catch or "ABC"

NOAA Fisheries Summaries of Federal Regulations

Other Resources

• Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office Regulations - links to regulations for all Greater Atlantic fisheries

• Federal Recreational Regulations for all Greater Atlantic Fisheries - summary of all recreational regulations

• Federal Register Actions - Final Rules, Proposed Rules, and Notices - index of federal register actions for the Greater Atlantic region

State Fishing Regulations

State regulations can be obtained through individual state marine fisheries agencies.