Highly Migratory Species Management: Managing Shared Resources at Home and Around the World

Highly migratory species-like Atlantic yellowfin tuna , Pacific albacore , and Atlantic swordfish -travel thousands of miles across state, national, and international boundaries throughout their lives. These important commercial and recreational fisheries support seafood businesses and coastal communities across the United States. But highly migratory fish don't recognize state or national borders, so managing them sustainably requires collaboration across jurisdictional boundaries. Strong domestic management and international cooperation sustain these fisheries and the communities that depend on these shared ocean resources.

In the United States, highly migratory species are managed under the Magnuson-Stevens Act . Their management is consistent with requirements adopted by regional fisheries management organizations established by international treaties. Each of these RFMOs provide a forum for countries to work together to conserve these shared resources that spend their lives moving across jurisdictions.

Fisheries managers in the Atlantic and Pacific share the same goal: providing sustainable fishing opportunities while maintaining healthy fish stocks. Fisheries, geography, and management structures vary by region, so NOAA Fisheries uses different management tools and authorities to achieve that shared goal across fisheries.

Atlantic Management

Most federally managed fisheries are managed through a regional fishery management council . But highly migratory species in the U.S. Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of America, and U.S. Caribbean waters span the jurisdictions of five councils. In 1990, Congress determined it was best for the Secretary of Commerce to directly manage these fisheries, granting secretarial authority which was later delegated to NOAA Fisheries. Since then, we adopted an integrated approach that meets the requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Act and our commitments as a member of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), an RFMO. We developed a domestic fishery management plan , in coordination with U.S. stakeholders. We implement and amend the plan to authorize, monitor, and permit commercial and recreational catches in U.S. waters. We also advocate for U.S.-centric policy approaches on the high seas and implement international agreements under the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act .

Although managed outside of the council construct, NOAA Fisheries relies on the best available science and extensive stakeholder engagement to manage Atlantic highly migratory species. We work closely with commercial and recreational fishermen, scientists, state and federal partners, and other members of the Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Advisory Panel to develop management measures designed to:

• Prevent overfishing
• Rebuild depleted stocks
• Support sustainable fishing opportunities
• Minimize bycatch

Science and monitoring are critical to this work. We monitor commercial and recreational catches to make sure fishing stays within domestic and international quotas and catch limits. Cooperative research is an important part of how we gather information. Through programs like the Southeast Fisheries Science Center's Cooperative Tagging Center , we work closely with fishermen and recreational anglers . They contribute observations and biological information that can help scientists better understand highly migratory species.

Working with ICCAT since it was established in 1966-and other RFMOs-we coordinate with international partners to responsibly manage highly migratory species throughout their range, recognizing their successful conservation depends on ocean-wide collaboration. The United States has consistently been a leader in advancing this science-based management and enforcement within organizations like ICCAT, helping shape measures that support sustainable fisheries internationally and domestically.

60 Years of International Collaboration and Leadership

This year, ICCAT marks 60 years of bringing together countries and fishing entities to discuss and develop international fisheries management measures. The Commission now comprises 56 contracting parties to conserve and manage tuna and tuna-like species in the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas.

Our work in ICCAT has helped secure meaningful wins for our commercial and recreational fishermen-like maintaining the U.S. north Atlantic swordfish quota during challenging negotiations in 2024. In 2019, the U.S. delegation was central to implementing rebuilding programs for addressing overfished stocks of Atlantic blue marlin and white marlin stocks. Most recently, our science team successfully applied the first large-scale close-kin mark-recapture study in the United States. It showed that western Atlantic bluefin tuna were more abundant than traditional methods indicated. As a result, the U.S. delegation secured an additional 231 metric tons of Atlantic bluefin tuna at the 2025 annual meeting . That's a 17 percent increase in the U.S. baseline quota and the largest single-year increase in the history of our participation in ICCAT.

U.S. participation in ICCAT and other RFMOs is critical to advancing sustainable fisheries, strengthening science-based management, and achieving a level playing field for American fishermen and seafood businesses. Active U.S. leadership also helps ensure U.S. fishermen can fully benefit from sustainable fisheries management-shaping international conservation measures, combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing , and promoting our sustainable practices to other countries.

North Atlantic Swordfish Management

In addition to tuna, NOAA Fisheries manages other species under ICCAT, such as shark, billfish (like marlins), and swordfish. North Atlantic swordfish are one of the fastest predators in the ocean, swimming up to 50 miles per hour. They migrate thousands of miles across the Atlantic, moving between spawning grounds in warm tropical waters and feeding grounds farther north along the U.S. East Coast and Canada. Their ability to cross these international boundaries illustrates the importance of coordinated management.

In the 1990s, the north Atlantic swordfish population was facing significant declines. The stock was estimated at 58 percent of its target level and was overfished. In response, ICCAT adopted a 10-year rebuilding plan in 1999. The United States reduced landings and closed certain fishing grounds to reduce risk to young swordfish and help the population rebuild. While implementing these conservation measures, U.S. fishermen, managers, and scientists also took action to reduce the fishery's impacts on sea turtles and marine mammals.

By 2009, ICCAT declared the north Atlantic swordfish stock fully rebuilt-1 year ahead of the target set in the rebuilding plan. Today, the stock remains fully rebuilt and above its target population level. The fishery supports commercial and recreational fishing opportunities while providing consumers with a sustainably managed domestic seafood product.

The north Atlantic swordfish fishery illustrates the effectiveness of working domestically and internationally on stewardship of highly migratory species to yield long-term access to U.S. fishermen. While rebuilding fish populations is a critical part of the story, restoring lost market demands can also be a lengthy and complex process-a challenge that spans multiple fisheries in both the Atlantic and the Pacific.

Pacific Management: Same Species, Different Management Needs

Pacific highly migratory species, such as tunas, swordfish, and sharks, are often the same species as their Atlantic counterparts, but the stocks are managed separately. These species also move across large areas of the Pacific Ocean and through the waters of many countries and the high seas-so international cooperation is equally important in managing them. But in the Pacific, NOAA Fisheries works with regional fishery management councils on the development and implementation of domestic fishery management plans for authorizing monitoring, and permitting commercial and recreational catches in U.S. waters. The councils may also provide advice to NOAA Fisheries on its work with Pacific RFMOs and the implementation of internationally adopted management measures.

Under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council and the Pacific Fishery Management Council play a central role in domestic management of highly migratory species fisheries. The Pacific Council developed-and continues to update-the Fishery Management Plan for West Coast Fisheries for Highly Migratory Species that NOAA Fisheries approved in 2004. Similarly, the Western Pacific Council adopted the Fishery Ecosystem Plan for Pelagic Fisheries of the Western Pacific . Both plans coordinate state, territory, federal, and international management, with NOAA Fisheries evaluating and implementing council-proposed changes to frameworks and regulations.

The Pacific also has multiple layers of international management, because different regional fishery management organizations cover different parts of the ocean. The United States is a member of both the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (with jurisdiction in the eastern Pacific) and the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (with jurisdiction in the western and central Pacific). Both commissions serve a function similar to ICCAT in the Atlantic.

The result is a management system in which NOAA Fisheries provides information to, and coordinates with, multiple regional fishery management councils, RFMOs, and affiliate international organizations-depending on where a fishery operates. For example, in Hawai'i and the Pacific Islands, NOAA Fisheries works with the Western Pacific Council to manage fisheries like the Hawai'i longline fishery, which fishes in the eastern and western Pacific and lands some of their fish to the U.S. West Coast. These vessels must comply with all the domestic and international regulations applicable to their transjurisdictional harvest operations.

North Pacific Swordfish Management

These regional differences matter. The same highly migratory species can be part of very different fisheries depending on where fishermen operate, what gear they use, which council or NOAA office has a role in management, and which international agreements apply.

Swordfish fisheries management is one example. On the West Coast, north Pacific swordfish fisheries are managed by NOAA Fisheries and the Pacific Council under the Fishery Management Plan for U.S. West Coast Highly Migratory Species . Commercial fisheries on the high seas target swordfish with longline, whereas commercial fishing for swordfish inside federal waters has primarily been with drift gillnets, harpoons, and deep-set buoy gear. Deep-set buoy gear is a relatively new option for targeting swordfish off of California and Oregon. In 2023, the Council recommended-and NOAA Fisheries authorized-deep-set buoy gear as a legal gear type through Amendment 6 to the Fishery Management Plan for U.S. West Coast Highly Migratory Species. There is a limited-entry permitting system in the Southern California Bight .

In Hawai'i, swordfish are primarily targeted by the shallow-set longline fishery. The fishery is managed through NOAA Fisheries' Pacific Islands Regional Office and the Western Pacific Council. The different management approaches across the Pacific Ocean reflect differences in geography, fishing practices, gear, and regional culture.

Looking Ahead

Managing highly migratory species requires looking beyond borders and considering the differing needs of each region. While the Atlantic and Pacific approaches share the same basic goals, the tools used to achieve those goals differ. Different operational, ecological, economic, and cultural factors in each fishery region shape:

• Opportunities available to U.S. fishermen
• Types of gear that can be used
• The complexity of how management can be changed

But a sustainable fishery is about more than just rebuilding stocks. Healthy populations don't always translate to adequate access for fishermen. Recent council and agency actions, driven by the 2025 Executive Order on Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness , are focused on improving the information available to fisheries managers and expanding opportunities for our domestic fishermen. NOAA Fisheries assistant administrator Eugenio Piñeiro Soler recently shared his priorities for regulatory actions to reduce burdens on domestic fishing and increase seafood production. The priorities include actions for internal management changes as well as for the regional councils responsible for highly migratory species fisheries management.

Beyond regulatory changes, Mr. Piñeiro Soler also identified agency-level reforms relevant to highly migratory species fisheries, including:

• Expanding cooperative research with fishermen
• Partnering with stakeholders to conduct depredation research
• Expediting rulemaking to remove monument-based commercial fishing prohibitions in accordance with presidential proclamations
• Using emerging technologies and data systems to improve fisheries science and monitoring

In addition to expanding access to the resource, the administration will release the America First Seafood Strategy-a comprehensive, multi-agency initiative developed in close coordination with our federal partners and informed by extensive feedback from stakeholders. The strategy will firmly outline how efforts under the executive order will continue to elevate domestic seafood production to a priority in matters of national food security and strategic independence.

A collaborative team from across NOAA Fisheries is also taking a closer look at the economic conditions that shape these fisheries. As part of the implementation of NOAA Fisheries' Seafood Strategy , experts will conduct socio-economic analyses of highly migratory species fisheries and their markets. These economic snapshots can help provide context for how changes in harvest opportunities, processing capacity, consumer demand, and other factors may affect U.S. fishermen and seafood businesses.

As ocean conditions evolve and fisheries continue to adapt, NOAA Fisheries will continue investing in science, technology, monitoring, and partnerships to support sustainable fisheries. The goal is not only healthy fish populations, but also sustainable fishing businesses, resilient coastal communities, and strong domestic seafood markets. Through improving our understanding of species like yellowfin tuna, rebuilding fisheries like north Atlantic swordfish, and advancing international conservation through RFMOs, NOAA Fisheries continues to steward highly migratory species with science, collaboration, and leadership-both at home and around the globe.