National Marine Fisheries Service

08/04/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 08/04/2026 08:45

Northeast Multispecies (Groundfish) Fishing Year 2026 Catch Limits

Framework 72 sets fishing year 2026 annual catch limits for groundfish stocks. Quotas for the U.S./Canada area are shown in Table 1. The 2026 catch limits are listed in Table 2.

Based on the at-sea monitoring coverage target of 100 percent, the management uncertainty buffer has been removed from the sector sub-annual catch limits for all allocated stocks. Sector annual catch entitlements (ACE) are shown in Table 3. Sector and common pool quotas are based on the fishing year 2026 rosters.

Table 1. 2026 Fishing Year U.S./Canada Quotas (mt, live weight) and Percent of Quota Allocated to Each Country

Quota Eastern GB Cod Eastern GB Haddock GB Yellowtail Flounder
Total Shared Quota 473 4,750 57
U.S. Quota 151
(32 percent)

998

(21 percent)

31
(54 percent)
Canadian Quota 322
(68 percent)

3,752

(79 percent)

26
(46 percent)

Table 2. Fishing Year 2026 Catch Limits (mt, live weight)

Stock Total ACL Groundfish sub-ACL Final Sector sub-ACL Final Common Pool sub-ACL Recreational sub-ACL Midwater Trawl Fishery Scallop Fishery Small-Mesh Fisheries State Waters sub- component Other sub-component
A to H A+B+C A B C D E F G H
EGOM Cod* 39 38 37 1.4 0 0.4
WGOM Cod* 451 422 294 10.6 118 23 5.0
GB Cod 151 139 134 5 0 12.1
SNE Cod* 34 25 6.5 0.2 18 6.1 3.2
GB Haddock 4,411 4,306 4,161 145 82 0 22.1
GOM Haddock 3,542 3,472 2,270 57 1,146 34 36 0
GB Yellowtail Flounder 31 25 23 1.9 4.8 0.6 0 0
SNE/MA Yellowtail Flounder 33 29 21 8.0 2.7 0.2 0.7
CC/GOM Yellowtail Flounder 1,732 1,679 1,594 85 17 35
American Plaice 6,967 6,933 6,712 220 0 35
Witch Flounder 1,523 1,477 1,426 52 7.6 38
GB Winter Flounder 1,710 1,668 1,587 81 0 43
GOM Winter Flounder 793 689 589 100 96 8.0
SNE/MA Winter Flounder 504 398 340 57 25 81
Redfish 5,661 5,633 5,559 74 28 0
White Hake 1,361 1,354 1,339 16 0 6.8
Pollock 11,164 9,880 9,771 109 670 614
N. Windowpane Flounder 127 94 na 94 27 0.0 6.8
S. Windowpane Flounder 205 30 na 30 71 6.4 98
Ocean Pout 83 52 na 52 0.9 30
Atlantic Halibut 34 23 na 23 9.1 1.6
Atlantic Wolffish 87 87 na 87 0 0

na: not allocated to sectors. ACL = annual catch limit, GB = Georges Bank, EGOM = Eastern Gulf of Maine, WGOM = Western Gulf of Maine, SNE/MA = Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic, CC/GOM = Cape Cod/Gulf of Maine, N = northern, S = southern.

*Specifications for EGOM, WGOM, and SNE cod were set by Amendment 25.

Table 3. ACE (in 1,000 lb), by stock, for each sector for fishing year 2026*#

Sector Name EGOM Cod WGOM Cod GB Cod East GB Cod West SNE Cod GB Haddock East GB Haddock West GOM Haddock GB Yellowtail Flounder SNE/MA Yellowtail Flounder CC/GOM Yellowtail Flounder Plaice Witch Flounder GB Winter Flounder GOM Winter Flounder SNE/MA Winter Flounder Redfish White Hake Pollock
Fixed Gear Sector 1 25 32 0 2 27 91 9 0 0 58 68 35 1 27 8 59 29 569
Maine Coast Community Sector 14 77 6 0 0 70 232 606 1 2 234 2,230 373 30 119 20 1,075 388 2,724
Maine Permit Bank 1 6 0 0 0 1 3 58 0 0 12 179 24 0 7 0 102 50 370
Mooncusser Sector 6 60 37 0 2 84 278 218 0 0 132 322 94 0 56 15 695 353 2,469
NEFS 2 22 143 34 0 2 396 1,315 1,408 5 5 991 2,580 716 217 413 57 2,843 471 4,093
NEFS 4 10 70 27 0 1 133 443 457 1 1 240 1,446 288 26 114 9 832 247 1,584
NEFS 5 0 2 1 0 0 9 31 6 0 7 35 35 13 6 13 61 2 1 14
NEFS 6 0 2 2 0 0 12 41 8 0 0 1 135 16 3 1 0 138 16 69
NEFS 8 6 104 105 0 5 903 3,000 994 27 13 742 3,484 715 2,314 78 382 3,762 600 4,245
NEFS 10 1 8 1 0 0 2 8 37 0 0 115 46 20 0 88 4 1 1 16
NEFS 11 9 49 1 0 0 1 2 137 0 0 79 219 47 0 29 0 231 118 1,848
NEFS 12 3 18 2 0 0 3 11 69 0 0 345 237 59 0 187 3 68 27 304
NEFS 13 0 18 23 0 1 261 869 21 14 13 165 829 193 480 21 97 164 27 202
New Hampshire Permit Bank 1 5 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 4 0 0 1 0 2 2 24
Sustainable Harvest Sector 1 5 39 17 0 1 138 457 430 2 2 191 1,655 275 338 72 54 1,082 328 1,433
Sustainable Harvest Sector 2 2 14 6 0 0 54 181 276 1 1 154 799 167 23 70 29 720 155 795
Sustainable Harvest Sector 3 1 8 3 0 0 27 90 270 1 2 20 530 109 60 3 10 480 139 781
Common Pool 3 23 10 0 1 78 242 125 4 18 188 486 115 178 220 126 162 35 240
Sector Total 82 648 296 0 14 2,122 7,052 5,004 51 46 3,514 14,798 3,143 3,499 1,299 750 12,256 2,951 21,541

*The data in this table are based on fishing year 2026 sector rosters, and represent the total allocations to each sector.

#Numbers are rounded to the nearest thousand pounds. In some cases, this table shows an allocation of 0, but that sector may be allocated a small amount of that stock in tens or hundreds pounds.

Common Pool

Framework 72 does not change the daily and trip limits for common pool vessels. The current common pool limits are shown in Table 4:

Table 4. Common Pool Daily and Trip Possession Limits

Stock Common Pool Daily and Trip Possession Limits
DAS permits Handgear A Handgear B Small Vessel Category
EGOM Cod 25 lb per DAS, up to 50 lb per trip 25 lb per trip
WGOM Cod 50 lb per DAS, up to 100 lb per trip 50 lb per trip 25 lb per trip 50 lb per trip
GB Cod 25 lb per DAS, up to 50 lb per trip 25 lb per trip
SNE Cod 0 lb per trip; possession prohibited
GB Haddock 1,000 lb per DAS, up to 2,000 lb per trip 1,000 lb per trip 300 lb per trip
GOM Haddock 1,000 lb per DAS, up to 2,000 lb per trip 1,000 lb per trip 300 lb per trip
GB Yellowtail Flounder 100 lb per trip
SNE/MA Yellowtail Flounder 200 lb per DAS, up to 400 lb per trip 200 lb per trip
Cape Cod (CC)/GOM Yellowtail Flounder 1,500 lb per DAS, up to 3,000 lb per trip 1,500 lb per trip 300 lb per trip
American Plaice 3,000 lb per DAS, up to 6,000 lb per trip 3,000 lb per trip
Witch Flounder 1,500 lb per trip
GB Winter Flounder 500 lb per trip
GOM Winter Flounder 2,000 lb per trip
SNE/MA Winter Flounder 2,000 lb per DAS, up to 4,000 lb per trip 2,000 lb per trip
Redfish No Limit
White Hake 1,000 lb per trip
Pollock No Limit
Atlantic Halibut 1 fish per trip
Windowpane Flounder Possession Prohibited
Ocean Pout
Atlantic Wolffish

Recreational Management Measures

Framework 72 does not change recreational measures for cod and haddock. The current recreational measures are in Table 5.

Table 5: Cod and haddock recreational measures.

Stock

Possession Limit

(For Hire and Private)

Minimum Size

in Inches

Open Season
EGOM Cod 1 23 September 1 - October 31
WGOM Cod
GB Cod
SNE Cod No retention n/a CLOSED
GOM Haddock 15 17 May 1 - February 28/29 and April 1 - 30
GB Haddock Unlimited 18 All Year

This bulletin serves as a Small Entity Compliance Guide, complying with section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996.

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